What is the mission of your retail store? Are you a value provider of fashion for all seasons and occasions? Or is your store mission to attract consumers who demand high-end designer goods regardless of price? It does not matter if you specialize in purses, childrens clothes, maternity, swimsuits or men’s suits – they are all designed to bring in sales and profits.
Regardless of whether you are a new business owner or someone who has owned or managed a retail store for years, your company wants to maximize revenue to drive profitability for the business and its stakeholders.
To help take your business to the next level and ensure your profits are at an all-time high, implement the following strategies to squeeze maximum earnings from your retail store.
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Provide shoppers the retail customers experience they crave.
When customers come into your establishment, they already have a pre-conceived notion about what is going to happen inside the store.
They don’t expect to come in and have a salesperson treat them rudely or disrespectfully. They don’t expect you to be out of the size clothing they want or the particular shoe color they want to go with their new blouse. On the other hand, they do expect:
- To be treated with courtesy the entire time they are in your store.
- To find the item they came into the store to purchase in the first place.
- To get the items they want at prices they can afford.
- To be able to shop at a time that is convenient for them.
- To enter an environment that is inviting and welcoming.
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Make sure you stay on top of trends to ensure your store always has the right merchandise in stock.
Your store must be stocked the hottest products on the market at all times. If a customer can’t find what they want in your store, they are going to head elsewhere to get it. Why risk losing out on business when you can make sure you have what customers want when they want it the most?
While it might be a hip new blue blouse one month, it could be a pair of brown suede clogs the next. Styles are constantly changing, so you need to make sure you are constantly up-to-date on the latest market trends and use retail analytics to know what is in-demand at each store location. In doing so, people will flock to your store because they know they can count on your store to have a variety of trending fashion items in stock.
Trends. The thing about retail – especially clothing retail – is that it is constantly changing. Customer preferences change often and what’s popular or hot at one moment may not be at the next. It’s not like most businesses where you’re selling a static product. Staying on top of industry trends and making sure that you offer what customers want at that particular time is extremely important. – Mackenzi Farquer, Lockwood Shop
Enhance your customers’ journey through your store by putting yourself in their shoes.
How many times have you spent the time to walk through the store and take things in as if you were a customer looking for an item? If the answer is never, you might want to consider doing it right away.
You want your customers to have a positive experience. A central part of this is making it clear where different types of items can be found. They shouldn’t be left wandering around from one aisle to the next in the hopes of finding what they desire.
Your store should be laid out in an easy-to-follow format. It should have a logical flow to it. Don’t put the shoes in the middle of the store, put then near the fitting rooms. By that point, your customer has already picked out the entire outfit and is simply looking for the finishing touch.
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Conclusion
By implementing the three strategies above into your retail store, you can increase repeat business and gain new customers from positive word-of-mouth. When customers find a store they like, they tend to tell all of their friends about it. Before you know it, you will be maximizing profits and turning your sales goals upside down.
If you want to learn how retail analytics can be used to increase your store profits, check out our “In-store Apparel Retail Analytics” whitepaper (see below).
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