10 Retail Success Tips to Make 2020 Your Best Year Yet
Whether last year's functionality could use a lot of improvement, or you did exceptionally well and wish to break your own record, the pointers below will allow you to kick off the year strong:
1. Upgrade outdated hardware, applications, and processes
The holiday season has probably set your gear and retail applications to the test, so now is the best time to evaluate them. As Richard Keever, Director of Sales at Infinite Peripherals says,"[this is a excellent time to] evaluate your technology. Can it help enhance sales conversion? Improve customer experience? Did the lack of the perfect technology cost frustration and sales with shoppers and workers?
"The answers to these questions can help guide the technology plan for the subsequent year," he continued. "You may determine that more mobile devices are necessary for line busting. Perhaps tablets were needed in certain departments where a bigger display size was required. Perhaps the absence of line busting tools caused some clients to walk out without buying. Assessing at the end of the year while the information is new can place you on the perfect path."
So, take a look at the technology you have in your company and see if any of these could use an update. If you realize that your tools are obsolete, take action to make certain you have the most recent version available. This may mean downloading the latest software update or buying new equipment.
Upgrading your programs is not about having the coolest and latest tools around. It's about streamlining your operations and enhancing the customer experience.
By way of instance, if you are still using physical loyalty cards, you might choose to upgrade to an electronic loyalty program, so patrons won't need to carry around cards . Still using a pencil and paper to keep track of your finances? Consider upgrading to a modern accounting program.
Also, note that updating your systems is vital to maintaining security. Older programs might be easier to hack , so keeping those upgrades in check makes sure that you have the most recent security measures in place.
Here's a quick list of items that may need upgrading on your business:
Point-of-sale -- If you still have a clunky cash register, you need to look at leveling up to a cloud POS system that's faster, sleeker, and stronger. Most modern POS systems have stock, loyalty, and ecommerce features so that you can run multiple facets of your company from 1 place.
Loyalty -- Modern consumers are not big fans of loyalty cards which clutter up their pockets. Address this by implementing a loyalty program that is built into your POS or that could run on mobile devices.
Finances -- Ditch the pencil and paper or spreadsheet. Amount up to an accounting system which can automatically sync earnings, reconcile accounts, and much more.
Site -- Is your site mobile-friendly? Are you currently implementing the latest data security measures? Assess your online selling efforts and see if you will need to update anything.
Inventory -- With a pencil and paper to track inventory? Upgrade to a modern stock software that streamlines item counts, ordering, and much more.
Payments -- See to it that your payment processing equipment is compliant with the latest safety standards. And if it makes sense to your company, consider upgrading to a system which can accept mobile payments like Apple Pay.
Evaluate your processes
Along with technology, take the time to evaluate re-work your present processes. Jessica Thiele, Marketing Manager in Virtual Logistics Inc. , offers this useful trick that retailers can use to evaluate their process and the strategies:
Catch a ball of yarn or string. Gather everyone in the company who'touches' an arrangement as it pertains in, and have the initial touchpoint pass the ball to another person, and the next, and so on until the arrangement is'fulfilled' In case you have more than three -- yes, three -- people touching an arrangement, it is time to upgrade your business strategy.
"One simple way to decrease the amount of touchpoints is to automate your data moves between core applications," Jessica adds.
"Many cloud applications include pre-built one-to-one integrations to other large applications. For those who have customized applications or data fields, you may have to look at hiring an integration partner. In either situation, you can automate key data flows and save your company significant headaches for the upcoming major retail vacation."
2. Get more personal with clients
Expect competition in the market to become fiercer in 2020, as merchants put more effort into vying for customers' attention and dollars. Forward-thinking retailers are increasing their game though omnichannel shopping, faster order fulfillment, and aggressive pricing.
And as you should certainly consider implementing the exact things in your shop, remember that connecting with customers at a personal and appropriate way is still the best way to make them understand, like, and trust you.
This coming year, attempt to get more personal with shoppers and treat them like the people they are. Here are a few ideas:
Convert present recipients and buyers into loyal clients
You have probably sold to numerous first-time customers in 2019 (especially during the holiday season when people purchased or received your merchandise as gifts). Make sure that you have a strategy for getting these clients to return.
Chad Rubin, CEO in Skubana advises retailers to set up email nurturing campaigns for first-time buyers so"you can dip back in their wallet."
Securing the sale from prior buyers will probably be relatively simple since they bought from you before. As Chad notes,"getting someone to start up their handbag is the toughest portion of retail, so the step to a second-time buyer is much simpler."
He also recommends using direct mail to re-engage clients. "Direct marketing has been vastly under-utilized as firms have been transitioning to email, so you could think about a postcard in the mail for a means to re-target 2nd-time buyers."
Segment subscribers
Ditch the one-size-fits-all (aka batch-and-blast) messages and segment customers based on their demographics, location, and purchase history. This will let you send more relevant communications and increase your open rates and sales.
Check out what Canadian vape store VapeMeet is performing. The retailer segments clients according to place, and this enables them to tailor their email campaigns.
"We divide customers into various collections," stocks co-founder Charlie Pisano. "So if we wanted to aim only our Ontario clients, we can. Or, if we wanted to do a particular in Quebec and send mails in French, we could accomplish that easily also."
Personalize your loyalty attempts
Candy retailer United Sweets personalizes their content and provides by incorporating their POS and customer management system with their loyalty program.
Doing this enables them to collect data about their customers and customize the content and provides accordingly.
"We all know who [our clients ] are, we all know what they are purchasing, and we can reach out to them and market to them at a very relevant way," stocks United Sweets' Finn Puklowski. He furthers their loyalty system enables them to recognize their best clients so that they can offer perks such as better advantages and pricing.
Send good old fashioned personal notes
Never underestimate the power of thoughtful expressions such as notes--conservative as they might seem. Nowadays, consumers find it refreshing for handwritten letters rather than emails.
Take a Look at what T-We Tea in San Francisco did. I put an order through their site, and to my surprise (and delight), I saw a handwritten note contained in the bundle.
3. Give workers a pep talk
It is going to be challenging to attain record-breaking success if you don't have your workers backing you up, so set aside some time for a motivational speech. Recognize the terrific things that people achieved in 2019, and promote --or even incentivize--them to perform better. Why don't you offer rewards to your partners who bring the most pleasure to clients?
And in case you have any plans on the best way best to boost functionality in 2020 (i.e., updates, new initiatives), then ensure that your staff is in the loop. You might also need to take suggestions and get everyone's input on the best way best to improve results.
4. Get a retail promotional calendar
Deficiency of organization and planning is among the greatest reasons why retail promotions neglect. This year, prevent that from happening by arming yourself with a promotional calendar.
Flip through your 2019 calendar and mark essential holidays and shopping occasions. This will let you plan ahead and ensure your promotions operate smoothly. Need inspiration? A fast Google search for"retail promotional calendar" should provide you some ideas.
5. Publish additional sales channels
Get all of your sales channels covered by ensuring that shoppers could purchase from you regardless of where they are or what device they are using.
For a good deal of retailers, this may mean setting up ecommerce and mobile sites. When you haven't done so yet, start selling on-the-go and online via a hosted ecommerce solution. Why don't you look into Vend's integrations with Shopify or WooCommerce, which allow brick-and-mortar retailers to easily set up shop on the internet?
If you currently have brick-and-mortar, ecommerce, and cellular coated, it might behoove you to begin selling on social networking. Many retailers, especially those in the apparel sector, are turning to websites like Instagram and Facebook to market their merchandise.
If you are on Instagram, research the platform's shoppable posts to begin selling. Do note that Instagram has a variety of approval requirements before you can create posts. These include:
- Complying with Instagram's merchant agreement
- Establishing a Company Profile on Instagram
- Primarily selling physical products
- Getting your Company Profile connected to a Facebook Catalog
Ensure your sales stations are connected
If you are selling on various channels, now's the time to be certain they're connected and have the ability to work together. As an example, if you are selling online and offline, you might choose to implement in-store pickup (aka click-and-collect), which means that your internet customers can simply swing from your shop to pick up their orders.
6. Do your inventory
When you haven't stayed on top of your stock in 2019, then January is the best time to perform a physical inventory count. Why? The start of the year is generally a period as soon as your SKUs are at their cheapest.
Schedule an inventory count shortly and get your stock levels updated. For best results, get organized by mapping your store and use a digital stock system when counting things.
And you might choose to employ cycle counting, that's the practice of partly counting items on a constant basis. This helps you keep on top of your stock without needing to close your shop or devote too much time counting your whole stock catalog.
7. Update company information, listings, and bios if necessary
Did you receive any awards or have been featured in the press in 2019? Or maybe your business introduced something important last year (i.e., new store openings, new products, etc.). If so, make certain to update your site, social accounts, and marketing collateral accordingly.
If you feature the brands that you sell on your site, for example, see to it that the most popular brands are included. Or if you have a wonderful write-up in a significant publication, display it on your website and physical store.
It's also advisable to revisit your company listing on Google, Yelp, and other sites to be certain that your information is updated and accurate. Again, this is a superb time to bring those profiles current by adding/editing your company info and uploading new photos.
8. Cook up persuasive in-store experiences
Like we mentioned in our newest Retail Trends and Predictions report, purchasing commodities are going to be a good deal more compact (thanks to players such as Amazon) this past year. However, the experiential side of retail -- the part that involves finding great products and interacting with others -- will not be going away.
People will still make their way to physical stores, not because they need to"buy things," but because they would like to acquire experiences that they won't find anywhere else.
What does that mean to you? If you are running a brick-and-mortar shop, you will need to make certain that those who walk into your area find unique and compelling experiences.
Now, the right"experience" will vary, depending upon your company. But some retailers are finding success with the following:
- Providing amazing customer support. Warm, welcoming, and smart retail workers are tough to discover. That is why if you can inspire your employees to bring their best selves to work and go above and beyond to your clients, you will effectively bring your shop experience to another level. Now, doing everything that starts with investing in your work. Try to be an attractive place to work by making a fantastic store surroundings and by fixing (and paying) your workers well.
- Bringing a sense of community through classes and events. For example, Lululemon holds yoga courses in-store.
- Offering a"treasure hunt" experience, where you enable shoppers to find interesting products at reasonable prices. TJX does this really well. The retail shop is always changing their assortments while offering enticing deals at precisely the exact same time.
- Doubling down on personalization. Personalization will be a key retail craze in 2020 and beyond. We are not talking about putting a person's name in an email subject line or allowing customers place their initials on goods. We are referring to personalization that permits shoppers to construct products and customize them into the very last detail.
9. Modernize your merchandising
Still using the same, tired old shop format or window displays? Take some time in ancient 2020 to change things up. Retail will be a good deal more aggressive this coming year. You want to be certain that your store's look and feel are unique and attractive enough to lure visitors to walk in and linger.
10. Find other areas of improvement by looking at your information
Your store info could be a goldmine for insights about how to perform better. Spend some time digging through your numbers for 2019 to find places which you could improve on in 2020. Here are some hints:
Analyze your sales and inventory data to figure out what to inventory
Which products should you take more of? Which providers should you purchase from? The best way to answer that is to look at your data. Determine your top vendors to determine what your clients desire, and then take action to give people more of that going forward.
1 example of data in activity comes from Dish the Fish in Singapore.
Dish The Fish uses a cloud-based POS and retail management platform to conduct their business. The system enables them to monitor their sales and stock, and Dish The Fish uses that information to make smarter decisions.
Due to this contemporary arrangement, Jeffrey Tan, the stall's owner, always knows what his top-sellers are and how quickly each fish sells out daily. That information has been shown to be valuable in his decision making.
"I used to purchase plenty of the ikan kuning [kind of bass ] when I am in the port, since I thought it sold very fast," he told United Overseas Bank (UOB). But based on UOB,"when he pulled the hourly data to monitor the earnings frequency among different fish, he had been surprised to discover that the leather coat, which was slightly pricier than the ikan kuning, was the faster-selling one."
Look at your hourly earnings to determine the most profitable time slots to your shop
Knowing your hourly sales can allow you to set employee shifts. As an example, if you know that you always get a rush of consumers in the day, then it is possible to schedule extra associates for that period of time.
Looking at hourly earnings can also help you determine the best working hours.
By way of instance, Jon Wakefield, owner of Pets of Sandgate, realized they would be more rewarding if they corrected their store hours.
"Formerly we had been open from 8:30 until 5:30 daily on weekdays; then from 8:30 until 5:00 on Saturday, and 10 til 5 on Sunday. But I moved into Vend, and I worked out how much we were really making in those hours," he shared.
"It turned out that between 8:30 and 9 o'clock, we weren't making enough cash to cover wages. So we changed our working hours, and now we are open from 9:00 to 5:30 on weekdays, and from 8:30 till 4 on Saturdays. Then on Sundays, we are only open until 3pm."
Try to do something similar. Assess your earnings per hour to decide whether your earnings during specific times can compensate for expenses. If not, you may want to think about adjusting your shop hours accordingly.
Finding out how people find your shop so you can re-focus your marketing campaigns
How are people finding your company? If you do not know the answer to this, it is time to figure out things. Speak with your customers and examine the marketing channels that you are using, then figure out which ones are driving traffic and sales.
Are individuals discovering you through Google? Maybe your Facebook and Instagram efforts are paying off. Or perhaps it's just good old word of mouth.
In any case, find that source and double down in 2020.
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