Why Making It Easy for Customers Is the Smartest Strategy Independent Retailers Can Adopt
According to the National Retail Federation’s Consumer View report, 97% of U.S. shoppers have backed out of a purchase because it was inconvenient. Not because of price or quality, but because the process of buying was too difficult, too slow, or too frustrating. The same study found that 83% of consumers say convenience is more important now than it was five years ago, and 93% are more likely to choose a retailer based on convenience.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley Research found that consumers will pay up to 5% more for convenience, with 77% citing it as a key factor in their purchasing decisions. For independent retailers, this is both a wake-up call and an enormous opportunity. The big box stores engineer convenience at scale, but they cannot replicate the personal, relationship-driven ease that a thoughtful independent retailer delivers in-store.
The Owner’s Lens vs. the Consumer’s Lens
The most common convenience mistake is designing your business through your own lens rather than the customer’s. A perfect example: choosing an all-in-one technology platform because it gives you a single dashboard for POS, inventory, email, and your website. From your side, it is efficient. But often, these all-in-one solutions are not focused on the customer experience; they aren’t tested for friction points that slow sales, they lack ways for the business to create custom experiences that connect with today’s digital buyer, and cookie-cutter emails miss the mark in nurturing or converting.
The data on checkout friction is stark. Baymard Institute found that 48% of online carts are abandoned due to unexpected extra costs at checkout, 26% due to requiring account creation, and 18% due to processes that are too long or too complicated. Their research shows that the average checkout has 5.1 steps and 11.3 form elements, and that better checkout design alone could increase conversion rates by 35%. Every piece of technology you adopt should be evaluated from the customer’s perspective first: go through your own purchase journey on your phone and count every click, every form field, and every moment of friction.
The same principle applies to in-store experiences and store policies. When checkout requires a phone number before completing a sale, or your return policy demands an original receipt for a credit card purchase you could look up in the system, you are prioritizing your convenience over theirs. NRF data shows that 40% of in-store shoppers say checkout is when convenience matters most. If the moment a customer tries to hand you money is the moment you make their life harder, something needs to change. That’s why I personally leave my basket by the register at my local Target when only the self-checkout lane is open and it’s backed up with people with carts full of items.
Your Return Policy Is a Sales Tool
For many online retailers, return policies are written as defensive documents. But the data shows they are among your most powerful sales drivers. An ICSC survey found that return policies influence 82% of consumers’ purchasing decisions, and 79% will not buy from stores that charge return shipping fees. Signifyd’s research shows 62% of shoppers buy more from a merchant after a positive return experience.
Counterintuitively, a UT Dallas meta-analysis found that longer return deadlines decrease return rates, likely because the longer a customer owns a product, the more attached they become, or the more forgetful they are, and they miss the return window (this definitely happens to me). Extend your window, make your policy visible on every product page, and, if you have a physical location, offer buy online, return in store. When ICSC surveyed shoppers facing return shipping charges, nearly 80% said they would go to a physical store instead, bringing foot traffic and additional purchases with them.
What Other Industries Prove About Convenience
Hotels tell the story clearly. A 2025 Mews survey of 2,000 U.S. travelers found that 70% prefer self-check-in via app or kiosk over the front desk, rising to 82% among Gen Z. The business impact is striking: guests who use kiosk check-in are 3x more likely to purchase upsells, generating nearly 70% more revenue per check-in. Removing friction from the initial experience not only makes guests happier; it also increases their spending. This is why I encourage my retail jewelers to create more digital in-store experiences. Most of today’s buying community has spent their lives on digital devices playing or learning. Today’s rising spenders grew up smartphone-first, not TV-first, and they find tactile in-store experiences far more persuasive than many retailers realize or accommodate.
Buy online, pickup in store shows the same pattern. U.S. BOPIS sales were projected at $154.3 billion by 2025, growing 13.6% annually. The stat that matters most for independent retailers: 85% of BOPIS shoppers make an additional purchase at pickup. If you have a physical location and sell online, offering customers the option to pick up in-store is not a technology problem; it is a mindset shift that turns every online order into a foot-traffic opportunity. BOPIS is now a standard expectation in luxury and premium retail journeys, where shoppers want online convenience but still expect an in-store touchpoint before committing.
The Physical Store Advantage
Your store has something Amazon cannot replicate (and they have tried), but only if it is organized to attract the customers you want. When a clothing retailer arranges racks by vendor, that serves as inventory. When they organize by size, color, or occasion, that serves the shopper who walked in looking for a navy dress for a wedding. Visual merchandising research shows that 80% of purchase decisions are made in store, that shoppers spend 20% more time in well-designed spaces, and that using complementary color strategies can increase sales by up to 35%.
The biggest missed opportunity occurs when an item is out of stock. Instead of a shrug and a “sorry,” the convenience-minded retailer offers to order it with free shipping to the customer’s home, provides a QR code linking to the product online, or sets up a “notify me” text alert. Every unrecovered out-of-stock moment is revenue walking out the door. I guide my clients to keep out-of-stock items live on their websites as well, for two reasons: one, it impacts SEO; and two, it’s an opportunity to say, “Let’s custom design something like this for you.”
Building Your Convenience Strategy: A Practical Framework
Everything in this article comes down to a single principle: every touchpoint in your customer’s journey either adds convenience or adds resistance. There is no neutral. Here is a framework for auditing and improving convenience across your retail business:
Step 1: Walk the Customer Journey Yourself
Start from the very beginning. Search for your store online as if you have never heard of it. Navigate to your website. Browse products. Add something to your cart. Go through checkout. Try to find your return policy. Now, do it again on your phone. Time every step. Note every moment where you felt confused, annoyed, or slowed down. Those moments are revenue leaks. Be sure to set your intention before you start. What do you intend to buy, or what services do you want to know about?
Step 2: Audit Your Policies Through the Consumer’s Lens
Print out every customer-facing policy: returns, shipping, exchanges, loyalty programs, privacy, payment methods. For each one, ask: Does this exist to protect my business, or does it exist to serve my customer? Where those two things conflict, find a way to rewrite the policy to achieve both.
Step 3: Identify Your Biggest Friction Points
Using the metrics outlined above, identify where you are losing people. Is it cart abandonment? In-store checkout speed? Return complexity? Online navigation? Focus your first convenience investments on the highest-friction, highest-volume touchpoints.
Step 4: Implement One Change at a Time and Measure
Do not overhaul everything at once. Identify the highest-impact friction point and address it. Simplify your checkout. Extend your return window. Add BOPIS. Reorganize one section of your store by customer need rather than vendor category. Example: For jewelry stores, set up a case with the most popular Birthday Gifts, include a QR Code, and add signage to help your buyer. Inconvenience can also stem from analysis paralysis, which is why, on the website, we show 5 people who have just purchased this item notifications: it creates a psychological connection to acceptance and a more confident purchase. Then measure the impact over 8 to 10 weeks before moving to the next change.
Step 5: Ask Your Customers
This is the simplest and most underutilized step. After a purchase, ask: “How easy was it to shop with us?” On your website, add an exit intent survey: “Is there anything that made your shopping experience difficult today?” The data from conversational research (what customers actually say), combined with behavioral data (what they actually do), gives you a complete picture of where convenience is winning and where it is failing.
Measure It, and Know They’ll Pay for It
Track cart abandonment rate, checkout completion time, and return reasons in the short term. Over the long term, monitor repeat purchase frequency, customer lifetime value, BOPIS attachment rates, and the percentage of pickup customers who also browse and buy. Give every convenience improvement 8 to 10 weeks before drawing conclusions; the impact compounds as trust builds and friction-related losses quietly disappear. (Note: if you do not market, publicize, or promote your new convenience improvements, you won’t see the growth you expect)
And know that the investment pays back. NRF found that two thirds of consumers will pay more for convenience across categories: groceries, clothing, electronics, and personal care. McKinsey reports that Gen Z spending is growing twice as fast as that of previous generations at the same age, with this generation on pace to outspend baby boomers globally by 2029. Their tolerance for friction is effectively zero. You do not have to be the cheapest. You have to be the easiest.
The Bottom Line
The big chains optimize for scale. The ecommerce giants optimize for speed. Neither can optimize for the personal, thoughtful, relationship-driven convenience a well-run independent store delivers. Examine every step of your customer’s experience and ask: Is it easy? Is it fast? Does it respect their time? When the answer is yes across every touchpoint, you will have built the kind of competitive advantage no algorithm, no discount, and no overnight shipping promise can replicate.
