If you’re not optimizing your store, you’re losing out on potential sales. When you hear of optimization you may think of an online store; however, brick and mortar stores have plenty to benefit from when it comes to optimization.
Switching various aspects of your physical store can help you increase sales and take advantage of foot traffic. Use the following four tips to boost your in-store sales!
1. Limit The Number Of Options
It may seem like more options means more opportunity for sales; however, the more alternatives you display, the more overwhelmed your shoppers can become. Having too many choices becomes paralyzing. When faced with a wide assortment of items, people will often walk away rather than forcing themselves to make a decision.
By limiting the colors, brand options and items in your store, you can make better use of your shopper’s attention spans. Less is more when it comes to organizing the items in your store. Offering fewer options encourages your customer’s to ask questions and gives your sales staff an opportunity to shine.
2. Use Sounds And Scents To Establish An Environment
If people don’t enjoy coming to your store, they’ll do everything they can to avoid coming back. The most successful storefronts use specific sounds, music, and scents to create emotional responses from their customer’s. An emotional response subconsciously keeps people coming back and encourages longer stays.
The best emotion your store can instill in your customers is nostalgia. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion that causes people to let their guard down and become less worried about details like price. Using images, retro music and specific scents are excellent ways to remind your customer’s of enjoyable times in their life.
Creating nostalgic feelings is much easier around the holidays. When Christmas is approaching your store should smell like fresh baked goods. When you’re promoting your Valentines day sale, people should be able to smell roses and cinnamon just from walking past your store. Using smells to your advantage will help you increase sales.
3. Invest In Quality Retail Display Shelving
Proper shelving can make all the difference when it comes to making sales. Investing in POP displays for your store allows you to create an ambiance unique to your store, while promoting the products that make you the most profit.
When your shelving is set up correctly, you can subconsciously guide your customer’s through your store. With the right set up, you can have people walking right to the high margin items with little effort on your part. You’ll need to know your audience in order to set up your shelving in a way that draws them in.
Paying specific attention to retail display shelving is also an excellent way to secure your store. Displaying high-risk items in certain areas can help you monitor customers and minimize theft.
4. Keep Switching Up Your Displays
Certain customers may appreciate consistency in your design, however, keeping your store fresh is an integral part of your marketing efforts. People who have already visited your store will enjoy a new feeling of discovery despite previously having visited. Creating excitement in returning visitors can lead to additional sales and referrals.
In addition to switching up your displays, don’t forget to alternate your merchandise. Try different item placement and see how various brands perform in your store. You can also try new types of signs or posters to see which one is more effective at pulling in foot traffic.
As you can see, optimization plays a vital role in your store’s success. Try experimenting with the different tips in this blog post to see what works best for your location.