A couple of months ago I read an article by Dan Berthiaume about the importance of real, live sales people in the shopping journey. Much has been written lately about our local retailers losing business to Internet shopping. And, they have. The Internet offers shoppers a way to fulfill their desires at all hours of the day and night from the comfort of their home.

But, nonetheless, a new study from Mindtree, "Mindtree Shopper Survey 2016", shows human sales associates still have a big impact on consumers as they are moving though the Marketing Channel (pages 5-6 if you have my book). The results of this survey show that over 70% of shoppers are interested in interacting with sales associates. While only 2% of respondents said a conversation with a sales associate initially triggered a purchase journey, 34% sourced information from sales associates before making a purchase. Another 21% finalized the brand to be purchased after interacting with an associate.

 The study also showed that 40% of shoppers make a purchase after positive interaction with a sales associate: only 28% make a purchase without interaction. Having a positive interaction with a sales associate also boosts repeat store visits 12%.  And, the average transaction amount soars 81%.

 They also found that the average sales associate spends 46% of their time assisting shoppers.

Other findings:

1.Sales associates are the second-largest source of customer information after websites and online reviews.

2.40% of shoppers say they are never able to find a sales associate.

 3.Sales associates most commonly use visual cues to determine if a shopper needs help, including a shopper looking for help and a shopper seeming lost or confused. 

 Perhaps we should share the results of this study with our clients. The job of advertising is to get a prospective customer into the store once. After that, the store's internal systems must take over to convert them from a "prospect" into a "buyer". As we know, often times that does not happen. And, one of the biggest reasons is how those prospective customers are dealt with by the store's staff. We can't always control how those employees are trained or managed, but we can stress the importance of having qualified people greet customers and create a positive shopping experience.