7 Pearls of Wisdom for Retailers
Retail management and the professional services that provide its support succeed when intelligent analysis of the facts leads to appropriate action. Another way to describe this is “wisdom”. Wisdom is basically knowing the right thing to do and doing it. Knowing the right thing to do in retail depends on knowing what is going on in retail.
For the last 30 years, Deloitte has commissioned an annual holiday survey on shopping. This year’s survey was conducted online by an independent research company from September 11-22, 2015 and polled a national sample of over 4,000 consumers. It ends with these “pearls of wisdom” in honor of the 30th anniversary of the survey:
- People are looking for non-gift clothing and home furnishings this year. Retailers can integrate the theme of being good to self & family in promotions and merchandising.
- The checkout process matters more than the first impression. Retailers should make sure that all the details are in place to make the Point of Sale as positive as possible.
- Offer free standard shipping and have clear holiday shipping policies. Retailers need to accept that free shipping is a deciding factor for most shoppers and be prepared to set clear deadlines and policies for the inevitable last-minute shipping requests.
- Encourage customers to interact with products. Retailers who offer the opportunity to touch, feel, and experience an item will sell more inventory to shoppers who are influenced by the moment.
- Offer the unique. Merchandise and subscription services that have unique features can’t compare to other retail offerings. Retailers can utilize Customer Relationship Management surveys to find out what their customer base is hoping for and offer it.
- Be where your customers are. Retailers who have a presence in the community at fairs, events, and other venues are more apt to see the community coming through the doors of their store.
- Let your customers join your team. Retailers can encourage product and store reviews by customers. This encourages others to shop there, too.
Retail management that uses ChainDrive professional software and support services is able to know the right thing to do and do it. That’s wise.