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Christmas Sales Boosting Guide
It’s set to be the most wonderful time of the year in retail, with a Deloitte survey revealing that 80% of Australian retailers expect to exceed sales from 2014. We’ve put together some sales-boosting strategies, to help your store get a slice of the pudding.
Sometimes finding the right gift can be stressful, whether it be for the office kris kringle or the relative you see once a year. Alleviate gift anxiety by creating a gift guide. If you’re not design-savvy, it’s worthwhile employing the skills of a graphic designer/copywriter, to ensure you end up with content that your customer will want to share. Further to this, placing stocking-stuffer items near the counter and queue can be a great way to inspire customers and increase margins.
Location, location, location. Strategically place shopping baskets around the store, not just at the entrance, as many customers will simply wrap up their shopping when their hands are full. In fact, a US study showed that shoppers spent up to fifteen minutes longer in-store and spent 25% more after additional baskets were made available.
Go back to basics by appealing to your customer’s senses. In 2012, Washington State University linked a 20% increase in spending to citrus scents. These scents are classified as 'simple', meaning they don’t require a lot of brainpower to process, freeing up other areas of the brain to focus on shopping. Go festive with a pine tree, another ‘simple’ scent, proven to increase spending.
Avoid perceived indifference and boost repeat sales, by letting your customers know you value their choice to shop with you. Helping them feel appreciated can be as simple as inviting them to return, such as a staff member asking them to drop in and let them know how their mum liked the gift. Sweeten the deal by offering complimentary gift wrapping with purchase. Investing in the right loyalty program can go a long way too. For example, Collect’s Customer Loyalty program allows customers the freedom of tracking their points in real-time with their phone, seamless transaction experience and offers unparalleled engagement for retailers.
Your customers are savvy, so you should be too. A recent study by InReality concluded that 75% of all shoppers are using their mobile in-store, with a staggering 25% actually making a purchase. If you’re not selling a unique product, be sure to do your research to ensure you’ve got an edge on the competition.
Online shopping cart abandonment is at a huge 69%, with shipping costs and lack of trust being some of the most prevalent factors. A Comscore study discovered close to 60% of shoppers were willing to add more products to their cart to qualify for free shipping, and 80% were willing to wait an additional two days if shipping was free. If you don’t usually offer free freight, try promoting free shipping this Christmas and New Year. For tips on how to reduce abandonment by optimising checkout, see this great article by Shopify: https://www.shopify.com.au/enterprise/44272899-how-to-reduce-shopping-cart-abandonment-by-optimizing-the-checkout
Ensure there’s enough staff on at peak times, avoid employee fatigue, easily replace sick staff and make staff communication a cinch, by utilising a smart rostering program, like Deputy.
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