Retail sales are a key economic metric that gives an insight into consumer demand for finished goods. Economies all over the world are keen to dissect retail sales numbers as they are a key indicator of the health of the economy.
The United States is the largest global retail market that is also home to some of the retail behemoths -Amazon, eBay, and Walmart among many others.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau report released on September 15, 2022, retail sales for August 2022, totaled $683.3 billion. This is a 0.3% rise from the $681.3 billion reported in July 2022.
To understand why retail sales are important in any economy, picture this. In the US, 70% of GDP is derived from consumption and retail sales constitute 40% of consumption.
For this reason, good retail sales performance is critical both for the economy and small businesses. Here are some key points on how to boost your small business sales performance.
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Signage & Displays
Updating or adding signage can boost your sales by close to 10% if not more. The quality of your signage including the color scheme you settle for will either attract or turn off wannabe customers.
As you experiment with different colors, try to strike a balance between your window signage and the items on sale. Don’t distract shoppers too much to the extent that they miss seeing the merchandise on display.
Having an iconic display can increase the experience of shoppers. For instance, putting up interactive displays can enable customers to use their mobile phones to shop through your store windows. These efforts are most likely than not to result in increased sales.
Enhance Your Store Layout
Store space is never enough, but with good planning, you can optimize your retail space and make navigation easier for your customers. Analyzing your foot traffic can help you map your customers’ journeys from entry to exit
For instance, using heat maps, you can quickly identify and isolate the cold zones in your store to help you reimagine your layout.
According to a poll survey by Slickdeals, Americans spend on average $276 on impulse purchases every month.
As a retailer, you take advantage of these impulse buys by ensuring seasonal, fresh, and high-margin items are positioned at the storefront. This will capture the curiosity of customers.
Empower Your Sales Team
Your sales staff are an important touch point in the sale process. Their interpersonal skills can help close sales faster. Consider training your staff well and regularly so that they can easily spot and leverage sales opportunities.
You can budget both for in-house and external trainers to balance quality and cost. As part of your sales training, ensure your associates deepen their product knowledge to help enrich customers’ decision-making processes.
Offer Different Modes Of Payment
Only about 11% of the US retail market transacts in cash. This means offering cash as the only payment method locks out over 89% of potential customers.
There are many payment methods you can quickly integrate into your sales system to help attract more customers to your store. Here are some of the common ones.
Mobile wallets: You can allow your customers to pay using wallets such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay.
Debit and credit cards: Most customers still prefer card payments. Statistics show that credit cards command over 40% of the market share.
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL): This is a payment plan that allows customers to pick the items they need and pay in installments over a period.
The more the payment methods, the more inclusive the shopping experience for customers.
Provide Complementary Services
To win and retain loyal customers, you must go the extra mile and make their shopping an experience.
Offering complementary services such as free delivery, gift wrapping, free parking, product assembly, product demos, and other incentives can help boost customer retention. This will most likely translate into more repeat sales going into the future.
Conclusion
With the tough economic times punctuated by the aftereffects of the covid pandemic and an economy teetering on a recession, businesses must do more to boost their sales.
On the one hand, customers are hunting for bargains as they cushion themselves against the rising inflation. On the other, they are looking at making their shopping an unforgettable experience. Businesses must learn how to strike the balance.
A data-driven approach is crucial for understanding the target audience, trends, and responses to new products or services. It can be achieved by investing in retail software development so that the business can get consumer behavior insights and strengthen relations between the brand and its customers.
Multibrand online stores are a great example of how an app or a website with an account for each user can transform the customer experience and increase sales.
