It’s no secret that launching a new business can be both exciting and scary for different reasons. It can be an exciting time because it’s the start of a new chapter in your life, but scary because you feel like you’re venturing into the unknown.
Whatever you plan to sell in your retail store, you want to ensure your customers love their retail experience with you and will return for future purchases.
But what’s the “secret sauce” you need to know that’ll help you achieve that goal? Take a look at the following tips and suggestions to get started:
Make Each Experience Relaxing
Firstly, you must ensure customers have a relaxing and pleasurable shopping experience in your retail store. Some examples of how you can do that include:
- Playing background music. Don’t forget to pay for a license to play music in office workspaces and commercial spaces such as retail stores so you don’t fall afoul of any copyright issues;
- Provide a seating area. Some customers may wish to sit down for a few minutes while their friends and relatives browse;
- Invest in mood lighting. Create the right ambiance with mood lighting instead of making the environment almost clinical with super-bright LED lighting.
Offer Exceptional Customer Service
Customers hate getting served by staff members who clearly don’t want to be there. Your retail staff are the frontline employees representing your brand, so it makes sense that they offer top-tier service to your customers.
Your store employees should be more than happy to serve customers and ensure they receive a first-class customer service experience. Otherwise, unhappy customers are likely to shop elsewhere, and your brand’s reputation could take a nosedive.
Provide Convenient Ways To Pay
There was once a time when most people paid for things with cash. Today, however, contactless and digital payments reign supreme in all retail establishments – and that’s a fact you must embrace to make payments more convenient for your customers.
Your EPOS systems should be capable of accepting cash, debit, and credit card payments, NFC payments from mobile payment services like Apple Pay and Google Pay, and digital wallet transactions from companies like PayPal.
Organize Your Store’s Layout Logically
Nothing is quite as frustrating in a retail store as spending an eternity searching for a product that should be in the same location as similar items. That’s why it makes sense to plan your store’s layout logically and avoid causing confusion and delays for customers.
It would be best if you visited a few competing retail stores to see examples of their merchandise layouts so that you’ve got some ideas on how you can plan yours.
Surprise Your Customers With Unexpected Gifts
One final tip to help you retain customers in your new retail store is to surprise them. For example, if a customer tells you a greeting card they are purchasing is for their elderly mother, gift them some flowers they could give with the card.
Customers are human beings just like you, and if you feel that some of them need cheering up or you want to celebrate some good news with them, offer them a small gift alongside their purchase.
Such a move will be memorable and mean your brand is more prominent in their minds than your competitors.
