As a retailer, you know that your most important asset is your customer base. It wouldn’t be a business without customers! One of the best ways to thrive is to encourage customer loyalty.
You’re 14 times more likely to sell to an existing happy customer than you are to a new customer. Businesses that grow their customer retention rate by as little as 5% see an increase in profits from 25% to 95%, according to Kissametrics!
It’s important to know not every business is perfect, but if you learn from your downfalls you’ll be a much stronger brand for customers. We’re going to address some of the top mistakes retailers make that chase away shoppers!
Price over quality
Sales are important to keeping a company afloat but so are customers! And if YOUR local customers can’t afford to pay for your pricey products you should definitely consider that a lesson, because you won’t make many sales!
It swings both ways though, thinking all customers wants is the cheapest price isn’t the best either. Selling your product cheap, tells a customer that the product is cheap and the quality won’t last, as they will find out once bought.
Your first step is doing your research and contracting a manufacturer that can sell you products of good quality at an affordable price so that you can reciprocate this in your store!
“You don’t sell based on your wallet or your needs, but on the shopper in front of you.” – Bob Phibbs The Retail Doctor
Store Operations
By operations we mean everything about the store! There’s nothing worse than an unorganised store!
- Service
- Product placement
- Customer journey
- The overall look
When a customer walks into a store their journey from the door to the ending sale is so important. Just remember that first impressions count, and will stick! If the outside of your store doesn’t look inviting, customers won’t even take that first step. A spruced up store will do wonders for your curb appeal. Once inside, impress the customer. Make sure to keep your shelves stocked and organised at all times, keep the aisles free from clutter and give everything a dust or a mop as often as possible!
Visual Merchandising is an easy marketing technique that innovative stores use to capture the customers attention. It allows you to be creative with the layout of your store and products to influence purchasing habits. This Visual Merchandising blog will advise you more if you’re interested in improving…
If your store operations aren’t in check your whole mission will fail! If you want to know more about improving your overall store dynamics, check out our How To Improve The In Store Shopping Experience blog.
Employee Neglect
If you don’t look after your employees properly, IT SHOWS! Many stores will throw their employees straight onto the shop floor without proper training and expect them to succeed. If you want your customers to leave your store happy and satisfied with their shopping experience then your employees need to reflect the attitude you want to get across to customers.
Proper training and support is essential to ensuring your employee feels comfortable and happy in their position, if they don’t then majority of the time your customer will pay for that which isn’t a great overall impression of your brand.
There is nothing worse as a customer than asking for help in a store and the employee’s either looking miserable or giving you attitude. Nip that in the bud first and you’re half way there! How about offering your employee an exciting incentive for their hard work, like a competition!
For more ideas on improving your employees customer service skills, take a look at this blog!
Change is good!
Retailers often stretch themselves thin in their efforts to do it all… Keeping this in mind, it’s important for retailers to welcome external vendors and business partners to support them in their collective efforts of achieving retail success. Recognise when you might need help!
Some retailers are trapped by their own culture, clinging to the past. Consumers want something different and some retailers need to jump on the innovative band wagon! Exciting, innovative and compelling stores are going up in the world of retail at the moment, so what can you change to engage your customers?
The biggest mistake anyone can make is thinking incrementally in a world that’s changing exponentially. Change with the world. Find different ways you can better your store for your customer… We’ll start you off with a couple service ideas.
What additional services could you offer your customers?
According to the ACS Local Shop Report 2019, a post office makes the most positive impact on local areas out of 14 types of services! Convenience stores come in close behind in second place, so could you imagine combining the two?!
A cash machine is a healthy investment for a shop, not only does it increase your footfall but it benefits your customers. 76% of customers pay in cash, which means they need easy access to cash from somewhere local…. it’ll increase your footfall as customers will be coming in to use your cash machine.
For more service ideas, check out “What instore services would make my store better”.
Promotional Efforts
Without promotion, customers won’t see the efforts you’re making in your store, the effort is then wasted. Too many innovative stores go unnoticed because their brand isn’t out there, if a shopper hasn’t heard of you or seen your store it’s probably because your brand and service isn’t bold enough. Save your brand!
Taking advantage of deals and offers is always a great way to engage customers. Who doesn’t love a bargain? We’re not saying constant discounts are a great idea, you don’t want your sales rates to drop. But when a popular holiday is on its way, come up with a few fun deals to get your customers engaged and excited!
Advertisement is what promotes a store and their offers. How will your customers know about the fantastic deals you’re offering if you haven’t physically told them? A door drop with a leaflet could be a nice way to encourage locals and customer to visit your store, or even discount posters for seasonal offers. Window displays can catch a customers eye as well, even something so small as a pavement sign!
Stop making avoidable mistakes
We all make mistakes they’re certainly part of every retailer’s journey. And while committing errors almost always provides a learning experience, recognise that you can also learn and grow by avoiding certain mistakes.
