12 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR STORES FOR FREE
There are many improvements that can be applied at the point of sale at no cost or with a very small investment. It takes time and dedication from everyone involved in the business, from those responsible of the multinational, to the dependents of a family business. In the list below I have compiled some easy implementation tasks you can do as of today in your stores:
Open Access: Facilitate to a full the access to your store.Get rid of door bells and if you can keep the door open even better. If you are building, the door should be as wide as possible and easy to open. The best advice: leave free access as they do in shopping centers.
- Greetings: Make it a rule to all workers at the point of sale to greet the customer when he/she comes in. It is a short way of saying, “I’m here if you need anything.”
- Customer Service: Another rule to serve the customer – a customer’s question is more important than anything else you could be doing, such as repositioning, sorting, cleaning, or labeling.When he/she approaches you should stop doing what you are doing and serve the customer with the attention he/she deserves.
- Respect your schedule: You have it hanging on the door and it’s your first commitment with the customer, do not disappoint them.And “We’ll be back in 5 minutes”, is over, prohibited.
- Product visibility: It’s hard to recommend how to exhibit, since that depends on the products of each store.But it is important to always improve: don’t heap up, highlight, leave things within reach, follow a logical order, combine in sets, etc.
- Allow touch: According toa study performed by the University of Ohio , if a customer touches a product he will be more willing to buy it, and even pay more for it. So avoid “do not touch” signs, and on the contrary, make an effort so products end up in the hands of your customers.
- If it doesn’t sell, do not sell it: As soon as you can get rid of products that have no exit, make a discount, remove them, but do not let them take up space in your store that other products that sell well could occupy.
- Renegotiate terms with your suppliers:It does not hurt to try and is possible to increase your margins.Everyone is sensitive to the economic situation and you have to offer better prices to your customers, demand the same thing from your supplier.
- Keep the counter in order: Avoid turning the counter into a cluttered desk and behind the counter into piles of coats on the floor, mixed with wrapping paper and bags. It gives a very bad image.
- Place impulse purchase products on the checkout counter: I’m not saying you sell gum in a post office (although they do!), but surely there is a small complementary product, not too expensive, that can increase your average ticket.
- Enjoy free of charge Internet:Put your store in Google Maps.Get recommendations on forums and social networks, read user reviews of your products to answer their needs, make a simple website for reference, open an account for your store on Facebook, etc.
- Join your community: Surely in your neighborhood, town or village there are organized activities that you can be part of as store or label without much cost: participating in a contest, sponsoring festivals, giving out references, etc.
Finally, I would recommend that all chain stores improvements are implemented at once, because the key is image unity. And finally, I invite you to complement this list in the comments section because there is much more to improve that do not cost any money.
Awanzo Retail