Retail: What do your customers really want?

Shopping 2.0: What to expect “Entitled Consumers” Really from retailers today? How do you attract more customers to your shop and thus increase your sales and awareness? In 2018, around 177 billion euros per Fast Moving Consumer Goods spent in retail stores. As you can see, the potential is clearly there. With our tips and tricks, you can prepare yourself optimally for digitization and at the same time offer your customers the latest technologies.

Digital transformation is also changing retail!

From digital iPad cash register systems to WLAN marketing package from Socialwave Digitalization offers a wide range of offers that definitely make everyday working life in retail easier. This also offers your customers a number of advantages, which you should implement for your retail sector in order to remain competitive. In this blog article, we'll tell you the most important tips and tricks, and how you can increase your number of customers and your turnover.

Stand out from the crowd

This tip probably has less to do with the digitization of retail, but you should definitely consider it. Because even with an individual look for your shop, you can attract more customers. Here it is important to keep up with the trend but at the same time always maintain the authenticity of the shop. However, to get more customers than the competition, you should get out of the mass stand out. Should your shop go to none franchise chain You can let off steam creatively in the following points:

• furnishings
• background music
• lights
• Presentation of articles
• accessories, such as shopping bags

With these points, you can give your shop a modern and individual look and with an appealing Corporate identity Imprint yourself in the memory of your customers. Your setup should be adapted to the business concept and the industry in which you operate. In addition, there should be appealing background music in your shop that encourages purchase. Lighting also plays an important role in design and can be a deciding factor for the purchase, especially in clothing stores.

Accessories, such as intricately designed reusable shopping bags, are good as advertising materials because they are worn visibly by buyers in public. It is therefore better to avoid plastic bags that end up in the trash at home and use modern reusable bags, which you can use to advertise at the same time. Another important point is the presentation of the items to be sold, because: The eye also buys. It is therefore essential to ensure that the shop structure is tidy and the goods are clearly presented.

Goodie bags: small gifts with a big effect

With these small gifts, you can show your customers that they are important to you and leave a positive impression as soon as they enter your shop. Because who doesn't like them? The well-known Goodie Bags. However, you should be careful not to fill these small gifts with pointless trash, otherwise the joy of them will disappear right away. Avoid using pens or paperwork. Instead, fill your cups with products in Sample sizes, which relate to your retail sector. As a cosmetics retailer, for example, you can fill your goodie bags with small perfume and makeup samples. Around half of all Germans gave to a Study by Statista In 2018, they see spontaneous campaigns, small gifts or samples as added value at a retailer. Of course, you can also combine the goodie bags with reusable shopping bags.

Efficiency: Online shop competition

With the cellphone Always in your hand (or at least right in your pocket or handbag) and a well-planned daily routine, you don't feel like fishing the individual products off the shelves for a long time after work. Here comes, just the Digital Natives, the online shop is very located. 31% of Germans claim to be actively shopping online at least once a month, while around 29% visit an online shop once a week. Understandable when you compare the clarity of an online shop with that of a store.

As a shop owner, ensure that your employees regularly guarantee a well-stocked store. If a digital native is already snowing by you, the availability of various points should definitely be guaranteed. Inventory management systems connected to e-commerce channels help you here so that customers can check availability online. Another important point is efficiency when paying. Customers particularly appreciate the benefits of digitization, such as Self-service checkouts. Always keep yourself up-to-date on retail digitization topics in order to be able to respond successfully to any changes and respond to customer requests. Because here too, the customer is king.

Individual and intelligent advice

However, retailers offer a very clear advantage over online shops: advice from trained sales staff. 58% Customers highly appreciate the personal and individual advice in a retail establishment. However, there are also a few points to consider here, because in the age of the Internet, around 42% of customers research the product they want to buy beforehand. Incompetent advice could be more embarrassing and damaging to the reputation of the shop if you meet well-informed buyers. Therefore, train your sales staff regularly to make them aware of the latest trends. Because as it turned out, customers (regardless of their age) are more and more willing to pay extra for a expert advice to pay. Competent advice, particularly tailored to the customer, can be of great importance, especially in electronics or fashion retail.

convenience

Here, too, the online shop plays a major competitive factor. Because from shopping around the clock to delivery directly to the front door, online shopping is convenient. You must therefore also offer this quality factor to your customers in the store. Of course, you can't be open 24 hours a day, but there are a few factors that can increase the customer's convenient shopping experience. For example, you can ensure that goods from your online shop can also be exchanged in-store. Personalized customer cards can also increase convenience for customers. With collected loyalty or possibly payback points, vouchers can be redeemed and an offline and online link with personalized customer data can be set up for the online shop.

Leisure experience: the unique shopping experience

Retailers are constantly trying to outdo each other with unique shopping experiences. Because only those who offer their customers a unique shopping experience can retain them in the long term. The customer should therefore receive real added value in addition to buying your product and combine this purchase with something positive. This gives you a higher chance of attracting this buyer to your retail store as a regular customer.

In American, this strategy is affectionate “Experience Retail” and all companies are trying to defeat each other in this attempt. One method is, for example, the so-called “Treasure Hunt” (in German: treasure hunt): Companies attract with promotions, discounts or highly sought after goods. When customers are happy to buy bargains and can then really take home some cheap treasures, the brain combines this with a positive shopping experience and burns itself into the memory from the buyer. An example of an American company that operates Treasure Hunting is the retailer, which is also very well-known in Germany, T.K. Maxx.

WiFi to pass the time

The topic of digitization of retail also includes, of course, the topic of WLAN. Regardless of whether men brought by women, teenagers or even adults: We barely give up our smartphones. A well-functioning WLAN connection is therefore also mandatory in retail. Around 70% of retail operators see a WiFi hotspot as a clear advantage for your customers. But 66% of customers, especially those aged 14-29, would also like to go to retail public WiFi. With the WLAN marketing package from Socialwave Not only do you provide your customers with free WiFi, but you can also do effective and personalized marketing at the same time. With the Facebook login, you can strengthen your online presence through location check-ins, improve your brand image with positive Google reviews, or use the fully automated e-mail newsletter tool to regularly inform your customers about promotions or discounts.

conclusion

Despite digitization that is progressing ever faster (or for the most part already existing), retail is far from extinct and, despite the strong competition from the online shop, offers some advantages for your customers. With our tips and tricks, you can ensure that customers visit your shop and enjoy a special shopping experience. In this way, you increase your turnover, increase the number of customers and actively retain your customers to your company.

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