The Internet has evolved the way customers shop, but surveys show that most still prefer to visit a brick-and-mortar store instead of a website.

According to a survey by Hewlitt Packard, 51 percent of retail shoppers who research products online, ultimately end up buying the product in a store. And 76 percent of smartphone shoppers prefer to ultimately make their purchases in-store.

Likewise, a survey by Continuum Innovation found that 85 percent of people felt satisfied complaining in-person compared to 64 who felt satisfied complaining online. It also found that 73 percent of customers felt more satisfied after returning products in-person, compared to 13 percent who preferred doing it online.

Flonomics research has concluded that while online sales are rising, people feel more comfortable doing business in a physical store. The Internet is mostly used as a research tool for looking up, comparing and reviewing your merchandise.

That means your website should be up-to-date with information that encourages them to come to your store.

One idea for capitalizing on this concept is by using your online presence to offer coupons and discounts, which customers can use on your website or in your store. Hewlitt Packard found that 78 percent of cross-channel shoppers find price offers online that they can’t find in stores. But it also found that less than 25 percent of retailers have the technology or business process to meet this demand.

Survey your own customers in-store and online, find out how they prefer to shop for your brand, optimize your web presence to correlate with that preferred experience and evaluate your hypothesis using the Flonomics Flo Pro people counter.