Tag: In-store experience

The Art & Science to Create a Profitable Store: A Guide to Retail Success

Posted on by Omprasad Devadiga

The retail landscape is constantly evolving, with online shopping becoming increasingly popular. However, brick-and-mortar stores still hold immense value. They offer a tangible shopping experience, build brand loyalty, and provide a platform for human connection. But how do you ensure your store thrives in this competitive environment? The answer lies in mastering a delicate balance – the art and science of retail.

This article delves into five key pillars that contribute to creating a profitable store. Each requires a blend of creativity and data-driven strategies. By implementing these elements, you can transform your store into a destination that attracts customers, drives sales, and ensures long-term sustainability.

Managing Store Profitability: A Numbers Game with a Human Touch

Profitability is the cornerstone of any successful Retail business. In the context of retail, it boils down to maximizing revenue while keeping costs under control. Here are some key aspects to consider:

Understanding Key Metrics: Track essential metrics like sales by product category, gross margins, inventory turnover, conversion rates, and customer acquisition costs. Analyze these metrics regularly to identify areas for improvement.

Pricing Strategy: Develop a pricing strategy that balances profitability with customer value perception. Consider factors like competitor pricing, product cost, and market demand.

Cost Control: Implement strategies to minimize expenses. This includes negotiating with suppliers, optimizing staffing levels, and managing energy consumption.

Promoting High-Margin Products: Focus on promoting products with higher profit margins while ensuring a well-rounded product selection.

Pro Tip: Utilize technology to automate tasks like inventory management and sales reporting. This frees up time to focus on strategic initiatives and customer interactions.

Diagram Suggestion: A simple pie chart could be used to visually represent the breakdown of revenue and expenses, highlighting the profit margin.

In-Store Visual Merchandising: The Silent Salesperson

Visual merchandising is crucial in attracting customers, influencing purchasing decisions, and creating a memorable brand experience. It’s about showcasing your products in a way that is aesthetically pleasing, informative, and encourages engagement.

Store Layout and Design: Create a clear and intuitive store layout that guides customers through the shopping journey. Utilise fixtures and displays to curate product collections and promote specific items.

Signage and Product Labeling: Ensure clear, concise signage that provides product information and guides customers.

Lighting and Color Psychology: Utilize different lighting techniques to highlight products and create a desired atmosphere. Leverage colour psychology to evoke emotions and influence buying behaviour.

Seasonal and Event Displays: Create engaging displays that reflect seasonal trends and special occasions. This injects freshness and excitement into the store environment.

Pro Tip: Regularly update your visual merchandising to keep the store environment fresh and engaging for returning customers.

Local Store Marketing and Area Analysis: Understanding Your Community

Marketing your local store effectively requires a deep understanding of your target audience and the surrounding community. By tailoring your approach, you can build a strong local presence and cultivate loyal customers.

Conduct Market Research: Analyze your local demographics, including age groups, income levels, shopping habits, and competitor landscape. Identify your ideal customer profile to inform your marketing strategies.

Leverage Local Marketing Channels: Utilize local advertising platforms such as newspapers, radio stations, and community events. Develop partnerships with local businesses for cross-promotion opportunities.

Embrace Social Media: Build a strong presence on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Share local store news, promotions, and customer testimonials. Engage with your local community through social media contests and interactive campaigns.

Pro Tip: Encourage customer reviews and testimonials online and in-store. Positive customer feedback builds trust and attracts new potential customers.

Intricacies of Buying, Merchandising, and Inventory Management: A Delicate Balancing Act

Effective buying, merchandising, and inventory management are essential for maintaining store profitability and customer satisfaction. Striking the right balance between having enough stock to meet demand and avoiding overstocking requires meticulous planning.

Buying Strategies: Develop strategies based on sales data, seasonality, and customer preferences. Negotiate competitive prices with suppliers and establish vendor relationships.

Merchandising Decisions: Decide on the quantity and variety of products to stock, considering factors like demand, profitability, and shelf space limitations.

Inventory Management Systems: Implement an inventory management system to track stock levels, prevent stockouts, and optimise reorder points.

Data Analytics: Leverage data analytics to analyse sales trends and identify slow-moving inventory. Implement strategies like promotions or discounts to move excess stock.

Pro Tip: Encourage collaboration between buyers, merchandisers, and sales staff to ensure informed buying decisions and effective product placement based on real-time customer demand.

The Journey to Creating Amazing Customer Experiences at the Store

In today’s competitive retail landscape, a simple transaction is no longer enough. Customers crave experiences that resonate with them emotionally and build lasting brand loyalty. This requires creating a seamless and personalised journey throughout the in-store experience.

Crafting a Memorable First Impression:

Warm and Welcoming Staff: Train your staff to be knowledgeable, friendly, and approachable. Empower them to go beyond basic sales interactions and genuinely connect with customers.

Personalised Service: Utilize technology solutions like cloud-native Unified Commerce Retail Platforms (https://www.etpgroup.com/solutions/understanding-unified-commerce/) to access customer purchase history and preferences. This allows staff to offer personalized product recommendations and cater to individual needs.

Streamlined Checkout Process: To avoid long lines and frustration, ensure a smooth and efficient checkout process. Consider implementing self-checkout options or mobile point-of-sale systems for faster transactions.

Engaging Customers Throughout Their Journey:

Interactive Product Displays: Integrate interactive elements into product displays, such as touchscreens or augmented reality experiences. This allows customers to explore products more engagingly and make informed purchasing decisions.

Omnichannel Integration: Create a seamless omnichannel experience by offering options like click-and-collect or in-store pickup for online purchases. Leverage unified commerce platforms to ensure consistent product information and pricing across all channels. (Consider a subtle mention of ETP Group’s solutions here: “ETP Group, a leading provider of cloud-native Unified Commerce platforms, empowers retailers to achieve seamless omnichannel integration, fostering a cohesive customer experience”).

Community Building: Host in-store events, workshops, or product demonstrations to create a sense of community and brand engagement. This will foster a positive association with your store and encourage repeat visits.

Transforming Transactions into Relationships:

Loyalty Programs: Implement a loyalty program that rewards customers for their purchases and encourages repeat business. Offer personalized rewards and exclusive promotions to incentivize engagement.

Post-Purchase Follow-Up: Send personalized follow-up emails after a purchase to thank customers for their business and offer them additional product recommendations or loyalty program updates.

Gather Customer Feedback: Encourage customer feedback through surveys or in-store feedback stations. Utilize this feedback to identify areas for improvement and enhance the overall customer experience.

Focusing on customer experience as a strategic priority can create a thriving retail environment that fosters customer loyalty and drives long-term success. By embracing the power of technology solutions like cloud-native Unified Commerce Retail Platforms, you can gain valuable customer insights, personalize the customer journey, and ultimately transform your store into a destination that customers love.

Remember:

Creating a profitable and thriving retail store requires a multifaceted approach. By mastering the art of visual merchandising, understanding your local community, and implementing strategic buying and inventory management practices, you can lay a strong foundation. However, in today’s experience-driven retail landscape, true success hinges on fostering remarkable customer experiences. By prioritizing personalized service, leveraging technology for omni-channel integration, and building a sense of community, you can transform your store from a mere transaction point into a cherished destination that cultivates customer loyalty and drives sustainable growth. Remember, the art and science of retail come together to create a winning formula, and with a commitment to these core principles, your store can become a beacon of success in the ever-evolving retail landscape.

How to Increase Retail Sales in 2024

Posted on by Omprasad Devadiga

Raise your hand if you’d like to improve your retail store’s sales.

Whether you’re looking to build on the positive momentum or trying to fix a dip in sales, you’re in the right place.

We’ve curated a list of tried-and-true things they’ve done that had a measurable impact on their sales.

Let’s dive in!

  • Focus on the customer service
  • Prioritize your customers
  • Turn your store into a destination
  • Refresh your in-store displays
  • Reduce wait times
  • Generate more online awareness
  • Increase in-store foot traffic
  • Set up a customer loyalty program
  • Level up your staff training
  • Focus on upsells and cross-sells

 

1. Focus on the customer experience

Your employees are your store’s front line. They’re the ones interacting with customers, creating positive connections and actually selling your products, so it makes sense to invest in them. To get your staff to effectively drive in-store sales, it’s important to:

  • Hire passionate people: When a sales associate is passionate for the products they sell, it seeps into how they interact with customers and makes them more likely to create positive interactions.
  • Focus on the customer’s needs: While sales are certainly important, actively listening to customers is even more so. By listening to what the customer says, sales associates can identify their pain points and better find a way to solve them through the products they sell.
  • Emphasize the importance of personalized interactions: There’s no cookie-cutter way to work in sales. Actively listening to a customer’s wants and needs helps a sales associate find the product that’s right for them.

A retail store is a great touchpoint where you can engage with your customers directly and help them solve their problems. Offering great in-store customer service that simply can’t be replicated online is the key to more lifelong retail customers (and sales).

Make your customers your top priority. Which brings us to the next point…

2. Prioritize your customers

Being customer-centric is something that every retailer should aspire to be. It really comes down to understanding what your customers want and making their needs your top priority. That doesn’t just end at having the products they want in stock. It starts by making customers feel good.

If your sales associates treat the people that walk into your store like people, you’re heading in the right direction. Nobody likes being sold to, so enough with the pressure sales tactics. Just have a conversation with the customer, find out what they need and propose a few solutions that match their price point. If they like your service (and the product), they’ll come back.

If you don’t carry the product that your customer truly needs, don’t be afraid to recommend it to them anyway and tell them where they can buy it. They’ll appreciate the help and your sales associate will establish trust with the customer. When that customer comes back to your store, they’re far more likely to trust your sales associates as a result. Think long-term relationship-building, not short-term sales!

The most successful retailers are obsessed with their customers and making them happy. Are you?

3. Turn your store into a destination

Customers crave unique, creative and memorable in-store experiences. Not only does that include approachable, knowledgeable staff (that’s a given), it also means rethinking the way your store operates. People are so accustomed to the typical store setup: there are products, salespeople and a cash register—boring. Some companies have pioneered a new store format called experiential retail.

In a nutshell, what that means is that the store’s goal is more than just to sell products; it’s to create an immersive experience that focuses on customer engagement. And they achieve that with interactive product demos and fun activities that are related to the products they sell.

For example, a visionary mattress store has provided nap pods that people can rent for a 30-minute nap. They come fully-equipped with an original mattress, sheets, and pillows, along with a bathroom to freshen up after your nap. If people enjoy their nap, their perception of the brand’s products is positive and the probability that they will make a purchase and become brand evangelists is higher.

There’s science to back this up, too. When a person touches and interacts with a product, they’re more likely to develop an affinity for that product.

In an article published by Harvard Business Review, Lawrence Williams, a marketing professor at Leeds School of Business, says “Physically holding products can create a sense of psychological ownership, driving must-have purchase decisions. This idea may underlie the push to move inventory from display cases into customers’ hands, a trend seen in many electronics outlets such as the Apple Store.” Pretty cool, huh?

Experiential retail is blowing up and there are tons of ways you can apply the concept in your store. We teamed up with Cate Trotter, Founder of Insider Trends, to cover this topic in-depth—read her piece below!

4. Refresh your in-store merchandising

Assembling persuasive in-store merchandising is part art, part data.

You use data to pinpoint which products are typically bought together, and you use your creativity to make those products look irresistible.

Good in-store merchandising will have no clutter. The only things that your eyes are drawn to are their products. Displays that are too busy will just overwhelm your customers and make your store look cluttered and unkempt. The store planogram has to be well organized. Every product has its place. It’s easy for customers to find what they’re looking for faster, which contributes to a better overall shopping experience.

Related products are grouped together. Notice that pants and shirts from matching color palettes are next to one another. (Hint: if you want to see which of your products are typically bought together using ETP Omni-channel Analytics, just check out your Products Frequently Bought Together report.

Must-have, low-cost accessories are nearby. Odds are, if you’re buying stylish gym gear, you need a bag to carry it in, right? The store will therefore place their tote bags next to their gym gear for exactly that reason.

5. Reduce wait times

Long wait times to pay are a big turn-off for customers and can cripple your sales. Research shows that most customers will typically abandon a checkout line and leave a store after waiting just six to eight minutes before heading for the door. The best way to stop losing sales due to long checkout lineups? Eliminate them altogether.

Brick-and-mortar retailers need to “banish the wait in line, once and for all” to avoid losing sales. But how do you do that?

It starts with scheduling enough sales associates to serve customers quickly even during peak hours. In ETP Analytics, you can easily see when your peak business hours are in the Sales by Hour of Day report. Use that information to make sure you schedule enough workers to assure you’re promptly serving each customer.

Next, why not eliminate cash registers altogether?

Unlike traditional cash registers and in-premise point of sale (POS) systems, cloud-based POS systems and mobile POS systems enable sales associates to serve customers and ring up sales from anywhere in the store. Retail MPOS helps customers get in and out of your store as fast as possible, which is what most of them want anyway.

Ring up sales from anywhere – with ETP’s mPOS software – ETP Mobile Store, you can eliminate customer wait times and reduce lost sales, all while offering amazing service.

6. Generate more online awareness

‘Clicks and bricks’ isn’t just a catchy line; it’s literally how consumers shop now.

Last year, more than 80% of retail purchases were made by first using online search. Increasingly, people are researching what to buy and where to buy it online before ever setting foot in-store. When they get to the store, those multichannel shoppers spend an average of three times more than single-channel shoppers.

Of course, retailers should have an online presence, but that doesn’t just mean having a transactional website. Things like a Google My Business (GMB) profile, Facebook and Instagram are amazing tools to get discovered by more potential customers in your area.

With a little bit of work, you can make it easier for people to find your store online, research what products you offer and get directions. Your goal is to make it as easy as possible for customers to see that you have what they need.

Setting up a GMB profile and optimizing your Facebook and Instagram accounts for local online searches isn’t as hard as you may think.

7. Increase in-store foot traffic

What good is online awareness if nobody is actually visiting your brick-and-mortar store or buying online? It’s not worth very much.

Part of that is getting a transactional eCommerce store up and running; the other part is showing customers that your brick-and-mortar store has what customers are looking for.

There are several ways to incentivize customers who discover your store online to visit and make a purchase.
Organize in-store events. The benefit? If a customer is interested, they have to visit your store. Things like weekly clubs, workshops and hands-on events are a great way to build a community and generate more visits.

Run exclusive in-store offers. Nobody likes passing up a great deal. Try offering a free giveaway for in-store purchases, or featuring certain items available exclusively in-store.

Show inventory levels online. People are more likely to visit your store if they know you have what they’re looking for. With ETP Omni-channel Inventory Management solutions, you can show your brick-and-mortar inventory levels online in real-time at the click of a button.

Offer free in-store pickup. This option benefits both you and your customers. For them, they can avoid paying for shipping, while you save on shipping costs.

8. Set up a loyalty program

A loyalty program incentivizes customers to purchase more to unlock personalized rewards. It’s a super accessible way to increase customer lifetime value while rewarding your customer’s loyalty to your business. When customers can use their loyalty program points to discount future purchases, you can bet they’re going to take advantage.

9. Don’t treat product returns like a loss

Returns happen, and when they do, customers should get the same great service as when they bought the item. Put yourself in their shoes. The product didn’t work out; they’re disappointed, too.

Treat each return like a sale and serve them willingly and with a smile. It makes the customer feel like they’re valued for more than just their hard-earned money, which creates an emotional sense of loyalty.

If they appreciate your service, they’re more likely to make another purchase at your store. Make the process quick and painless, and most important of all: treat your customers with positive intent.

Of course, there are serial-returners out there who will try to take advantage, but a loyal customer base that consistently shops at your store because of great service more than makes up for that minority.

10. Focus on upsells and cross-sells

Upsells and cross-sales can add up; have you considered making them a part of your sales strategy? When done wrong, it can make your sales associates (and your store’s reputation) look dodgy and self-serving. But when done right, it’s just flat-out great customer service.

With upselling, you should train sales associates to use the rule of three. Take the item that the customer was initially interested in (for example, a pair of running shoes) and show the customer three different models at three different price points (entry-level, mid-level and high-end). This is the best way to upsell since it shows the customer that you understand their needs. You want to show them everything that’s available so that they can make the most informed decision possible. You’re not pressuring them; you’re informing them.

With cross-selling, you should apply a similar approach: don’t try and sell a customer something they don’t actually need. Going back to the shoe example, an illustration of an authentic cross-sell would be educating the shoe shopper on the various types of running socks: from expensive compression socks and moisture-wicking ones to the generic cotton socks. Educate them on the differences between the three and let them choose what’s best for them.

With cross-selling, another important factor is “does this purchase make sense?” For shoes, socks are pretty much a given, but sometimes it can be tricky. The best way to find out if a customer needs anything else is to simply ask, “Could I help you with anything else today?” After all, a sales associate’s job is to facilitate the customer’s needs and offer solutions. Suggestive selling is the most authentic way to do that without coming across as an overly-pushy, selfish salesperson.

Summing up, hopefully you can use the above tips and tricks to increase retail sales. Ultimately, it comes down to prioritizing your customers and understanding that you’re in the business of serving them.

From your staff to the systems you use to run your store, everything and everyone’s job should be to create more “wow” moments and earn their trust; the sales will naturally follow.

Want to create an efficient in-store experience that your customers will love? Talk to one of our retail experts today to see how ETP V5 can help!

Top 5 Retail Trends

Posted on by admin

The retail industry is continuously evolving with increasing complexity and momentum. Fluctuating demographics, domestic downscaling, savvier consumers, multiple information and business channels, and trends require nimble, flexible and intuitive models and processes to manage customer expectations, stay relevant and increase profitability. Retailing is rapidly and perhaps irreversibly becoming an industry that must tailor its offerings to its customers, in order to win them over and foster greater loyalty. Well, the future is here and here are its most important retail trends:

Top 5 Retail Trends in 2015 | Retail Software | etpgroup.com

Personalized In-store Experience: A recent Infosys survey reported that 78 percent of consumers are more likely to be a repeat customer if a retailer provides them with targeted, personalized offers. The burgeoning competition and the homogenous products and service market space has resulted in customers cutting ties and ending long-standing loyalty, post even a single unsatisfactory shopping experience. Delivering the right store experience has become and will continue to be vital in order to differentiate one’s brand from the competition and also increase repeat sales and overall productivity. Falling short of customer expectation in this regard leads to negative word-of-mouth, which is often more freely dispersed amongst family, friends and co-workers.

Right Business Intelligence: The retail analytics market is estimated to grow from $ 1.88 billion in 2014 to $4.4 billion by 2019. Business Intelligence technology helps retailers effectively reach consumers, reduce operational time and costs and allocate their resources more efficiently. Most importantly, it lends the marketing and operational ingenuity to make better strategic decisions, accurate targets and devise fail-safes. Gartner recently revealed that “Leading business intelligence (BI) vendors will shift the emphasis of their new product investment from IT-authored production reports to business-user-driven data discovery and analysis tools.” This trend shall gain more impetus through increasing adoption of Cloud Technology, Mobile and Big Data applications for analytics which contribute to the mass implementation of IT in retail.

Chuck the “Hard-Sell”: In the year 2015, brands will employ processes and people that impart likability and approachability to induce a solution-based dialogue and build relationships. The cool clinical expertise approach is swapped with regular staff training to arm all customer-facing employees with the right tools to be more perceptive and engaging. Business is done between people, not companies – customers first learn to trust and be comfortable with the person representing the brand or the company. This is followed by building enough customer inclination to venture understanding brand offerings, consume products and services and become loyalists.

Omni Channel Shopping: Consumers expect a consistent and seamless shopping experience, regardless of the channel they choose to engage, at any given time. Forrester Research expects $ 1.8 trillion in retail sales via online and web-influenced channels in the year 2017. The line between physical and digital touch-points will continue to blur. Today, the customer’s retail journey is non-stop – dynamic, accessible, and constant. According to Teradata, by 2015, a company’s digital strategy will influence at least 80% of a consumer’s discretionary spending. While retail stores remain relevant and the nerve-center for the industry, accurate omni-channel strategies will help retailers increase volume of sales and revenue via other channels.

Emerging Markets: Retail organizations are beginning to understand the brimming potential of markets within Brazil, China and India. To give an example of how these hyper-growth markets are geared to change the world’s retail landscape – By year 2020, 53 percent of the world’s retail consumption will be from Asia alone. Companies from the emerging world are increasingly becoming major players in global markets—the BRICs now account for 75 of the Fortune 500, compared with just 29 in 2005. Retailers will expand operations to these countries, exploring unique opportunities of each market.

The retail industry is being beckoned by booming opportunities across continents, despite cultural disparities and local limitations. Each retail enterprise needs to set their own course and business trajectory which will determine eventual success. From the above trends, it is fairly easy to establish the large role technology continues to play in our lives. Retailers who adopt, build and integrate stable, scalable IT in their business shall remain resourceful and ready to unlock the market potential.