7 practical ways for physical retail stores to improve sales

POSTED: 11 June 2018

Ecommerce has certainly shaken the traditional retail landscape, but the fight is far from over. Here are seven practical ways that physical retailers can improve customer experience and boost their sales.

1) Improve the experience – physical retailers need to provide something more than just the merchandize. What extra are you offering? Whether it is the ability to test products, to gain more information about products, or the theater you create around your products – you need to be clear about the experience you are providing.

2) Make promotions clear – good signage is vital. Your offers should be clearly displayed and robust enough to withstand the expected shopping footfall. Messy displays and poor signage lead to lackluster retail sales.

3) Make offers to genuinely help customers – think about what you are offering your customers. What do they want? What do they need? What would appeal in a meaningful way? What promotions will incentivize them to spend their dollars?

4) Appeal to the senses – the in-store environment provides consumers with the opportunity to see, to touch, to smell, to feel the products. Retailers have the opportunity to talk direct to customers about the products. This is something online just cannot compete with.

5) Become compelling – the low end compete on price, the high end offer something different by way of product or buying experience. The massive middle is a danger zone of potential retail failure. What is your point of difference? Identify it; exploit it.

6) Utilize your data – test and collect data to work out what works and what does not. Use pilot stores in the way McDonalds will trial a format before rolling out.  Retailers have to get better at the science or risk getting wiped out.

7) Clicks are not the enemy – physical retail can learn a lot from ecommerce. Consider what is working for your online competitors, how can you compete? How can you build and improve on what they are doing?

Stores need to make their spaces work harder. Watch our video to find out how the Reflex Sign Holder can help improve store sales through the use of Face-outs.