How to drive in-store traffic with digital catalogs

Often, catalogs are printed frequently with the purpose of driving traffic to stores with good deals in a curated format. While the catalog format is well known among shoppers, the cost of printing and distribution has increased significantly, and so have the use of digital channels making it harder to reaching shoppers with print.

But good deals and prices never go out of style – it’s just that many are looking for a way to view the offer online.

If you take your print catalog online and add the right functionality, then you have a familiar format that can seamlessly drive traffic to both your stores and your webshop.

Increase traffic to your stores

While digital is very important for most companies, and despite many customer journeys starting with digital touchpoints, foot traffic is still crucial for many retailers.

When shoppers go to your store, they get…

• Personal interactions with your staff
• Physical experiences of your products
• Exposed to additional products and promotions
• Instant gratification of their purchase

And this can lead to higher basket value and the creation of regular shopping habits, which increase customer loyalty.

So, many retailers want to bring as much foot traffic to their stores as possible.

Add a Store Locator

Obviously, to go to your stores, the shopper must know where the stores are.

With a Store Locator (“Find your nearest store”) feature in your digital leaflet, shoppers can immediately find the nearest physical store while browsing the digital leaflet.

And then you’ve eliminated a crucial barrier to in-store visits.

How it works

1. Within the leaflet, you create an external link (for example via a News Ticker) to your website where shoppers can type in their zip code and locate the nearest store

2. Alternatively, you can provide direct links to maps or navigation apps, allowing users to get directions in one click
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Pro Tip:

You can offer real-time stock updates in the leaflet by integrating with your product feed or pop-up framing the product page. Shoppers will know where your store is, and also whether their product of interest is in stock.

Click & Collect

Click & Collect is by now a popular option for shoppers. It combines the ease of online shopping with the satisfaction of in-store pickup.

If you already offer Click & Collect, a simple connection between your digital leaflet basket and your ecommerce is all that’s needed.

It’s a great way to ensure that orders from your digital leafletdirectly result in increased foot traffic.

How it works

1. Shoppers can add products from the digital leaflet to the basket

2. When checking out, the leaflet basket content is transferred to your website basket

3. They pay and choose a nearby store for pickup
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Highlight In-Store-Only Offers

Creating a sense of exclusivity is a classic way to drive foot traffic to stores.

You can use your digital leaflet to promote in-store-only offers (such as special discounts, limited-time deals, or product launches) that can only be used, experienced or redeemed in the store.

How it works

1. Create sections or modules in your leaflet labeled “In-Store Only”, for example via an interactive banner like Display

2 Highlight high-value products that are only available in-store

3. Include a discount coupon, countdown or limited time/availability notice to create urgency
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Take-aways

Add the right functionality to your leaflet, and it turns into a direct line to your stores.

• Add a Store Locator: a "find your nearest store" CTA removes the biggest barrier between browsing and walking in.
• Offer Click & Collect: shoppers order in the leaflet and pick up in store — combining the ease of online with the payoff of in-store.
• Highlight in-store-only offers: use banners, countdowns and coupons to make exclusive deals feel worth the trip.

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Need to get the full overview on digital catalogs?

Explore our Complete Guide to Digital Catalogs (All You Need To Know!)