Economies all over the world suffered a massive blow after the Covid-19 pandemic. The deadly virus led to layoffs and forced the closure of many businesses. The retail landscape was also not spared, and traditional selling tactics don’t seem to work anymore. You might be experiencing a slump in sales lately and are wondering what you can do to get your business back on its feet. A small percentage of retailers were lucky enough to be unaffected by the pandemic but would also like to maintain the good momentum. This article will discuss proven ways to grow your retail store sales.
Don’t Keep Your Customers Waiting In Line
Your customers will abandon your store after they have waited in line for more than eight to ten minutes. You can eliminate the waiting time by hiring more staff and adding more registers to handle the traffic. The faster your clients can be attended to, the more satisfied they will feel.
Hire Smart and Passionate Staff
You might be the one overseeing all the business operations, but your staff is the ones doing the actual selling. When you decide to bring new personnel on board, ensure that they are passionate about their job and knowledgeable about your products. Train your staff to identify your client’s needs and create a memorable customer experience that will increase returning customers. Create a duty roaster to avoid overwhelming them with household chores and give them a chance to interact with customers.
Make Your In-Store Visuals Strong and Fresh
Your customers won’t buy products that look tired and unappealing. Whether on your website or your physical store, ensure your in-store visuals are appealing and neatly arranged. You could take things one step further and create a demonstration of your products in action or allow your shoppers to try them out. You should also ensure you display your best products at the center front of your store and keep refreshing them depending on the current trends and seasons.
Create a Safe Environment for Your Customers
The Covid-19 pandemic is still large, and customers are wary of contracting the deadly disease. The best thing you can do to boost sales is to assure your customers you are concerned about their health. Start by making your safety measures known, such as a mandatory mask mandate. You could also offer a handwashing and sanitization station in your physical shop.
Establish Achievable Sales Goals
If you set too challenging goals, you will end up frustrating and demoralizing your staff. Ideally, your goals should be achieved 70% of the time. Once you have set realistic sales targets, ensure you communicate clearly with your team what you require them to do. Break down large tasks into smaller jobs and keep pushing your staff to achieve their goals.
Stay on Top of Your Inventory
Out-of-stock products result in missed sales opportunities and diminished customer satisfaction. Most customers are less likely to return to your store after they lack what they are looking for. To avoid stock-outs, look at historical data to determine the top products and how fast they are selling. For instance, if a certain brand of alcohol at your liquor store is selling fast, arrange with your wholesaler of alcoholic drinks to ensure you restock as soon as possible. Don’t keep your customers waiting!
Get Real with Your Customers
Authenticity sells, and your customers will want to be associated with your brand if you tell your unique story. Be vulnerable with your customers and share with them why you started your store in the first place. You should also formulate a mission statement that resonates with your why and train your staff to articulate your authentic story to your target audience.
Maintain a Strong Online Presence
Nowadays, it is not enough to run a physical shop if you want more traffic to your business. More and more customers are turning to Google and social media to search for products to buy. Ensure you set up business listings on as many platforms as possible so that your customers can find your store when they type in various keywords. Include details such as your local inventory, physical address, a working phone number, customer reviews, and lots of photos.
Be Associated with a Good Cause
The public loves to support a brand that promotes social responsibility. Giving back to society and supporting a good cause will increase sales and make the world a better place. You could associate yourself with a good reason by sponsoring a community project with a portion of your sales or creating an event or rally that will raise funds solely for a good cause.
Establish a Working Loyalty Program
Design a simple loyalty program that will track your top loyal customers and reward them for sticking with you. You don’t have to go the way of loyalty cards. You could come up with a simple online program that enables your customers to earn points every time they shop with you and redeem their rewards after accumulating a certain number of points. Every time a new customer shops with you, enquire whether they are interested in the loyalty program and add them to the system.
Make Your Customers the Center of Your Business
Being customer-centric is truly understanding what your clients need and solving their unique problems. When you make your customer the center of your business, you will never lose sight of the people you are selling to and why your business can stand on its feet. Anytime you make your customer feel listened to and valued in your shop, rest assured they will be back for more. Once you can study the cultures and deeper behaviors of your target market, you will serve them better.
Wrapping Up
Well, keep in mind that the success of your retail business is not dependent on one single variable. If you want to increase your sales exponentially, you must implement an integrated approach and use a combination of various retail practices to get the best result.
