Promote Alternate Purchase Methods

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Explain why it’s important to offer alternative purchase methods.
  
• List two reasons why shoppers choose one purchase method over another.
  
• Describe how subscription services could help your business.
  
• Explain ways to connect with shoppers on social media.
  

Introduction

Now more than ever, consumers are seeking convenience from their favorite brands. With the acceleration of digital commerce within the past few years, shoppers expect to have a variety of purchase methods at their fingertips. To remain competitive, companies should stay up to date with the latest technology.

Shoppers have different needs, but they also have one thing in common: they all want effortless shopping experiences. Whether they’re shopping online or in person, they want a secure payment method that gives a seamless, intuitive, and convenient experience.

Less Time In Stores

Some shoppers still prefer to come into physical stores and select products themselves, but they want to minimize the amount of time spent finding the right product and checking out. 

• Self-Checkout: Equip customers to complete their transactions themselves, leading to shorter wait times.
  
• Contactless Payments: Enable contactless payment with mobile pay options based on the devices your shoppers use most.
  

Quick Handoffs of Online Orders at Stores

When time is of the essence—your shoppers need a last-minute gift or ingredients for a holiday meal—they might not be able to wait for delivery in a few days. But if they are avoiding the holiday rush they still have options, including buying online and picking up in store or curbside. Nearly all B2C sellers offer at least one type of fulfillment option — such as BOPIS, curbside pickup, or fast shipping — currently or plan to within the next two years. 

• Buy Online, Pick Up In Store: Shoppers can visit your website and see the inventory available in nearby stores. They can order and pay for it on the site, then pick up their purchase in a designated area of the store. You can send updates by SMS or another preferred channel, so they know when the order is ready and what ID or other information they need to bring.
  
• Curbside Pickup: Similar to buy online, pick up in store, shoppers place and pay for their order online, but when they get to the store, they can stay in their car. Your employees bring the order to the curb and can even load it into the vehicle’s trunk for a completely contactless experience. This method is highly valued by shoppers with mobility limitations, time constraints, or other concerns, such as having a pet or small children in their care.
  
• Same Day Delivery: Fast fulfillment has become a major advantage to busy consumers. Shoppers have the option to purchase items online and have it delivered to their doorstep just hours later. These orders are usually fulfilled from local brick and mortar locations or warehouses.
  

These purchase options require a strong order management system that sees all store inventory in real time. Hold back stock in a storeroom or remove it from shelves as soon as an online shopper orders it, so they aren’t unhappily surprised by items missing from the order when they pick it up. Also, dedicate certain staffers for these kinds of fulfillments. 

Subscriptions 

With all the hustle and bustle during the holidays, shoppers really appreciate when their ongoing needs are met without any extra effort on their part. Subscriptions are a way for you to increase shoppers’ lifetime value with recurring revenue.

• Deliver essentials: Many households have predictable ongoing needs for things such as paper products, baby supplies, pet food, and pantry staples. Help shoppers set up an ongoing subscription, so you can plan ahead for inventory and delivery needs, and they don’t have to give it another thought.
  
• Surprise and delight: Shoppers may love specialty foods, unique clothing, or fun toys, but lack the time to research and choose among the options. A box of curated items that arrives on a regular cadence can meet shopper needs. It also makes a great gift.
  

Social Selling

With one in ten purchases made through social media, it's important to facilitate more holiday shopping right on the right channels. 

• Conversational Commerce: Bring commerce and service together by helping agents connect with shoppers on platforms such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp where they can answer questions and expedite orders.
  
• Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): Use APIs to enable conversion right from the app where a shopper first encounters your product. If they see it on Pinterest, the API lets them purchase it by clicking through the link.
  

Don’t Abandon UX Principles

When enabling a multitude of purchase options, always consider best practice UX principles. For example, many mobile wallet partners use standards, but you should insist on good mobile design principles. Button placement depends on your KPIs. Placement on the product detail page only makes sense for one item per order. Consider testing placement on specific page elements.

Purchase Option Insights

Adding and enabling new ways for shoppers to buy products requires planning and attention to detail. Consider these tips to ensure success.

• Review which purchase methods are right for your audience: geography, demographic segment, traffic split by device/operating system.
  
• Work with your partners early and often for compatibility and implementation direction.
  
• Review your fraud partner for compatibility.
  
• Make sure your order management system can support all purchase methods.
  
• If  shopper info is coming from a third party, make sure it meets your address standards.
  
• Review error messages provided to the shopper.
  
• Perform user acceptance tests (UAT) for all scenarios.
  

Next Steps

We looked at why it’s important to offer alternative purchase methods, and why shoppers might gravitate toward one method over another. We also learned how to help shoppers minimize interpersonal contact, set up subscriptions, and buy from third-party platforms. Your shoppers will have options this holiday season!

Now let’s check your storefront’s operational holiday readiness.

Resources

• Salesforce: The New Holiday Retail Planning Guide
• Salesforce: Social Commerce: How to Drive Online Sales with Social Shopping
• Salesforce: 6 Order Management Trends Here To Stay