Page 73 - July 2021

incentivise customers and a quick way to get customers names and emails. The downside: some customers are happy to simply enjoy the
freebies without ever making a purchase. There’s no guarantee that they’ll come back to buy.
Bulk discounts – These can incentivise customers to buy in larger quantities and are effective at driving volume. They are often
associated with the ‘six-bottle’ purchase or the ‘case’ purchase. It is an incentive worth considering unless the product in question is a
high-priced item that customers are less inclined to buy in bulk.
Free gift wrapping – Albeit a simple incentive, this extra level of service can win a lot of customers. Many customers are busy and
overwhelmed at the best of times so companies who offer this are showing awareness of their consumers and offering to help them.
Free shipping – A common point of friction between customers and making an online purchase is shipping. Not only do people
purchasing online have to wait for their product to arrive, they are also charged for the privilege! Free shipping is the holy grail of
e-commerce incentives. A whopping 96 per cent of online shoppers polled by lab42.com are more likely to shop on a website that offers
free shipping. That means nearly every shopper can be incentivised by free shipping. Offering to ship customers their purchases at no
charge is a great incentive, particularly in the world of retail today.

Retail has definitely changed because of the coronavirus pandemic, and in particular, some processes that were already in the works
have most definitely been sped up to help companies survive this crisis. Retailers today need to think of the in-person shopping experience
as one piece of a larger omni-channel customer experience.
They need to build their sales model with the understanding that consumers will use their smartphones while shopping in their stores.
Incentives are and will remain quite powerful because they make customers themselves feel special. To them, a great incentive is more
than just a sales promotion. It’s an indicator that you genuinely value their business and patronage, again something else that has more
value than ever as we begin to enter a post-coronavirus retail world.

JulY 2021 Retail & leisuRe inteRnational 3