Brick-and-mortar stores remain critical touchpoints for consumers. Even with surges in online shopping, buyers still look to physical stores for instant gratification, trying before they buy, immersive experiences, and expert product advice. These benefits pay off for retailers; Wharton and Harvard research shows that positive in-store experiences create loyal consumers who spend 60% more on average.
Retailers can also maximize in-person interactions long after customers leave the store. With omnichannel connectivity, brands can drive growth across in-store and online touchpoints. Experts at Shopify and Klaviyo, a unified data and marketing platform, know this well and shared their expertise in a recent webinar.
It’s time to reimagine the role of physical stores, according to Michelle Drawert, Senior Partner Solution Engineer at Shopify and Nick Binder, Senior Director, Product Marketing at Klaviyo. It’s time to embrace unified commerce that meets customer needs, both online and in store.
By integrating Shopify POS and Klaviyo, retailers can use in-person customer interactions to build more complete customer profiles and more personalized relationships with customers—no matter where they shop. Ahead, you’ll learn three expert strategies to leverage in-person sales for omnichannel growth.
Consumers spend up to 60% more on average due to positive in-store experiences
1. Use physical stores for customer acquisition
Physical stores aren’t just sales locations—they can also be powerful acquisition channels that lower cost per acquisition (CPA), bringing more customers through in-person and online doors. Retailers can build their first-party database by collecting customer email addresses and phone numbers at in-person checkouts. With this information, brands can use email and SMS campaigns to continue nurturing customer relationships well into the future.
Shopify POS and Klaviyo’s integration makes in-store email capture frictionless and optimizes relationship building. Here’s how:
Automatically convert anonymous shoppers into known customers
With Shopify POS, retailers can ensure more orders have customer information attached by connecting to Shop Pay’s network of over 150 million consumers. During in-store checkouts, Shopify POS automatically matches in-store transaction data to known buyers in the network and adds them to the retailer’s database—without any manual input required.
If a matching customer profile is found, buyers can easily opt into marketing communications and get a digital receipt. If a match is not found, customers can enter their email, which creates a new customer profile for retailers.
With Shopify POS, retailers can convert anonymous shoppers into known customers by connecting to Shop Pay’s network of over 150 million consumers.
Personalized customer experiences
Through Klaviyo, retailers can build meaningful long-term relationships with customers through profiles. Klaviyo aggregates key customer information and behavior, including full order history, the channels they use, which stores they visit, and geographic location. This data allows retailers to build personalized experiences for customers to build brand loyalty.
For example, you can provide personalized product recommendations, based on past purchase history. You could also move customers into different categories as their habits evolve.
Shopify POS and Klaviyo transform what could have been one-off interactions into lasting engagements that deliver value to retailers and customers alike. Klaviyo product leader Nick noted in the webinar that retailers analyze customer profiles trends to inform their omnichannel strategies.
We see merchants doing some really smart things with this information. They're building segments based on different behavioral patterns, like who shopped in-store versus online. Then they're using Klaviyo’s predictive analytics and AI to understand who their most loyal shoppers are, or where there are risks of churn, to prioritize effectively.
2. Optimize inventory management to fulfill customer needs
Effective inventory management comes down to aligning supply and demand. It’s how the best retailers meet customers needs while also ensuring operational efficiency. But without an understanding of buyer trends or a holistic view of inventory levels, retailers risk stockouts or overstock situations, which can erode customer satisfaction and revenue.
In particular, scaling retailers face a variety of inventory challenges—including multichannel inventory coordination, complex supply chains, and product lifecycle management (e.g. product obsolescence, seasonal variations, and changing consumer preferences). All of these problems can result in mismatched product supply and buyer demand.
But top retailers are overcoming these challenges with clear visibility into inventory and buyer preferences from Shopify and Klaviyo. Here’s how retailers can strike the right balance for customers and their business:
Minimize carrying costs while meeting customer demand
Shopify POS provides real-time visibility into inventory levels across all locations, enabling retailers to manage their stock more efficiently. It powers strategic decisions about stock transfers, fulfillment, and even promotions, ensuring that the right products are available at the right time.
For example, let’s say a customer wants a particular shirt, but it’s out of stock at one store location. Store staff can use Shopify POS to check other store locations and online inventory and save the sale by offering ship-to-home fulfillment or pickup at a nearby location.
Streamline inventory with tailored journeys and segmentation
Klaviyo offers advanced segmentation to help retailers to take more control of their inventory by running hyper-specific promotions. Klaviyo offers geo-targeting, so retailers can run local campaigns designed to move products in specific stores that need to optimize backroom inventory. Klaviyo’s SMS capabilities also help retailers use time-sensitive messages to add urgency to promotions, so retailers can drive foot traffic and sell products faster.
Retailers can leverage Klaviyo to manage inventory in a variety of ways, including:
- Offering highly engaged customers early access to a new product
- Running deals targeted to customers who showed online interest in particular products
- Alerting customers when a previously sold out style is back in stock
- Announcing to loyal customers that new seasonal styles just launched
Here’s an example of Klaviyo in action: Let’s say an apparel retailer sees via Shopify POS that they have a surplus of shirts in backroom storage at a particular location. To clear out this inventory, the retailer can use Klaviyo segments to target customers in the nearby geographic area who have shown interest in shirts while browsing online. The retailer can then craft a limited-time deal on shirts and use text messages targeted to local customers and sell the excess shirts.
Combining the power of Shopify POS and Klaviyo gives retailers a better handle on what’s in stock and what customers want, driving more efficient inventory management.
3. Unify customer data across all channels
Today’s customers expect to interact with brands on their terms, making it essential for retailers to adapt quickly to shifting preferences. As the lines between online and in-person shopping continue to blur, the best retailers will prioritize unified data. To best understand your customers, you first need a clear view of who they are and how they behave.
Shopify POS and Klaviyo unify customer data across all touchpoints, allowing for tailored marketing strategies and personalized shopping experiences that drive revenue. Whether it’s recognizing a repeat customer in-store or sending targeted email campaigns based on purchase history, unified data paves the way for customer loyalty and long-term growth. Here’s how:
Unified customer data unlocks omnichannel growth
Shopify is built for omnichannel commerce. So no matter how your customers choose to shop, you can bring all kinds of critical customer details together in one place. Investing in consistent customer experiences can be a powerful growth strategy—especially because omnichannel shoppers make purchases 70% more often and spend about 34% more than single-channel shoppers, according to McKinsey research.
Shopify POS serves as a source of truth for customer data across in-store and online channels. With centralized customer information in Shopify, retailers can:
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Deliver consistent brand experiences in-store and online: Retailers can use Shopify to ensure that every interaction a customer has with your brand is cohesive. For example, if a customer is enrolled in a loyalty program, they can receive the same rewards for in-store purchases as they would online. This can improve customer loyalty and trust, driving repeat purchases and growth.
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Leverage customer insights for smarter marketing: Unified customer data gives businesses a comprehensive understanding of customer behaviors, preferences, and needs. This information can power personalized, hyper-relevant marketing communications. Shopify integrates with platforms like Klaviyo to help retailers craft campaigns that are more relevant to their audience—improving the effectiveness of marketing spend and increasing conversion rates.
- Increase operational efficiency: Unified data in Shopify also helps businesses optimize product offerings, inventory management, promotions, customer experiences, and more—based on customer demand patterns. Plus, store staff, marketing and sales teams, and customer service teams can all get a consistent, clear picture of customer behavior. This way, teams across the business can quickly and effectively respond to customer preferences or market changes to stay ahead of the competition.
Automated journeys based on omnichannel behavior
Klaviyo is built to help retailers create meaningful relationships with customers. Customers have a relationship with your entire brand, and expect consistent, delightful experiences at all touchpoints, whether in-store or online. With customer profile information in Klaviyo, retailers can develop journeys that encourage continued engagement.
For example, after a new customer signs up for your email list, Klaviyo can prompt the customer with a welcome workflow to acknowledge their sign up and gather more information. Klaviyo can also help recommend related products that increase average order value, such as a “complete the look” product assortment for an apparel brand.
During the webinar, Michelle shared this example of Shopify and Klaviyo in action:
Let’s say a store staff member sees a customer at the checkout counter. Shopify POS can surface the customer’s profile in Klaviyo, so the staff member can see that the customer has shopped with the store online many times before. The store associate also sees that the customer’s favorite category is denim, and the customer’s average order value is over $100. But today, the customer is only buying a T-shirt. With this information, store staff can point the customer to the store’s rack of brand new jeans. This move can potentially increase the customer’s in-store order value and provide a more personalized shopping experience.
Tailoring the journey with your brand creates loyalty and increases the lifetime value of the most important part of your business: your customer.
Shopify POS and Klaviyo: Integration for omnichannel growth
As the retail landscape continues to evolve, brands must implement omnichannel strategies that give customers the best of both in-person and online worlds. Retailers can achieve omnichannel growth by leveraging physical stores for customer acquisition, improving inventory management, and unifying customer data. Shopify POS and Klaviyo’s fast, easy integration help retailers make unified commerce easier than ever before.
Together, Shopify POS and Klaviyo equip large retailers with powerful tools to understand and engage their customers better—while also optimizing operations and driving multichannel growth.
