There was a time when traditional retailers used to worry about losing customers to online sellers.

Needless to say that their worry wasn’t groundless because e-commerce did take away a significant chunk of sales from them for a while.

However, now things have started to change for brick and mortar retailers, thanks to online to offline retail.

Online to offline retail is allowing conventional sellers to bring in customers to their shops by using online channels.

Online to offline or O2O retail is taking over the world of commerce by amalgamating online trading with traditional retailing.

But how does O2O actually work? Continue reading to find out.

What is Online to Offline Retail?

Online to offline retail is an up and coming business strategy that brings out potential customers from the digital sphere to make purchases in physical stores.

In other words, retailers use online channels to catch the attention of potential buyers and then entice them to come out to a local store or location.

It is done by using digital marketing and traditional promotion campaigns.

O2O retail allows customers to look for products or services online and then make a trip to a physical store to make the purchase.

There are many online to offline techniques that companies use to interact with customers online and then coaxing them to visit the outlet.

Some of the most common O2O strategies are, purchasing a product online and picking it up from a local shop, returning or exchanging goods bought online at a physical store, placing online order while at an outlet.

O2O Retailing: A Ray of Hope for Traditional Retailing

O2O retail, also known as omnichannel retail, is helping brick and mortar establishments to increase sales and reach a wider audience.

Physical stores have to pay high rents and remunerate the in-store human resource in order to keep the business working.

But that requires substantial profits, which are hard to come by because consumers are now more inclined to make purchases online.

And that is why O2O retailing is a ray of hope for traditional retailing because it brings consumers to brick and mortar locations.

Online to Offline Retailing in the World of Ecommerce

O2O retail is becoming more and more common.

And not just among traditional retailers, but also online businesses.

Now, even online sellers are setting up physical spaces to reap the benefits of offline trading.

An example of that is Amazon’s acquisition of the organic retailer Whole Foods. By buying Whole Foods, Amazon now has more vast retailing avenues.

Online acquisition of goods cannot beat the physical experience of buying products as the latter offers sensory satisfaction to the customer, which is why O2O also works for online brands.

By incorporating online to offline techniques, online businesses offer customers the ease of e-commerce with the option of engaging in traditional trade.

One of the most common O2O strategies used by online companies is sending goods to the customer, allowing them to see the product up close.

And if the customer doesn’t like the product, they can send it back. By doing so, online sellers get to achieve increased customer satisfaction and higher sales.

O2O retailing is beneficial for every business model that involves direct interaction with the customer.

It allows businesses to thrive and make the most out of their investment.

To better understand the benefits of O2O retailing, let’s look at them in detail.

Benefits of Online to Offline Retail

Here are the top four benefits of online to offline retailing

Business Growth

Running a traditional in-store business is costly, and that can hamper commercial growth.

By going, O2O in-store businesses can manage their expenses better by making higher profits, and as a result, grow in size.

Similarly, online brands can increase their sales and make better profits by adopting O2O techniques to run their business.

With that said, going O2O for online brands is harder than for brick and mortar enterprises because the former needs to invest in a physical space to establish its offline presence.

In other words, an online business will need to first make an investment in order to reap the advantages of online to offline commerce in the future.

Wider Reach

Online to offline retailing strategies allow businesses to maximize their reach to the consumer.

Having only an online or offline consumer base means that a business is missing out on a massive chunk of potential buyers.

O2O is excellent at helping companies reach out to more consumers, which leads to a more extensive consumer base.

Research shows that customers like to look up products online before buying them in a store.

It means that if a business doesn’t have both elements of the consumer’s buying process, it will lose potential customers.

But with O2O, companies get to bring in a massive number of customers.

Better Customer Retention

Humans are creatures of habit. They love consistency in every aspect of life.

And that is also visible in their buying behavior.

Consumers like to stick to their buying habits, whether it’s going to the same store or paying with a card.

And O2O makes it easier for them by allowing them to order the same goods with click and collect, which improves the chances of customer retention.

Proximity to the Consumer

O2O offers businesses proximity to the consumer by being ever-present on the digital sphere that is accessible through smartphones.

Since people spend most of the time with their smartphones, businesses get to target them closely by sending notifications at all times.

The more frequently a company reminds a customer of its presence, the more chances it has to make a sale.

The marriage of online and offline commerce is giving businesses the chance to reach unparalleled heights of success.

If you own a business online or offline, then you should consider going the other way now.

It will give your business the boom it needs! So what are you waiting for?

Jump on the O2O bandwagon now!