When it comes to running a successful retail business, there are certain retail best practices that you should always keep in mind. I remember when I first started out in the retail industry, I made sure to establish new safety standards and implement virtual reality and artificial intelligence into my retail store operations. These may seem like small things, but they really do make a difference! Not only did my customers appreciate the extra effort, but it also helped me attract new business. Here are 12 retail best practices to improve customer service.

12 Retail Best Practices for Your Store Operations

They understand consumer behavior and know how to influence it. They deliver on the fundamentals by implementing the well known basics that few others do. By doing so, they increase sales and drive profit.

They follow basic sales techniques, such as greeting customers when they walk in, that everyone knows but few actually put into practice.

Retail Management Best Practices

Great retail companies don’t treat their employees like disposable commodities. They invest in them, train them, and pay them fairly.

If you think that you can drive a Mercedes Benz to work while your workers take the bus and no one will care – you’re mistaken.

Good retail management practices suggest showing some support to your workers so they’re able to succeed as well.

Top 3 Retail Best Practices

Retailers must make sure their supply chains are well oiled at all times.

If a customer is out of the item they ordered, they probably won’t be too happy about that.

3 Ways to Maximize Turn and Margin

The best retailers are careful about how much they reduce prices and how often they hold promotional sales. They want to make sure that they don’t have too much inventory, which would lower their turn and margin.

It’s okay to put on sales and discounts every once in a while, but try not to make it too frequent so customers don’t start timing their purchases around the deals.

4 Ways District Managers Know Employees

The most effective store managers make it a point to learn everyone’s name in their store. They make an effort to talk to every employee on a routine basis and make sure they know who’s who. This allows them to better ensure their team is working towards the same goals and not working against each other.

Many people come in to meet with the manager in private and leave without interacting with anyone else. The retail industry is a people business, not a process business.

Good store managers take time to have one-on-one conversations with their team members. They realize that this is the only way they can learn about any challenges their store may be facing. Bad store managers tend to just tell their subordinates what to do, rather than understanding their unique needs. This can result in unrealistic expectations for many workers.

Retail Best Practices: District Managers as a Buffer

One best practice for retail stores is to have a District Manager to act as a middleman between corporate offices and store managers. This can help to keep both sides from yelling at each other, and can improve overall communication between them.

It is better to strive for a “team” mentality than an “Us vs. Them” one. When everyone works together, it not only improves customer satisfaction, but it also helps the business overall.

6. Have a High Payroll

Having enough money to pay your employees is absolutely essential for any successful company. Managers should have enough money to pay their employees, as well as to train them on how to sell the company’s products.

You manage your business by scheduling fewer appointments and expecting your salespeople to do more with that time.

If you try to do more engagement with fewer employees, they will simply be too busy completing tasks to help customers.

7. Retail Management Best Practices – How to Recognize Individual Employees

A retail manager should treat everyone with respect and appreciation. This will create a better working environment where employees are more engaged and motivated to do a good job.

A good manager knows that sales reps are the key to success. By showing employees appreciation, they ensure they treat their customers well.

8. Ways to Hire Teachable Employees

The best store managers are always looking to hire employees who have the ability to learn new things and adapt to change. They know that if they don’t hire the best, they’re likely to end up with employees who just go through the motions and hope someone asks to buy something.

9. Have Managers on the Sales Floor

The sales floor is the best place for managers to be if they want to have a positive impact on sales goals. This is because they can interact with customers and sales reps, and get a feel for what is happening in the store at any given time.

10. Hire associates who like people

People who enjoy working with others and helping them find what they need tend to make the best retail sales associates. They don’t need to be coerced into helping someone; they enjoy it.

Sales training programs are proven to work.

11. Teach associates to juggle customers

The best retail sales associates know how to juggle customers without making the customer experience feel compromised.

12. Train associates to sell

The best retail salespeople have the ability to make a shopper fall in love with a product they hadn’t even considered.

Selling is all about transferring your feelings to the customer. If you’re passionate about what you’re selling, it’ll be easy to get the customer excited too.

Optimize Your Store Layout to Keep Traffic Flowing

Want to make sure your customers have a good customer experience? Try putting yourself in their position.

If your retail business layout and design isn’t optimal, then it’s time for a redesign.

According to marketing experts, there are three main factors at play when it comes to how long customers will stay once entering your shop: how welcome they feel, how interested in what your business offers they are, and how much they value the shopping experience.

Factor #1 – Enablers

You know the feeling when you walk into a store and the staff is smiling and you’re greeted warmly? That’s a key factor in making customers feel welcome and making them want to purchase.

Businesses that pay attention to the little things, like friendly greetings, well designed signs and display, and easy to navigate aisles are able to create positive shopping experiences for their customers.

It’s the little touches that keep your clients coming back for more.

Factor #2 – Inhibitors

These hurdles are also known as “inhibitors” because they literally stop shoppers from having a good shopping experience. “These are the bumps in the road that disrupt your shopping trip,” explains Bender.

“Empty shelves, products placed above eye level, or displays so jam-packed that customers can’t shop.”

Watch out for these common issues, and make sure your employees are aware so they can address them before they cause you trouble. Keeping on top of these issues will make your job much easier.

Factor #3 – Impression Points

Customers are instantly drawn to your showroom when they walk in, so it’s essential that you make a good first impression. “These impression points create the initial perception a customer has of your brand,” explains Bender. “Make sure your dealership is clean, organized, and free of clutter.”

“Moments of Truth is when customers interact with products, feel emotions, or form connections that can either break or build a relationship with a company.”

According to research by , customers can have up to 25 moments of truth during one store visit. This means that each moment of truth needs to be as positive as possible.

Be sure to target your store’s displays to your demographic and feature items that pop. This will help draw in customers and create a more successful store.

Adapt and Thrive: 4 Key Strategies for Retailers

Businesses are rethinking their customer experiences, both in-store and through other digital platforms.

If businesses don’t start thinking of their digital presence as just as important as their physical presence, they likely won’t survive this uncertain time.

Here are 4 ways for retail brands to leverage technology to survive the COVID-19 crisis and come out stronger on the other side.

1. Achieve omnichannel retail. 

In a recent study, 55% of customers said they would wait until a month after the pandemic was over before they would shop again. 82% of respondents said that they would continue to buy online even after retail shops opened. This shows that having an omnichannel approach is crucial for retailers. By providing both online and offline options for your customers, you can appeal to all different types of people.

This emphasizes the importance of combining online and in-store sales.

A key component to having a successful omnichannel strategy is having a unified, single-view of your inventory. This allows you to see which items you have in stock and where they are located. This lets you quickly fulfill your online orders from your brick-and-mortar locations.

They were able to combine their online and in-store inventories to provide a seamless shopping experience for its customers.

2. Develop efficient pickup and fulfillment. 

Efficiently picking and packing items from store shelves for online orders is a critical skill for retailers.

Some retailers believe that they will see an increase in sales as the pandemic ends and stores reopen. This will be due to an increase in customers using curbside pickup, buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS), and a decrease in foot traffic. This will allow some big-box retailers to primarily utilize their stores for inventory management.

To keep up with the increasing demand for online orders, many online retailers are outsourcing their delivery process to third-party service providers.

Retailers must offer their customers omnichannel experiences, where customers can shop from any device, including tablets, and complete their purchases online. This will be necessary if brands are to survive the fallout from coronavirus.

This is the type of experience that will be necessary for brands that are looking to deal with the consequences of the coronavirus.

Customers want to shop less in stores, so retailers should anticipate this and make their stores more self-service.

3. Establish new safety standards, then keep them. 

We should not consider implementing new in-store safety protocols to be a temporary measure, but rather a new normal that evolves based on new information. This will help ensure the safety of both our employees and customers.

Retailers should use this opportunity to innovate in-store experiences for customers. This will not only improve customer satisfaction, but also increase sales.

One method to improve customer service is for stores to look more like showrooms. Customers can receive personalized attention, select items to purchase from an online store, and have their purchases delivered. This will create a more frictionless experience while maintaining the social distance guidelines.

-Shopping by appointment and online consultations allow you to shop while maintaining social distancing. –Increased use of technology can help you keep up with the latest trends without having to leave your home.

Thanks for your feedback! We’re always looking for ways to improve the shopping experience for our customers.

4. Implement virtual reality and artificial intelligence. 

Virtual reality (VR) and AI are technologies that are here and now.

If you’re looking to really enhance your customers’ shopping experience, then using VR and AI in your stores is the way to go. Companies like Ray-ban and Warby-Parker have implemented technologies that let their customers try on glasses virtually, so they can see how they look before committing to a purchase.

Brands like Beike, IKEA, and YSL have implemented virtual reality technology during the COVID-19 crisis. This tech can also be used in brick-and-mortar stores, where shoppers can log into their online shopping accounts on tablets and pick up where they left off.

This technology can be used by retailers in their stores by way of virtual fitting rooms. This will allow customers to log in to their accounts on a tablet and continue shopping seamlessly online.

Using technology, stores can push customers down the purchase path by providing them with digital versions of products, so they’re not limited by the store’s physical stock.

Conclusion

If you’re looking to make your retail business the best it can be, don’t forget about these important retail best practices! From establishing new safety standards to implementing cutting-edge technologies like virtual reality and artificial intelligence, following these tips will help you attract and keep customers coming back.