Lucy - BQ Magazine EditorRetail has had a tricky few years recently. Since the mass exodus of the high street for online shopping and the COVID-19 pandemic, shoppers have been deserting traditional brick-and-mortar stores for the comfort of a screen and their sofa. However, recent trends suggest there has been somewhat of a revival recently, and more and more people are heading back out to the shops to purchase their goods and get what they need in-store.
This revival is thought to be mostly driven by millennials who want to bring back the way of shopping they know and love and Gen Z, who prefer to shop at more independent stores. Hence, the rise in non-chain businesses popping up in retail units across the country.
As a retailer, seizing the surge in in-person shopping presents a golden opportunity to ramp up your sales and bolster your brand. By doing so, you can safeguard against a potential downturn in the revival and ensure a steady stream of foot traffic and sales.
Here’s how.
Identify Busy Periods
Knowing when you receive most of your customers, or sales is important to help you boost what you do and sell more products. Keep in mind the 50/20 rule. 50% of your sales come from the 20 busiest hours of the week, so you need to identify those busiest hours. Why? By knowing where shops are and what you’re selling, you can increase product line and availability to ensure you meet the needs of the customers in those 20 hours. Because if you’re not, eventually, they will shop elsewhere.
Here’s where technology, such as a robust retail analytics solution, becomes invaluable. It allows you to pinpoint your busiest hours and gain a wealth of shopper behaviour data, empowering you to make strategic, data-driven decisions.
Train Employees and Improve Scheduling
When it comes to in-person shopping, it’s not just about the products or sales; it’s about how you sell it and who’s selling for you. Your employees, if you have them, should be well-trained, capable of closing a sale, understanding customer needs, and delivering a positive experience for both you and your customers.
The more your team knows and can support what you do while still facilitating a sale with customers, the more satisfied the customers will be, and this good experience will be what keeps them coming back time and time again.
But knowledge isn’t the only battle. It’s about staffing your store with the best associates when you need them. You ideally want them during those busy 20 hours to capitalise on your busy periods.
Buy Local
In the current landscape, being able to promote local suppliers or produce you use can help draw more people in and ensure your current customer base returns. This is because more shoppers want to feel they’re helping their local area and that their money is returning to the local or wider economy. This means fewer imports and more homegrown, and you need to be proactive with advertising this to appeal to consumers who are specifically shopping for local or domestic purchases.
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