Owning and operating a small retail business is not for the faint-hearted. You must be dedicated to your store and more importantly, your customers. Without customers, you might as well pack up and go home.
The numbers don’t lie. Nearly 50 percent of all small businesses fail within the first five years. In most cases, they simply can’t bring in enough business.
But how can you get a positive reaction from customers to keep them coming back for more? What does every retail customer want from a retail store?
What Every Retail Customer Wants
Learning what a retail customer wants from you means putting yourself in their shoes. Surely you have your go-to stores, restaurants, clubs, services, and more.
What do you appreciate about those things? What keeps you coming back?
Keep reading for our top tips on giving every retail customer exactly what they want to help you build a massive and loyal customer base.
1. To Feel Important and Cherished
This world is all about digitization and automation. While it’s highly convenient, saves time, and cuts costs, it also leaves us all feeling a little less human. Human beings are social creatures, we want to feel connected.
This means feeling cherished and important to those we do business with. If they’re coming in and paying you their hard-earned money, it’s because they find value in your products. Make their patronage feel appreciated:
- Always say “thank you”
- Greet them with a warm smile
- Listen to them (questions, suggestions, personal stories, anything)
- Make sure they’re always taken care of when they’re in the store
2. To Be Rewarded for Their Loyalty
A loyal retail customer should be rewarded for their patronage, and they know it. If they’ve fallen in love with your products and continuously shopping at your store, you need to make sure they’re rewarded for it.
You could offer different tiers of discounts based on how much accumulated money they spend. For example, after $100, you could offer them a five-dollar discount on their next purchase. After $500, you could offer a $50 gift card, and so on.
3. Genuine Customer Service
When a retail customer comes to you with a question or complaint (personally or online), you need to honor that customer with genuine service. As a business owner, you’re going to face scrutiny, bad reviews, dissatisfied customers and worse. It’s your responsibility to treat every customer and their issue with respect, understanding, and compassion.
4. An Online Experience
We are deep in the digital age of business. Consumers love shopping online and they expect most retail stores to have an online presence. If you don’t, you could be missing out on tons of sales.
Although it may seem disingenuous, having a solid base of online retail customers is a great way to make easy, consistent sales. This should also include improving your customers’ online experience with social media.
5. Something New
Finally, a retail customer will only continue coming back to you if you continue offering new experiences. This could be new products, custom shopping bags, new promotions, etc.
Alternatively, you could change up the store atmosphere every few months. Don’t let your retail space get stale with old decorations and boring layouts. Customers should be pleasantly surprised and intrigued when they walk in – a new design often means new products.
Looking for More Business Advice?
If you’re looking for ways to impress every retail customer that walks in your door or visits your website, we can help. Check out some of our other articles on running a successful business while you’re here. Good luck!
