How to Get People Into Your Retail Store
Slow day at the store? Maybe it’s time to spice things up and get people excited to come to your store again! The honeymoon stage of “Grand Opening”, “Newly Remodeled”, and “Clearance Event” might be over, but that doesn’t mean your business has to suffer because of it. Here are a few tips to bring people to your retail store and get them excited again and again.
- Create Events out of Anything
Events are the lifeblood of a retail store. Everything is cyclical in the retail world while still being unexplainable at the same time. There will always be a summer and a winter, there will always be Independence Day and Christmas, but will there always be a tropical storm that keeps people indoors for two weeks? That being said, you need a way to control the calendar year to make it as advantageous to your store as possible. You know which holidays lead to the most revenue for your business, but there is all that time between holidays that needs to be filled. The calendar only has so many holidays available, so why not make a few of your own? Make a big deal out of these events in your community because eventually you will find the ones that work best and customers will be asking you when the next one is being held. Advertise these events on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, flyers around town, and your website home page. Get the word out there!
If you have experience with events from your own retail store please leave them in the comments for others to learn from!
- Create a Rewards Program
Rewards programs are sprouting up everywhere these days. Why? Because they work! I am an avid drummer and I buy nearly all of my gear from Guitar Center. I don’t do this because it’s always the cheapest or the most convenient option, I do it because they offer me incentives for being a loyal customer and it benefits me in the long run. That being said, it also benefits Guitar Center as they now have a loyal customer who spends (an embarrassing amount of) money with them every year. This turns into a win-win situation because I walk out of the store a satisfied customer, and Guitar Center makes a healthy profit each time I walk into one of their stores.
A rewards program can be implemented via punch cards, apps, a website, or many other ways. Find a program that would make customers feel obligated to shop with you because they would be missing out on something great if they didn’t. A good rewards program can turn a one-time customer into a regular simply by signing them up.
Know your way around rewards programs? Leave a comment and give some suggestions to retail owners looking to implement one!
- Use the Internet
Solve this riddle for me: “I am an avid internet user. I never leave without my phone in hand. I have friends… a lot of friends. 918 of them on Facebook to be exact. I also have this creepy feeling that people are following me all the time… because they are, all 3,000 of my Twitter followers. I love spending money both online and in stores, but I do most of my research online. Who am I?”
Answer: Your next customer.
Using social media and the power of search will boost your business into a market that wouldn’t have heard about you any other way. A great web presence can boost your website traffic, your social media followers, and of course foot traffic through your front door. Here are a few tips to get you started.
Use animated videos! It might sound obvious from a business called AnimatedSocial, but it’s true! You need to use videos in this day and age, and animated videos bring in serious results! Want to learn more? Contact us here and we’ll show you how!
Update your Website regularly! Do you run a sporting equipment business? Make sure your banner reflects the sport that is currently in season. You don’t want to be that company who has a picture of a child playing soccer on a summer day in the middle of a snowy winter. Give the people what they want: the bundled up guy and girl getting ready for the adrenaline rush that the mountain they are about to ski down is going to give them.
Be a Conversation Starter! Use your social media posts to create engagement with the people who follow you. You don’t want to be a robot, you want to be a business! A business is made up of people, so make sure that your followers get to see the people side of your store and talk to you in a personal tone. Friends introduce friends to each other, so make sure you’re getting a good introduction!
Bring people to your Website! Create a Google Display Ads campaign, paid search, and product listing ads. These can be a tricky beast to crack, but if you can figure out how to do this successfully you will be well ahead of your completion and on your way to some big revenue numbers. That being said, make sure your website is up to date and something you actually want potential customers to see. You want people to come into your store because they saw it on the internet, not run away because of it!
Good luck implementing these tips to bring people into your retail store, and leave a comment if you have any advice or questions for other readers and myself!