Getting a customer to enter your retail store is a win, but it isn’t the ultimate goal. Your primary objective is having them walk in and walk out as a paying customer. To help you turn in-store browsers into buyers, consider these retail tips to increase in-store sales.
How to improve sales in a retail store
Before we dive into specific retail tips to increase in-store sales, let’s consider the strategies that can help you improve sales in a retail store. As you develop marketing ideas to increase in-store sales, ask yourself these three questions.
- What in-store assets can I leverage for on-site marketing?
- How can you leverage omnichannel marketing?
- How can you tie your marketing to the customer’s journey?
Let’s take a closer look at each question below.
1. What in-store assets can I leverage for on-site marketing?
As you think about how you can use these retail tips to increase in-store sales, start by considering what you have to work with. Take stock of the types of in-store marketing that are available to you.
- Print signage
- Digital signage and video screens
- Kiosks
- Live product demos
- WiFi marketing
- Overhead messaging
- Store layout
- Check-out experience
- Product packaging
- Your team
2. How can you leverage omnichannel marketing?
When thinking about in-store marketing, don’t completely turn off your digital marketing mind. Instead, consider how you can connect the in-person shopping experience with the online shopping experience. Consider how you can use omnichannel marketing.
Omnichannel marketing is the process of using multiple, consistent marketing channels that reach customers in a variety of places while offering a cohesive brand experience.
Customers often merge the two worlds of shopping. They shop online and then come into a store to make a purchase, or they shop in a store and then buy online. According to Statista, 74% of customers use a mobile device for product research while shopping in a store in the United States.
As you develop on-site marketing ideas, consider how you can help the customer connect their in-person experience to their online experience. Think about what a customer may have done online before their visit (or while shopping in the store) and how you can connect that experience to their in-store visit.
3. How can you tie your marketing to the customer’s journey?
As you plan your in-store marketing, don’t think only about making a sale. Keep in mind that you can use on-site marketing to move prospects through their customer journey.
Instead of tying all of your marketing to the goal of generating a quick sale, consider how you can use on-site marketing to reach customers in each phase of their journey.
- Awareness Phase: What can you do to bring awareness to new products or offerings?
- Consideration Phase: How can you educate or inform customers when they are considering whether or not they want to buy?
- Decision Phase: What can you do to help a customer make a purchase or drive them toward an up-sell once they have decided to buy?
- Post-Purchase: How can you bring customers back and stay connected with them once they have made a purchase?
9 retail tips to increase in-store sales
Now that you have some guiding principles to keep in mind as you brainstorm on-site marketing ideas, let’s look at some specific retail tips to increase in-store sales.
- Convert print signage to digital screens.
- Collect information from in-store shoppers.
- Remind people to follow you on social media.
- Create packages and up-sell opportunities.
- Create a loyalty program.
- Use QR codes to guide customers to online sources.
- Create a photo opp.
- Allow online customers to create in-store baskets or pick-ups.
- Utilize your packaging and bags.
1. Convert print signage to digital screens
Don’t let your static signage grow stale and get overlooked. Switch to using digital signage so you can regularly change promotions and feature multiple messages at once.
2. Collect information from in-store shoppers
Run contests or give incentives to in-store shoppers so they join your customer database by entering their phone number or email address. When you have customer contact information, you can reach out to encourage customers to come back and buy again — or to buy for the first time if they left without making a purchase.
Related: 10 ways to grow your email list in-store
3. Remind people to follow you on social media
Another way to create a connection with customers before they go is by asking them to follow you on social media. This connection gives you another opportunity to encourage interested in-store shoppers to come back again.
4. Create packages and up-sell opportunities
Increase revenue by showing customers why it’s a good idea to purchase two products or services together. Create packages and up-sells that add value to items customers are already planning to buy.
Related: 10 strategies to sell excess inventory
5. Create a loyalty program
Encourage customers to visit and buy (while also growing your customer contact database) by establishing a loyalty program that rewards shoppers for visiting or making a purchase.
6. Use QR codes to guide customers to online sources
Make it easy for shoppers to join your loyalty program, follow you on social media, and react to your digital in-store call-to-actions. Use QR codes that they can scan to be taken directly to relevant web pages, social media accounts, your online store, etc.
7. Create a photo opp
Give customers a reason to visit your store and share their experience with their followers. Set up a photo-op in your store so shoppers can take a photo, share it on social media, and drive brand exposure.
8. Allow online customers to create in-store baskets or pick-ups
Connect your online and in-store experience by allowing online customers to create in-store baskets that they can retrieve when they visit the store. This approach is great for clothing stores where customers may want to try on items.
Related: 10 tactics to turn impulse shopping into stone-cold sales
9. Utilize your packaging and bags
If a customer makes a purchase, use it as a gateway to get them to come back. In your packaging or bags, include a coupon or promotion that encourages them to visit again.
Start selling more in-store and online
If you have a retail business, you have a variety of ways to promote products and offerings to customers.
Use these retail tips to increase in-store sales. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, consider how you can leverage digital and in-store marketing to increase sales. And if you primarily sell online, see how a physical storefront can help you reach new customers and showcase your business in a new way.
