Guide shop or, in Portuguese, “loja guia” is a physical commercial establishment with a showcase, but without stock, in which consumers choose and taste products, buy them via online totems or tablets present at the place, and then receive the goods at home. via traditional shipping.
In other words, it's a business very similar to a showroom , but fully integrated into an online store.
Therefore, this sales model is very useful for electronic stores of clothing, jewelry, shoes, accessories and design items, among other products, as it allows consumers to thoroughly evaluate each item before making a purchase.
This, however, is not the only advantage. Read on and discover more benefits of guide shops!
Access and read the post “ Pop-up store e-commerce ” as well. Learn about the characteristics and advantages of setting up a temporary physical store with your e-commerce brand.
GUIDE SHOP ADVANTAGES
By implementing a guide shop, you will be able to:
Grow the business and transform it into omnichannel:
Through a guide shop, your e-commerce now has an integrated physical commercial establishment.
That is, it becomes omnichannel.
With this, you can put your brand in contact with different audiences at a very low cost.
Having an economical physical store:
One of the highest costs of a physical store is the maintenance of stock.
So since a guide shop doesn't have stock, you won't have to worry about that.
Work on branding the brand:
When your brand moves from online to physical, it automatically becomes more tangible in consumers' minds.
In other words, a guide shop can help strengthen your e-commerce brand.
Increase brand credibility:
Generally, guide shops are located inside shopping malls, which have high credibility with the public.
In this way, some of that credibility of the mall is transferred to the brand of your online store, which increases confidence for purchases.
Generate the “inbound purchase”:
Most consumers are afraid to make an online purchase in an unknown virtual store.
But, if suddenly the brand of this virtual store is inserted in a guide shop in the middle of a shopping mall, then things change.
Then, many consumers make an “entry purchase”, that is, a first purchase that will help them to evaluate if your brand is really good.
If everything goes well for them on that first purchase, they will soon feel more confident to buy from your e-commerce site.
Make the choice easier:
It's hard to choose a piece of clothing or shoes online, isn't it?
However, in a guide shop, people can analyze the color, size, texture, shape, quality and taste each item before making a purchase.
It's much easier that way.
Reduce dropout:
As the guide shop allows the test, dropouts decrease.
Reduce exchanges and returns:
When products are physically tested, exchanges and returns decrease.
In this way, reverse logistics costs are also reduced.
Reduce cart abandonment:
In many cases, consumers give up on a purchase because information is missing or a problem occurs in the system during checkout.
However, a guide shop has a salesperson or cashier, thus enabling the provision of in-person personal assistance, which reduces shopping cart abandonment.
Access and read also the post " How to set up an online women's clothing store with little money ".
WHO IS ALREADY USING THE GUIDE SHOP FORMAT IN BRAZIL
There are many brands using the guide shop model nationwide. We have, for example:
- C&A with the Minde7 brand
- Amaro
- Oppa
- Basic
These and other companies have guide shops in cities like São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte.
Very well, and it's worth remembering that both guide shops and pop-up stores (temporary physical stores) are great opportunities to boost your e-commerce business. It's worth testing them and seeing if they drive your brand forward.
Also access and read the post “ Startup e-commerce ”. Understand, in this way, how these companies test opportunities with minimal costs through the “learning by doing” method, thus obtaining important learning that allows them to grow rapidly in the market.
