Attracting Local Customers to Your Brick-and-Mortar Store

business name, phone number, address, email, etc. And it all starts with making sure everything is correct on the Google My Business Page. Google runs on a trust factor and if you have different words in your business name running wild across the web, Google will see that as spammy and untrustworthy. And say goodbye to your rankings! Google states that 

your “name should reflect your business’ real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website stationery, and as known to customers”. You can view all of Google’s name guidelines here. That means e.g. that “Mike’s Coffee Shop” can’t be named “Mike’s Coffee Shop – Best Coffee in Downtown LA”. Extra keywords are not tolerated so make sure you 

have it right. Even if it were tolerated, it’d probably hurt your end game anyways if Google doesn’t see those added words in other citations across the web. Back in February of 2014 Google temporarily allowed the use of a “Descriptor word” in the business name, but as of December of 2014, this has been taken away and you must again only use your real world 

business name.Retail is changing 

as technology is growing. The traditional way of shopping has evolved thanks to mobile devices, and retailers are struggling to avoid customers’ attrition. Customers are immersed in a seamless omnichannel experience that allows them to switch from channel to channel and search for the most convenient way of shopping at all times. In this context, retailers have to 

compete not only with other brands but also with other channels of the same brand, and this situation makes it difficult for them to develop new ways of engaging the customers and create loyalty programs to make the most of their investments in the stores. Effective product recommendation has become one of the key selling strategies employed everywhere, from 

brick-and-mortar stores to omnichannel retail, in order to increase sales and revenues and to increase repeat purchases from the same retail store and brand. Objectives: The goal of this PhD Thesis is divided into two interrelated purposes to identify which are the trigger factors that motivate customers on the choice of each shopping channel and  to provide 

retailers with an algorithm that optimises

 the mix of recommended products in a brick-andmortar store so as to provide the customer with an additional experience and engage them to the retail store. Method: To reach those objectives we have analysed the different trends in the purchase process online and offline under the multichannel or omnichannel strategies. The methodology combines an exhaustive 

revision of academic literature about omnichannel strategies as well as reports from specialised consultant companies so as to define the trends and the factors that motivate customers towards one or another shopping path. As for the second study, with the goal of maximizing the total attractiveness value for the visiting customers to retail shops, and 

considering a multi-period tie horizon, we have studied how to determine an assortment of products to be included in display tables. In order to deal with the underlying optimization problem, a biased-randomized heuristic is proposed. In a first stage, it constructs an initial feasible solution. In a second stage, this initial solution is improved by employing a local 

search mechanism A set of instances

has been generated to test the approach. Different product-selection methodologies have been tested to illustrate the potential benefits of the proposed algorithm. Results: The findings of the first study indicate that there are common trigger factors for every shopping channel and for every stage of the purchase path. Regarding the second study, recommending a set 

of correlated and attractive products on retail display tables that vary often is a promising way to engage customers with such an attractive experience. Implications: The result of this research will allow retailers to face omnichannel strategies in such a way that they manage to engage and retain customers avoiding attrition and optimising their investments. Being able 

know what is the best selection of products that best appeal to customers, provides a rationalization of the stock shown at every store and increases productivity of the employees in charge of such stock decisions.There are some people without whom this thesis might not have been written, and to whom I am greatly indebted. To my husband David, for believing in 

Conclusion

me and for pushing me to finish this enormous project, for his love and patience. I know it has not been easy to share time with me. To my advisor Vicenç Fernández for guiding me when I was lost, for sharing his knowledge when I most needed it, and specially for teaching me that less is more. To Dolors Puig, who always thinks I can. To Belen Derqui, for trusting my success and encouraging me to go on. I would also like to dedicate this work to my mother, 

father and my aunts who would have been proud to see me here todaydeclare that the work in this PhD thesis was carried out in accordance with the regulations of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech and the requirements of the Ph.D. program in Business Administration and Management in the Department of Management. Except where indicated by specific reference in the text, the work is the candidate’s own work. Work done in