Festive shopping Archives

Merry shopping and prosperous retailing!

Posted on December 19, 2016December 19, 2016 by admin

Christmas and New Year are just around the corner and shopping during this time of the year is at its peak. Amongst the festive shopping chaos, retailers and shoppers need to get their act right so that they do not miss out on anything – the maximum margins for retailers, and the right products for shoppers.

While shoppers – they are the ones who are connected – have the power of choice, the option of using multiple channels and alternatives through intense competition amongst brands. At this juncture, shoppers only know one thing, to get what they want, and they would not hesitate to switch between channels or for that matter even between brands, to do that. It is at this juncture that retail businesses can seize the opportunity to make their mark on the customers and step ahead of their competition.

Here’s how:

Connecting all the way – Gone are the days when the transaction marked the end of the sale and engagements were limited to product queries and purchases. Today, when customer expectations have reached new heights, better customer interaction is one of the necessities for retail owners to take cognizance of. They need to constantly engage with their customers, right from the product research stage till the next purchase, and it does not end there. Some benefits of connected retailing would be nurturing brand-customer relationships, enhancing customer loyalty, knowing the customers purchase history better and tailoring offerings to the customer’s tastes.

Choice is bliss – It should be the top prerogative of the retail businesses to add to the festive cheers by offering customers ample choices – be it products, prices, channels, promotions, and so on. Having said that, retailers should not overwhelm their customers with choices such that they are unable to make a decision. Rather, they should help their customers in choosing the right product that would be the best fit for the customers’ needs. Having the required quantity of merchandise and inventory, appropriate pricing of products, relevant and attractive promotions, and cross-channel operations are some of the necessary measures retailers need to take for providing a better and choicest shopping experience.

Creating the ho, ho, ho omni-channel experience – Retail businesses need to go omni-channel as it is the new norm and there are no two ways about it. If a customer would like to research for a product online, purchase the product in the store and expects it to be delivered at home, the retailer needs to manage the whole process seamlessly and satisfy the customer’s expectation. This would delight the customer since they are being offered a unified and seamless experience throughout their shopping journey regardless of the channel they choose to interact with. Investing in the right omni-channel retail solutions will allow retailers to spread the festive joy through superior customer experience and ring in more sales.

To make the Christmas shopping season truly merry, retail businesses need to be connected with their customers all the time, help them with the right choice, and provide them with a seamless omni-channel customer experience. This will help the retailers and their customers have a happy and prosperous New Year.

How to make discounting work!

Posted on November 28, 2016December 19, 2016 by admin

The festive season is synonymous with shopping and sales. Year after year, the festive shopping season gets more demanding, basically due to two main factors – increase in the number of shoppers and rise in the competition amongst retail businesses. While more shoppers is certainly good news to the business, tough competition can be detrimental to success in the festive shopping arena.

One of the most common and probably one of the most effective techniques used by retail businesses to attract shoppers is offering festive discounts. Discount based promotions are a popular crowd puller but in the modern day retail, planning and executing discounts the right way can be a huge challenge. Retailers need to make sure that customers are finding their offers better than the others. At the same time, they also need to ensure that they are not gouging a hole in their own pockets while offering markdowns or free of charge products.

Here are some simple tips that retail businesses can use to make discounting work:

Defining objectives: This is an important step that retailers need to take while thinking about discounts. They need to clearly define the purpose of running a sale or a promotion and ensure that it is aligned with the overall business objective. The purpose could be varied, such as, looking for new customers, encouraging repeat purchases, selling off old stock and so on. Based on the purpose, retailers can decide what kind of offers they need to plan and execute, when to run the promotion campaigns offering the discounts and which products should they be offering discounts on. Further, the performance of the promotion can be tracked and measured effectively when the purpose is clear.

Segment right: Once the purpose is defined, next is to identify the target audience to whom the discounts would be offered. This includes segmenting shoppers in to different buckets so that more relevant and attractive discounts can be offered to each. Shoppers can be segmented based on their purchase history, their buying preferences, their budgets, demographics and more. Shoppers would be more eager to receive offers that are most appealing to them.

Mindful of margins: Retail business owners need to be mindful of their margins while running offers and discounts. Based on the objectives and customer segments, they need to set an acceptable margin so that they don’t end up giving away too much and running into losses.

Creatively strategize: Once retailers have their objectives defined, they know which customer segments need to be targeted and they have set their acceptable range of margin, they should then draw up strategies and define the business rules for running the promotions. While doing so, retail owners should get creative through techniques such as clever pricing, highlighting new products, offering different discounts for varied set of customers.

Execute and monitor: Next, it is time to get your promotions engine running and track its performance against set KPIs that have been predefined keeping in mind the objectives, margin, customer segments and plans. Constantly and proactively tracking and tweaking the promotion campaigns for improving performance is necessary to reap maximum benefits from discounts.

Offering discounts is a tested and proven technique for retailers to make the most of the shopping season, but it is important that it is done right.

10 Tips to add that extra bling to the festive season sales and profits

Posted on November 24, 2016December 19, 2016 by admin

As the festive season is in progress, there is a lot retailers can do to bank more sales and boost profits as much as possible. The key is to be proactively prepared. If retail businesses expect to grab larger portions of the festive shopping cake, it is up to the retailers to take charge and make it happen.

1. Have enough product on hand
Plan for sufficient buffer stock to meet the targeted sales volume for the season. Keep the warehouse inventory handy and the display amply stocked so customers have feel spoilt for choice.

2. Focus on cross-selling and upselling
Identify which potential products can be coupled for sales to add value to a sale (cross-selling) and products that have big-ticket or upgraded models that can be suggested for customers to consider (upselling). Slow-moving items can be offered as complementary products or repackaged as a special buy in combination with best-sellers to get the slow movers out the door.

3. Stand apart from the competition
Highlight the most distinctive features of the mainstream merchandise with the right communication or offer some new and unique products that cannot be found elsewhere, to attract the attention of curious customers looking for the latest in the season.

4. Deck the stores to a “happy place” to encourage sales
Set the festive ambience at the stores with the right paraphernalia to match the season – merchandise displays, lighting, colours, music and such other means to delight customers. Focus on creating a space that is shopper friendly.

5. Collect all the customer data you can
The festive season will bring in new customers. Capture every customer’s data. Further, track and analyze their buying behavior and preferences to spot which products are trending up and which are getting eluded to be able to personalize offerings and boost loyalty.

6. Know your customer
Know what customers are really looking for in terms of shopping experience in the festive season. Take the time and effort to ask questions and receive actionable feedback from all channels. Understand the demographics of the region and choose your product offerings accordingly.

7. Keep product knowledge a priority
Make sure in-store salespeople know the product features and benefits thoroughly. Moreover store staff should be well versed with the technology at the counters to be able to service customers faster. Ensure product features and USPs are clearly highlighted for easy reference.

8. Improve customer service
Focus on customer centricity by understanding customers better and then servicing them accordingly. Employ technologies to enhance customer service particularly during peak business periods and to ensure safe transactions. Enhanced customer experience can help induce repeat purchases.

9. Plan for the last-minute frenzy
Employ the right skills and technologies to handle in-store as well as online traffic on the e-commerce website. Keep the supply chain engine running through the season to ensure sufficient stock is always handy through careful planning and allocation of stocks across all retail touch points.

10. Manage finances to last the season
Plan the pre-season stock allocation and in-season procurement of inventory to last through the entire festive shopping season, which is starting earlier and lasting longer each year. This makes it crucial to handle budgets accordingly.

Focus On The Four Fear Factors Of Festive Shopping

Posted on September 13, 2016December 14, 2016 by admin

There is plenty of advice out there for retailers on how to get ready for the shopping frenzy that they experience and if managed right, enjoy during the festive shopping season every year. Buzzwords such as mobile optimization and omni-channel experiences are good to hear, but when it comes down to milking the cow during the most revenue generating part of the year, the transaction is at the heart of the holiday season shopping experience.

Customers worry about price, secure transactions and right product availability when spending their festive dollars both online and offline (in-store) and they are depending upon you to dispel those fears. For retailers, that means addressing the four fear factors that concern shoppers:

Product: To realize maximum profits, it is of optimum essence to plan your pre-season and in-season omni-channel merchandise and inventory right. Even at a time when the offline and online are merging to enhance shopper experiences, customers prefer to complete their festive shopping hassle free, one stop. So it is vital to stock the right product in the right channel and the right quantity at the right time. This will also help you to get through the entire festive season effectively, avoid stockout situations which usually result in unhappy or lost customers and ensure that you do not end up with excess stock at the end of the season.

Pricing: With many retailers offering similar products across multiple channels, shoppers are spoilt for options. In this situation, price usually becomes the deciding factor between a sale and a no-sale. Hence, along with the right inventory, you need to price your merchandise right across each channel. Additionally, you need to analyze the profit margins on individual seasonal products. If you can’t make a profit after the season is over with the left over merchandise, you may want to consider offering a markdown on the time sensitive products during the season.

Promotions: A steady number of shoppers are seen to be actively planning their festive shopping early, looking for deals and promotions to compare their best buying options. They have more locations to purchase from, both online and in-store including pop-ups, more discounts to compare and more information at their fingertips about the products they want. Hence, it is imperative that you plan, roll-out and modify your festive promotions and campaigns early as well as on the fly in-season.

Protection: With a plethora of transactions taking place due to the rise in shopping activity during the festive season, it is necessary to protect shoppers’ payment card data and ensure secure transactions across channels. You must take measures to make payment card transactions safe for your customers, no matter which channel they use for buying from your retail business, by employing a payment application that helps you do just that by protecting the heart of the festive shopping experience – the transaction.

ETP’s Omni-Channel Retail Solutions can help you put to rest all the above fear factors effectively and efficiently. The ETP Merchandise Planner helps you plan and manage cross-channel merchandise and inventory taking cues from previous seasons and industry data. It also enables you to manage pricing for all your products across each channel. The ETP Accelerator equips you to define, plan and roll-out retail promotions based on your business rules, and start, stop or modify them on the fly. The ETP V5.5 Omni-Channel POS solution is certified as PA-DSS v3.1 compliant by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC). It means that retailers can now feel more secure with the ETP V5.5 POS solutions to provide a secure payment card-related transaction process for their end users.