(I originally published this article in the Galion Inquirer on Dec. 7, 2011)
Now that the holiday shopping season is upon us, I thought it might be a good time to talk about how your business can profit by making the shopping experience easier and less stressful for your customers.
Online sales have steadily risen over the years, and there are many reasons for that. As a consumer, though, my two biggest reasons for shopping online are selection and convenience. Even though I am a huge advocate of shopping locally-owned businesses, sometimes I just dread the hassle and inconvenience of fighting the crowds and lack of service at this busy time of year.
I decided to put together, with the help of my professional shopping consultant (my wife), a list of ten tips that merchants can use to make shopping easier and less stressful for their customers.
By following these ten tips, you’ll not only make your customers happy, you’ll increase sales. This will happen because your customers will be more loyal to you. They will tell their friends and word of mouth advertising is some of the best. Customers who have a better shopping experience want to repeat that as often as possible.
Hire extra help. This sounds like a no-brainer, but how many times have you been trying to complete a purchase and you’re interrupted and made to wait while the clerk answers the telephone? Or you can’t find someone to direct you to the items you’re looking for. Why not have one employee dedicated to only answering phones and emails? The rest of your employees are able to focus on the customers who are already in your store and wanting to make a purchase. You can even use a temp agency if you don’t want to deal with the paperwork of hiring additional employees.
Accept online ordering. Offering your merchandise on your website is a win-win for everybody involved, but if you don’t already offer sales over the internet, why not use a creative version of this? Draw up a simple paper catalog or flyer that your customers can take home with them. Let them email you a list of the items they need. You gather up the items they want and send them an email when their order is ready for pickup. You can use this technique for taking phone orders, as well. If you can, offer to deliver or ship the merchandise to your customer, too.
Extend business hours. There are three reasons I say this, based on personal experience. First, if you are only open from 8am to 5pm, you’re missing the entire demographic that works first shift. Second, make your hours consistent. Different hours on different weekdays make absolutely no sense to your customers. Third and final, if you’re in a business plaza, your hours should match those of most of the other businesses in the plaza. If you’re not open when they are, you’re missing business. If you’re open when they aren’t, you’re wasting time and money because everyone thinks the plaza is closed.
Provide easy access to products. I know it’s tempting to pack as much merchandise as possible onto the sales floor, but it’s very frustrating to customers if they can’t fit their cart down the aisles, or to have to back up if someone else is already in the aisle. Make sure you have reasonable room between your displays, and that they are clean and easily accessible.
Make returning merchandise easy. There are two ways to accomplish this. Always offer gift-receipts (receipts without a price) to your customers in addition to the regular itemized receipt when they make a purchase. This makes it easier and less embarrassing when it comes time to return that sweater that just didn’t fit. After the holidays, when returns are highest, why not use your telephone/email employee to staff a dedicated returns desk? Not the service desk or the regular checkout desks. A dedicated desk makes it quicker and easier for your customers, which translates into a better experience.
Have extra carts and baskets available. This should be a no-brainer as well. I can’t tell you the number of times I have cussed under my breath when I see a parking lot full of snow-covered carts, but can’t find a single empty cart or basket inside the store. Employees should make regular trips around the inside of the store and in the parking lot to return empty carts and baskets. This also helps keep your aisles and lot clear.
Clearly mark all prices. Prices on each item are nice, and they avoid the customer waiting at check out for a “price check”. They also allow your employees to make more productive use of their time by cutting down on the amount of interruptions just to check the price on an item.
Accept coupons and offer price-matching. Make it known that you accept competitor’s coupons, or that you’ll price-match any advertised price. Instead of your customer’s next stop at ABC Home Improvements for that item you don’t have on sale, offer to match the price and keep the business for yourself while saving your customer their time and fuel.
Make it easy to buy items that complement each other. If my wife is buying me a router, I’d sure welcome the salesperson offering her ten or twenty percent off a router table or any router accessories. We usually call this an “up sell”, but during the holidays this can be especially helpful when buying gifts for someone else. Make it easy. Make the offer and maybe offer a discount as well if purchased at the same time.
Have a customer loyalty program. We’ve all seen the free donut or cup of coffee after ten purchases, or free turkeys at Thanksgiving if you buy a certain amount of groceries the month before. Why not punch a card for every purchase? When a customer reaches a certain number of purchases or dollar amount, offer them a free gift or a substantial discount on a single item. My wife belongs to many of these programs, and she always chooses those merchants before anyone else.
I hope this article gave you some ideas about how making shopping easier for your customers also makes it more profitable for you. If you’d like more ideas about customer service you can do an online search at www.sba.gov, or read my business blog at www.JohnLizotte.com.
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