Retail stores meld digital experiences into physical shopping to remain relevant. Including Selfie Sweepstakes
Source: www.azcentral.com
Retailers across the board are merging digital connectivity with physical stores. For example, Walmart reports that more than 25 million customers used online store maps and ads to plan their Black Friday excursions to stores across the country.
The merging of digital and physical shopping is seen at high-end stores as well. For example, Origins, a skin-care retailer, spent 10 weeks remodeling its Biltmore Fashion Park location ahead of the holidays to make it more interactive.
Shoppers can choose from one of five free “mini-facial” treatments when they visit the store, and a sample wall is lined with candy jar-like dishes of product for them to test.
Focusing on the in-person experience doesn’t mean the company shuns the Internet. In addition to its online sales, the company has an Instagram social-media campaign for customers to post pictures of themselves wearing facial masks, a core product.
The #maskmonday promotion gives loyal (and unreserved) customers the opportunity to win free masks by posting photos of themselves and tagging the store.
“It’s really popular,” Hatcher said.
The mall also has a promotion through Dec. 20 in which shoppers who take a “selfie” with any of the holiday décor and post it on Facebook or Instagram can win a hotel and ice-skating package at the Hotel Palomar in downtown Phoenix (using the skating rink from fellow RED property CityScape).
At RED’s Aspen Place Shopping Center in Flagstaff, anchored by an REI store, there will be a similar selfie sweepstakes, Jones said.