Marketing Strategy: In-store or Online?

With April 12th allowing non-essential shops to reopen, many businesses have been marketing their way to getting people back into shops.

However, not all businesses are quick to revert back pushing their marketing towards their physical stores.

It is thought that many retailers believe that the length of time stores have been closed, has pushed shopping habits even further online out of necessity and there is going to be little profitability in bricks and mortar retail stores.

Many companies through lockdown took the opportunity to revamp or increase their offering online by investing in their website, social media and email marketing due to uncertainty.

Some even completely overhauled their marketing strategy by taking the focus completely away from printed materials such as catalogues and posters.

Next announced plans for an increase in promotional activity but according to CEO Lord Simon Wolfson while speaking to MarketingWeek.com, none of it will be used towards the promotion of its stores.

The retailer actually saved £21m over the financial year ending January 2021 by stopping its physical catalogues and will not bring them back anytime soon.

Speaking to MarketingWeek.com, Woflson said: “The most important thing you can do to draw people back in is to open the doors.

“Of course there are things you can do to draw people back to stores, you can spend a lot of money doing that. The real question is whether it’s profitable.

“So we won’t be spending money in order to attract people back to stores.

“But we’re fairly confident from our experience with the last two lockdowns that people will come back.”

Will the high street see a comeback as more of us can now go out? Or is online shopping the only way to go?

It will be curious to see how high street chains decide on the best way to market to customers as lockdown continues to ease and whether more business will cast aside marketing their stores.

If you are an online or physical retailer (or both), our team can help advise you on a six to twelve-month strategy to maximise your marketing budget and find new ways to attract customers in the new ‘normal’.

Whether you are looking for a marketing strategy for your store or online business, we are more than happy to discuss your requirements to help you achieve your goals.

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