Your retail store should attract new customers – and entice regular customers to keep coming back. After all, customers are the lifeblood of any retail business so your retail operations need to be as smooth as possible.
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Retail Operations
Follow these 5 tips to manage your retail operations, attract new customers, gain repeat business, control inventory, and keep your staff motivated.
1. Keep the Interest Alive
Creating a happy customer that is loyal to your brand requires engagement.
A simple way to stay top-of-mind is to implement a customer loyalty program using a tool like Referral Candy (very easy set up – they also offer free trial so you can see if it’s a fit for your retail operations).
During new product or service launches, make sure enough people know about it to keep both your regular and prospective customers interested. Share short videos via email or social media to keep your audience engaged.
2. Pay Attention to Your Customers
This is extremely important in retail operations: always attend to every customer’s needs and give them amazing customer service. Increasing your customer satisfaction even by a little bit can result in loyal customers that keep buying from you constantly.
Train your employees to be alert at all times and to be sensitive to your customer’s problems. If they make a mistake, pay attention and address the issue so they don’t repeat it. This means that you need to deal with them as they arise and not simply sweep them under the rug. Being a nice person is great asset, but don’t let others take advantage of your kindness.
Part of managing a retail store is to keep your customers coming back. Your raving fans are more than happy to spread the word about your business.
Take advantage of that energy by asking for reviews. You can use MoreBusiness.com’s Review Builder service to make this easy. Plus, it allows you to monitor what people are saying about your brand and respond.
3. Keep Your Staff Up-To-Date and Motivated
Make sure that your staff has good product knowledge. Train them on new products regularly so they stay up-to-date. Reward them with sales incentives to keep them happy and motivated. For example, you can run sales contests for achieving 75% of quota within the first 15 days of the month – the winner gets a gift card.
Download our free one-on-one meeting template to help you manage your team and individual meetings for goal setting and accountability. A simple 20-minute conversation with your staff each week can dramatically improve your retail operations.
4. Catch Your Customer’s Eye
Display your products in such a way that customers will locate them easily. Stock them in a logical manner (by section) so that products are easy to see. Also, make sure that the packaging and boxes are cleaned regularly. Your retail store should always be neat and tidy. Nothing turns customers off quicker than dirt and clutter.
Have your employees dress appropriately and have their name tags displayed clearly. This way, your customers can identify your retail operations team quickly. Also, form a bond with customers by asking questions about what they are looking for.
5. Sell Off Slow-Moving Stock
Give a special discount on slow moving items, or pair them with fast moving products to clear out old inventory. Getting less for a slow moving product is better than getting nothing at all, which could happen if the item becomes too old or goes past its expiration date. This can also help you improve your gross margin.
Running a retail store can get hairy at times. If you stay organized and follow these handy management tips, your bottom line will thank you.
