As bricks-and-mortar retailers are trying to enhance their in-store experiences, new options are emerging to help close the gap between online and in-store experiences. However, many retailers are still struggling to find the best way of combining e-commerce with in-store shopping to create a consistent retail experience.

To help you get some inspiration, here's our Top 3 innovative ideas to implement in your shop in the city center.

1. In-Store Online Payments

Blends the ease and convenience of online electronic payment with the reassuring comfort of in-store shopping by eliminating the cash register in their stores and having salespeople handle the sales transaction on smartphones before sending customer receipts via email.

2. Virtual Shop

From Virtual Mirrors, that overlay a digital image on top of a normal mirror allowing the customer to see how clothing fits, to complete Virtual Stores, which are essentially a display of products on walls where customers, could scan the QR codes of the products on display with their smartphones, and place their orders to then pick them up at the actual store.

3. Indoor Location with Beacons

Day by day more shops implement technology like beacons to be able to provide fully targetted and location aware experiences to their customers like, for example, a 20% discount notification sent directly to their smartphone as soon as they approach the store or a certain section of it.