In a highly competitive holiday market, every store manager is looking for an edge. Here are the three tips to increase retail sales.
1. Create a more festive atmosphere. Although you may view your store as simply a store, given the current economic conditions shoppers will gravitate to the stores that are more “experiential”. Focus on the 5 senses: create visual displays, of course, but don’t forget the small things that appeal visually. E.g. Red bows everywhere. You want shoppers to think that you’ve got the perfect gift. Placing red bows on many items reinforces the theme. Follow the same line of thought through each of the senses. Does you store look, smell, taste, sound and feel (tactile displays) like Christmas?
Here are a couple more tips to increase retail sales.
2. Use “social proof” tags to help with buying decisions. Social proof is the phenomenon that describes something we’ve all experienced. E.g. there are many cars parked at a restaurant and we think “wow, that must be a good place to eat”. Since we assume the collective must be right we pull in and make a buying (dining) decision based on an “invisible recommendation”. Use this same very real normal reaction by placing tags on certain items. E.g. “this is our best seller for boys age 5-8”. Remember that many people shopping will appreciate the guidance and the responsibility of choice that you have removed from their frantic holiday schedule.
3. Spend extra time with your employees to make sure that they all know what is expected of them. It’s a great time to reinforce “suggestive selling”. You might try this: Many clerks react negatively to the thought of “suggestive selling”, so sometimes when we’re working with a sales team we reframe the principal by calling it “actively assisting”. Something as simple as making sure people have the batteries they need for a toy can save them an additional trip, which they’ll no doubt appreciate. Oh, and by the way, it’ll put more change in the register too. The selling opportunities you have will be finite, make sure that all staff members know that and that each is focused on making every opportunity count! Reinforce this over and over!
Christmas season holds great opportunity! It is a joyous time of year (intended to be anyway). If you have tips to increase retail sales, please share them with us.
