A definite reason to return
Give your customers a flat out reason to return. This can be something like coupons, discounts special promotions if they return. Many if not most shops have a membership system set up where they can stack points or receive regular discounts in a shop, these can often grow with more and more visits, giving the customers a reason to not only buy from your shop but to get as much from your shop as they can. The customer gets a sense of reward and gratitude seeing their points accumulate over time.
Many retailers turn these to their advantage by offering targeted discounts and offers to products not selling so well, such as double points on product ‘x’ or greater discount on ‘y’ when bought with ‘x’.
E-Commerce
In recent times up to 70% of the British public claim to window shop on companies websites, this means if you don’t have a dedicated website, Facebook or other social media set up your potentially missing out on a massive market. The website need not replace the physical store, indeed many have been using it for click and collect services or just letting customers know that they have the item so they can come in and physical see/feel/experience whatever the product is.
If this is coupled with the previous note then it’s easy to see how sales can easily be driven up.
Know customers personally
Find out what your customer’s likes and dislike are, get constant feedback and if need be offer incentives for them to do so. This would apply more to small, local businesses but with stores than often deal with many different customers again a membership program might be the perfect tool for the job.
Stay connected!
Customers will enjoy a personalised experience, provide non-intrusive emails, texts or letters especially if you know specific things about them from membership details such as date of birth or buying patterns to offer special offers tailored to the person. Continuing to remind your customers of your offers, and to encourage the further use of your loyalty scheme ensures that you don’t slip under the radar.
Social Media
Constant updates across various social media platforms allow your store to stay current amongst your regulars whilst at the same time promoting your business for free. Good posts will often get likes from customers and this can circulate through their group of friends and increase overall interest.
About Opus Retail Solutions
Opus Retail Solutions specialise in providing Retail, Wholesale, & Integrated e-Commerce Solutions through its Software suite Opus Retail Manager. The entire EPOS operation is managed from Opus’s Headquarters in Belfast, Northern Ireland, along with regional development and support offices in the UK. Opus has been developing software for over 30 years and was one of the first Windows based EPOS systems in 1997. Opus Retail Manager is hardware independent and we offer hardware depending on client requirements, policy or budget.
The key to Opus’s success lies with its ongoing investment in Research and Development and Training to keep our Software products and services and staff world class. Services range from specifying client requirements to providing custom modifications, system implementation, training with a special emphasis on after-sales support so our customers can get the most from their system. The Company invests c £100k pa in R&D to ensure it’s software remains world-class.
The entire Opus operation is managed from Opus’s Headquarters in Belfast, Northern Ireland, along with regional development and support offices in the UK and Russia. Opus has partners all over the world and currently ships the software in five languages. Please contact us if you would like to discuss a partnership.
Although our Retail Manager Software and services procedures have evolved over the years from DOS through Windows enabling us to stay ahead of the curve, our core objective is still to provide innovative, best in breed, easy to use and robust EPoS solutions, no matter what the industry, the size or the individual need.
