How to build joint operation of online shopping mall and offline stores?

Affected by the epidemic, most of the physical businesses in the market have been hit, but online shopping malls have risen against the trend. Consumption scenarios such as live streaming, community group buying, and home express delivery have gradually been accepted and loved by people, and it is essential for physical stores to move online.

Therefore, brands need to open and operate online stores as soon as possible and interconnect offline and online traffic as well as monetize traffic. The root of this lies in the effective operation of the online mall, which has achieved the goal of closing the traffic loop and sales through online and offline linkage.

1. Online Operations

Online operation is the use and operation of online shopping malls to collect and utilize offline traffic, so as to achieve the purpose of directing consumers to physical stores for consumption through online means; in general, it is target customer group → online store purchase → physical store consumption and shopping.

1. Store building, products and pricing

① Platform: The current e-commerce platforms include but are not limited to JD.com, Tmall, Vipshop, Suning.com, NetEase Best, Pinduoduo, Jingxi, etc., as well as niche shopping malls such as WeChat Mall, Official Account Mall, Youzan, Xiaohongshu, etc.; in addition, there are mini-programs such as social group buying and fresh food group buying.

② Product selection and launch: First, based on the purchase situation of customers entering the store and the preliminary product selection of the physical store sales staff, combined with the situation of competing products, select products with high gross profit, good consumer reputation, and large customer purchase volume for online sales and display; then determine the price of the online products, design the product and store visual pages, and finally complete the online launch and sales of the products.

③ Online pricing:

• Online pricing for regular products: Regular products are sold at 10% off the store price. The specific discount depends on the actual situation.
• Pricing of hot-selling products: Create online hot-selling products for products with good reputation and large purchase volume. High-gross-profit products attract new customers and traffic at low prices. They can be launched and operated through the mall's promotion and pages.

2. Attract new customers

Sales = Traffic * Conversion Rate * Average Order Value

After the store is put into operation, the first thing to consider is the issue of traffic. The basis of online sales is that there must be traffic in order to have conversions. How to attract new customers online is the focus of the brand's local development after the new store opens.

Off-site traffic generation: Moments promotion, Moments advertising, personal WeChat account sharing, WeChat public account articles, live broadcast platforms, Tik Tok and Kuaishou videos, creation of Internet celebrity IPs, creation of hot topics, etc. to attract new customers through social platforms and media; you can also choose large screens in shopping malls, floor stickers, hanging flags and other offline atmosphere creation for publicity.

While attracting new customers, mall coupons are distributed and guided to close the traffic, increasing consumers' desire to buy in the form of coupons.

At the same time, you can also use the official account to attract fans. Place the official account QR code in front of the checkout counter of the physical store, and the cashier will guide consumers to follow the official account and receive mall coupons.

In-site traffic generation: Launch group buying, group purchasing, and other activities such as bringing in new customers through old customers, gifts for sharing, and new customer coupons to gain more new customers.

Brand alliance: cross-industry cooperation can be combined with other brand joint activities, such as CoCo, Yidiandian, Banxiandoufu and other beverage shops, or restaurants and fruit shops, etc.; you can also conduct tasting activities in business districts with high traffic from time to time to guide consumers to pay attention to the store, give new customer coupons, and increase the chance of placing orders.

Other platforms have entered: local group buying websites, Meituan, food delivery websites such as Ele.me, Alipay word-of-mouth promotion, etc. At the same time, you can invite local well-known food influencers on platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou to bring goods and attract traffic.

3. Promotions

Products in the mall shopping scene can be divided into physical same-city delivery products and virtual online electronic voucher store verification products. Customers can choose the service method according to their own situation, such as express delivery or store pickup to meet the different needs of different consumer groups, increase customer purchasing methods and thus increase customer desire to place orders.

Group purchase and distribution: By utilizing the group purchase model of social e-commerce, everyone can become a salesperson and everyone can become a distributor. This not only motivates employees to share and sell, but also stimulates consumers to participate and get a valuable commission while tasting delicious food. It also uses fission to increase the speed of traffic and order completion at a high rate, thereby increasing transaction volume.

Promotional activities: We will use discount coupons, flash sale coupons, limited-time coupons, half-price second item, buy two get one free, coupons and gifts for purchases over a certain amount, exchange for a certain amount, limited purchases, packaged goods at a fixed price, etc. as marketing means to attract online target customer groups, increase local consumers' online shopping, and increase consumers' desire to buy.

2. Online and offline joint marketing

1. Offline store consumption

According to the e-commerce sales formula, traffic has already been attracted, and the next step is to convert it and increase the average order value. How do we monetize and harvest this traffic?

First, most consumers will purchase coupons and pick them up in stores. After purchasing the mall's coupons, customers will go to various physical stores to redeem them and complete the order transactions. This method can quickly lock in customers and generate purchases and consumption.

Secondly, this customer group does not purchase goods in the mall, but goes to the store to experience them before making a purchase. This is for a group of people who do not shop online and customers who come through sharing and word of mouth. This type of consumer can be stimulated to shop through different dimensions such as the layout of the physical store, the visual effects of the products, the service attitude of the service staff, and the price of the products.

In general, online stores acquire new customers and traffic through various promotional means and discounts, and then consumers go to stores to shop. In addition to purchasing goods online, they will also increase store purchases, increase store visits, transaction volume, and transaction price.

2. Online and offline activities combined

One dollar purchase, one cent purchase, flash sales, sign-in coupons.

After consumers enter the store to shop, they can share their shopping receipts and store photos on WeChat Moments to collect likes. They can then take screenshots and purchase designated discounted items for one yuan or one cent in the mall (which can be redeemed in the store after purchase), forming a closed sales loop from physical store to mall and then back to physical store.

3. Distribution model (part-time distributor commission)

Store clerks become online salespeople, and consumers become salespeople within the customer base. Through sharing, store clerks or consumers share product links or activities within the mall; new customers who shop through the links can enjoy discounts while earning commissions whether they use the products themselves or others buy them. This method can increase old customers' enthusiasm for sharing, as well as their stickiness and loyalty to the brand, and increase the chances of repeat purchases.

4. Word of mouth building

Customers who have made purchases can share their shopping and tasting photos through WeChat Moments or other social platforms. When friends of this customer make purchases in the store, they can enjoy exclusive discounts by presenting screenshots of the photos shared by the customer on WeChat Moments or social platforms. This will stimulate consumers' motivation to share food and achieve a "mention me for a discount" WeChat Moments effect.

3. Member Marketing

Purpose: To cultivate shopping habits, activate old customers’ consumption, increase shopping frequency, enhance customer loyalty, and retain old customers to form a fixed consumer group.

1. Online member recruitment

Membership card with no threshold: You can receive a membership card after placing an order at a store you follow in the mall. This type of membership card can be used for points and points redemption services, and can be upgraded after spending a certain amount.

Membership cards with thresholds: After recharging a fixed amount, you can get membership cards of different levels, enjoy different discounts and benefits, recharge rewards, etc., so as to distinguish the quality of customer groups and operate and provide services in batches.

Both types of membership cards can be used to store points. At the same time, different levels of membership cards enjoy different rights and interests. Threshold membership cards come in both physical and virtual forms, and points can be exchanged for merchandise.

2. Affiliate Marketing

Exclusive services: Exclusive discounts on members’ birthdays and birthday greeting messages, discounts on new products for high-level members, member day activities, and other various discounts and benefits for members to stimulate ordinary consumers to upgrade to members.

Member WeChat group: Establish a WeChat group to regularly push activity information and coupons to stimulate consumption, increase shopping frequency, maintain old customers, and also provide after-sales services. (Interactive red envelopes, flash sale rights, free bill rights, gift rights, etc. can be held in the group from time to time).

Points redemption: When points accumulate to a certain level, they can be redeemed online for corresponding product coupons, which can be used when shopping in stores. They cannot be combined, and you can only enjoy one points coupon per transaction to avoid prices being too low.

3. Membership Activities

Offline membership activities are held regularly, such as product production explanations, knowledge popularization classes, etc.; they can be divided into paid and free methods. This will increase the interactivity and stickiness between the store and the surrounding people.

• Free: product experience, knowledge classes, etc., register online and participate in offline activities.
• Payment: Product production, DIT trial, etc., let everyone experience how the product is made and how the materials are selected, and let customers have a deep understanding of the product, increasing consumer stickiness.

Competition-type activities: Cultivation games, Douyin challenges, etc., take pictures of store images and any product-related content, and accumulate the most prizes and online coupons.

4. Delivery Service

Depending on the order scenario, it is mainly divided into two modes: same-city delivery or store pickup.

In-city delivery: In-city delivery can be divided into two types. One is self-delivery by the store, where store staff or the store’s own delivery team will deliver the orders. The other is cooperation with delivery platforms, such as Dada, Flash Express, Fengniao, Kuaitui and other delivery companies. Of course, no matter which delivery method is used, it is necessary to ensure that the products are delivered in a timely and fast manner to avoid affecting the taste of the products due to long delivery time.

In-store pickup: In-store pickup has lower costs, and consumers can taste the products better and in a more timely manner. At the same time, consumers can see the production process of the products and other commodities, because freshly baked products are our specialty. At the same time, they can also recommend sales in the store and guide consumers to purchase other products, thereby increasing the average order value.

V. Conclusion

To sum up, I divide the operation of online shopping mall into four aspects:

Online operations (store product launch - new customer traffic channels - promotional activities) - online and offline joint marketing - membership (recruitment, marketing, activities) - delivery services.

In the early stage, the focus is on the construction and operation of the mall, ensuring the acceptance and conversion of offline traffic and increasing online sales channels. After the mall is in operation, the focus is on attracting new customers. This is the focus of the mall. Without traffic, there is no sales, and without sales, there is no profit. Therefore, after the mall is built, it focuses on the diversion and acquisition of online and offline customer groups, which is also the sedimentation and retention of customers.

In the later stage, it is to maintain old customers while attracting new customers. The purchasing power and repurchase ability of old customers are the main force. As long as the old customer group is managed well, more new customers and sales will be brought in.

Author: Wang Shu

Source: Wang Shu