We know why you’re here—to increase sales in your store. Whether you’re in a sales slump or everything’s going great, and you want to keep it that way, we’ve got you covered with these tips and tricks to get better sales in 2022.
Eliminate In-Store Wait Times
Long wait times are a huge sales killer. In the US, people will quickly abandon checkout lines and leave the store after waiting for eight minutes. And in England, they won’t even wait that long—they’re out after six.
So, how do you banish the waiting line for good?
- Keep your store well-staffed.
- Figure out your peak hours.
- Have additional registers or POS systems ready to go.
- Invest in tech like Smart Call.
To increase sales and bring a better customer experience to your shoppers, eliminating in-store wait times is a necessity.
Related: Smart Call Solutions for Bars, Restaurants, and Coffee Shops
Implement a Loyalty Reward Program
This tip is one of the easiest to implement, and it brings a ton of benefits—create a simple loyalty program that’s personalized toward your customers to track and incentivize their lifetime value. It’s a great way to get a higher ROI from your top customers.
To start, it doesn’t have to be complex and complicated; you can always add some bells and whistles to the program later. We recommend starting out with a simple format like “dollars for purchase.” In other words, let your customers earn X dollars per X dollars spent in your store.
Use Strong In-Store Visuals
In-person shopping is all about maximizing the appeal of your products. Having strong visual aids is crucial if you want to see more sales. Here are some tips:
- Use multidimensional displays. Add some variety to your in-store visuals by varying their elements. For example, add height, depth, and color in various places.
- Make use of focal points. Your customers need to know which details to focus on, but don’t overdo it; displays with too much going on can overwhelm them.
- Make your displays useful. Let your customers see the products in action. Use displays that show the products in use or allow your shoppers to try them.
- Keep them neat. Organized displays look good and make it easier for your customers to find what they need, which aids in the overall buying experience.
- Display the best products front and center. Regardless of the price, your best products should be near the store entrance. It communicates quality and is a great way for your staff to first interact with customers.
Our Smart Call wireless paging system is designed with the customers in mind. Check out this short video below on how it can work for you.
Ensure a Safe Shopping Experience
In the age of the pandemic, a great way to drive traffic and sales is to create confidence for your customers. Many of them are worried about their personal health and safety while shopping.
To win them over, clearly communicate the measures you’re taking to ensure they have a safe shopping experience. Explain to them everything you’re doing to keep customers and staff safe.
The stores seeing success right now are covering their health and safety protocols throughout various channels and posting their information on their:
- Websites
- Email newsletters
- Social media profiles
- Mobile apps
Related: Smart Call Solutions for Hospitals, Labs, and Clinics
Provide Face-to-Face Service
With so many things moving online now, there’s still no replacement for good ol’ face-to-face customer service. While online reviews, social media messaging, and live chat can help shoppers get information, nothing beats interacting with a store associate who genuinely knows their products and wants to help.
Evaluate your associates’ performance—how well do they know the products? Can they offer your customers the best recommendations? What can they teach your customers that they can’t find online?
If their performance falls short, start improving it immediately by:
- Providing ample training
- Ensuring they know your products
- Instilling a deeper sense of service
- Showing them that being genuinely helpful is the single best way to earn a customer’s trust
Create a Treasure Hunt
What’s another way to get people into your store? Excitement—the excitement a customer feels when they find a great deal or product. That’s why turning shopping into a treasure hunt is a powerful strategy.
When your customers find amazing offers and realize they won’t be around for long, they’re more likely to make a purchase on the spot.
Creating a treasure hunt experience at your store is as simple as rotating your merchandise more often. The idea is to keep shoppers on their toes by giving them something new to discover (and hopefully purchase) each time they’re in your store.
Make Sure Your Business Is SEO-friendly
More than ever before, customers turn to Google to find products and stores. You need to ensure that your store shows up in their search results.
A good start to this is setting up business listings on platforms like Google My Business, Facebook, and Yelp. On these listings, you want to add as many details as possible, like:
- Business name, phone number, and address
- Business hours
- Visual content—photos, virtual tours, etc.
Allow Customers To Order From Their Phone
Mobile ordering is for more than restaurants and food delivery—inventory-based stores can also benefit from offering this service.
In a digital world, our stores are competing with online giants like Amazon, and making it easy for your shoppers to order from anywhere is a great way to boost your sales and customer experience.
With the right software, it’s relatively easy to implement, and many stores that offer mobile ordering have seen a significant increase in orders and, ultimately, revenue.
Take a Community-Focused Approach
Physical stores can bring people together in a way that online ordering can’t, which is a significant advantage for brick-and-mortar locations.
Create a community based on your store. For example, can you hold a class or event? How else can you encourage people that use your products to meet and gather at your store?
Another direction you can take is to create a space where your customers can use your products.
Related: Smart Call Solutions for Theatres, Cinemas, and Discos
Boost Your Sales With Smart Call
We created Smart Call to give your business a way to easily solve any communication or attention problems. Your customers and staff can easily get a hold of whoever they need to, whether it’s for questions about a product, general customer service inquiries, or anything else.
Stop making your customers wait for service—See how Smart Call can increase your sales, revenue, and customer experience.
