Sears is bridging the gap between online and offline with a new order online, pickup in-store promotion for last-minute holiday shoppers.

The campaign is meant for people who are still doing Christmas shopping as the big day approached. Sears is hoping to lure some of them into the physical store with a promotion that encourages synergy between online and offline shopping.

“Buy Online, Pickup In-store is the last-minute holiday shopper’s best friend,” said Leena Munjal, senior vice president, Customer Experience & Integrated Retail, Sears Holdings. “Orders are ready in five minutes or less, guaranteed. Members can also choose Sears’ In-Vehicle Pickup option, which means you never have to leave your car – just check in with the Sears app and an associate will bring your purchases out to you.”

Building bridges
As mobile has increasingly become the preferred digital channel of choice for consumers, it presents a unique opportunity for retailers and marketers.

Consumers can now be connected to the digital world at any time, and anywhere, not just when they are at home on their computers.

Because of this, there has been an emerging trend of connecting online and offline shopping experiences. It is from this area of connection where the retail world got such innovations as beacons – which are still struggling to maintain popularity.

Meanwhile, other tactics have had more success, such as offering mobile applications that serve as a companion to the in-store shopping experience.

Sears is now taking the best of those strategies and using them to try and push for some last-minute in-store shopping from consumers. To do so, Sears is offering its last-minute holiday deals.

These deals give consumers a discount on all items in the store if they are ordered online or through mobile and picked up in-store in the last few days before Christmas.

By doing this, Sears is hoping to drive foot traffic to the stores during the holiday shopping season, when consumers are more likely to impulse buy as they see the various holiday promotions and remember the people whose gifts they still have to purchase.

Omnichannel retail
This tactic of bridging the gap between online and offline is a perfect representation of how mobile has shaken up the retail industry.

Whereas before, online and offline shopping were often treated as two separate beasts, with completely different user experiences and even teams working on them, now, consumers expect all of their interactions with a brand to be consistent no matt what channel they are interacting with it on.

Even other industries are beginning to take notice. Just yesterday, Shake Shack announced that it is taking its mobile ordering app test national, anticipating a wider rollout sometime in the near future (see story).

These kinds of initiatives offer a way for consumers to keep their brand experience consistent no matter where they interact with them. In the mobile era, that consistency is more important than ever.