The vocabulary specific to local SEO can sometimes seem obscure when you are not familiar with it. In this video, we will see the concept of ROPO behavior and the impact it has on trips to physical stores.
ROPO (Research Online, Purchase Offline), or ROBO (Research Online, Buy Offline) is purchasing behavior where the consumer shows a sign of online interest in a brand, product, or service that results in a purchase at a brick and mortar stores.
Why are consumers looking online in the first place?
They wish to :
- find a store, when and how to go there
check the presence in store of a certain product - download offers and promotions to use in-store
- compare the prices
What factors motivate the trip to a physical store:
- the customer wants to see the product “for real” and touch it
- the customer wishes to have the product directly
- the customer does not wish to pay shipping costs
- the customer does not wish to share personal data concerning him with the company.
According to the web-to-store barometer carried out by BVA for Mappy, 91% of customers who have made at least one local store purchase have carried out a search on the Internet beforehand.
This trend has amplified during this year, marked by an upheaval in our consumption habits during the pandemic: temporary closures, reduced opening hours, new types of services, sanitary measures… the list goes on. Before making a trip to actual stores, customers first and foremost turned to the internet to find answers to their questions.
How can a store stand out from its competition?
Retailers who have quickly been able to adapt their online store information, via their own site or various media (Google, Facebook, etc.), and display the available services, have had significantly more visits than their competitors who have not.
This is due to two key factors for the customer:
- Confidence in the accuracy of the information at a specific time
- Confidence in the health measures and services in place
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