Although e-Commerce sales are on the rise, many consumers still prefer visiting brick-and-mortar stores to touch and feel products before making a final decision. In fact, 21% of U.S. shoppers plan to increase in-store spending, up from just 9% in 2012, according to Accenture research.
Journeys is taking note of consumers’ ongoing desire to shop in stores by continually investing more in improving the brick-and-mortar experience. Most recently, Journeys announced its implementation of ShopperTrak, which will enable the footwear and apparel retailer to measure store traffic and optimize labor scheduling, leading to more positive browsing and buying journeys. Following a successful testing period in 18 locations, Journeys will install the solution in all stores by the end of the 2014 fiscal year.
With more than 1,170 stores in the U.S. and Canada, the retailer operates under several banners, including: Journeys, Journeys Kidz, Shi by Journeys and Underground by Journeys. In addition to a solid brick-and-mortar presence, Journeys connects with customers via mobile, web, catalog, a cross-channel customer service department, and social media.
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“It is at our core to serve our customers whenever, wherever and however they want to shop with us,” said Rob Taylor, Chief Operating Officer at Journeys, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “We continue to evolve and improve our stores, systems, processes, procedures and strategies to make it easier and more enjoyable for our customers to shop across all channels. We listen very closely to our employees and our customers to shape the customer experience as a key point of difference, creating a lasting impression that builds trust and brand equity long-term.”
After more than 20 years of researching and trialing in-store counting solutions, Journeys invested in ShopperTrak after a year of extensive evaluation and testing, Taylor explained. The retailer decided the time was right to invest because “we updated the connectivity to our stores, which allows us to tie the customer counter solution and technologies to our point of sale data.”
ShopperTrak was the optimal in-store analytics solution for Journeys because when all the testing and evaluations were complete, they ranked number one in having the best overall solution and were by far the best in service and support, Taylor reported. “The ShopperTrak solution is very intuitive and allows us to unlock the value of the traffic and POS data with intuitive, actionable reporting that enables us to better serve our customers and in turn, provide a better overall customer experience.”
Using the in-store analytics platform from ShopperTrak, Journeys will have detailed insight into traffic ebbs and flows across all locations. By combining traffic data with POS data, the retailer can identify store-level conversions and key sale periods throughout the week. Drilling down to the employee level, Journeys also will be able to identify top-performing associates, identify new training opportunities and best leverage shopper-to-associate ratio to ensure a consistent customer experience.
“We have identified several ways that we plan to leverage the data and analytics to provide deeper insight into our customer’s behavior to improve the overall customer experience,” Taylor said. “By enhancing the customer experience, we in turn, create additional value for our employees, customers, vendor partners and shareholders.”
