How to Give a Jet Boost to In-Store Sales?

Retailers are excited as retail store sales are on the rebound! After some tough months at the start of the pandemic, retail store businesses are rapidly growing again. However, many retailers still rely on traditional methods to boost sales, like waiting for customers to visit their store or advertising on print media, search engines, and other digital channels.

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To maximize sales in retail stores, one needs to adapt new methods and channels. In this blog, we will discuss those ideas by which you are sure to see a boost in retail store sales.

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1. Click and Collect 

Research says that 68% of shoppers have used click-and-collect services. This sales channel is a cheaper, faster, and more convenient way for retail customers to "click" to complete their transactions online and "collect" their items at the retail store rather than have them delivered.  

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How does click & collect benefit retailers?

Get impulse sales: Research says that 60%–75% of click and collect shoppers purchase additional products, creating tremendous upsell opportunities. That means most shoppers who come in to collect ordered products also buy other items.

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No long queues: Customers don't have to wait in long lines to get their products billed in retail stores. They can get their hands on the ordered products in no time by ordering on the internet and collecting them at their comfortable time.

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Boost customer footfall: Click and collect drives people to visit physical stores and helps to keep in-person experiences relevant in an increasingly digital world. It also helps retailers in new customer acquisition and retention of the loyal ones. It generates additional sales as the visiting customer can find more relevant products in a brick-and-mortar store. 

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2. Experiential Retail

Almost 60% of consumers say they expect retailers to dedicate more floor space to experiences than products. Consumers are willing to increase their shopping budgets if those expectations are met. The same report found that globally, 81% of consumers are willing to pay more for experiences that upgrade the shopping experience.

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Welcome to the era of experiential retailing that says more than a third of consumers (35%) plan to engage with brands via experiential moments over the coming year. Meanwhile, 40% of brands said that offering experiential retail would be a top priority in the coming year.

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The above research shows that this retailing strategy can significantly increase in-store sales by attracting more customers who prefer experiences. It is a great way to boost your business and get ahead of the competition.

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For example, M&M opened a new 24,000-square-foot experiential store in the Mall of America. The free interactive experiences include a series of firsts for M&M’S stores with elements unique to the Mall of America location, including.

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• "M&M'S Sweet Moves" allows fans to express their personality through colour, sound and movement. 

• Store visitors also can visit “Peanut Peak,” a rooftop celebration of the local landscape inspired by the Minnesota views. 

• The store will feature M&M’S favourites, including the personalization station, signature M&M'S, "Wall of Chocolate", and exclusive in-store merchandise.

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Similarly, Nike is a trend-setter when it comes to immersive in-store shopping. Nike Rise, their latest experiential store concept, is pushing omnichannel to a new level via the Nike app. 

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The “Nike experiences” feature enables shoppers to book exclusive events, fitness classes, and product customization services. Nike uses this data to refine the store’s value proposition according to what offerings resonate with customers the most.

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Footwear shopping is also a lot more tech-enabled (and convenient). Associates in-store are equipped with Nike Fit, a foot scanning technology “that uses a proprietary combination of computer vision, data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and recommendation algorithms” to help shoppers find the best fit for them.

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3. End Long Queues to Bill your Customers

One of the most frustrating experiences in any retail store, both for customers and the store staff is a long queue of customers to bill their shopped products attended by limited staff.

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Research says that 32% of customers will quit a long line and search for a better checkout experience elsewhere. Another 11% said they would abandon a purchase entirely if a line is too long.

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How can retail stores end long queues of customers?

‍Self-service kiosks 

Self-service kiosks allow customers to complete various tasks independently without a dedicated employee's assistance. 

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Self-checkout: Self-checkout kiosks are an excellent way for customers to scan, pay for, and bag their items quickly. The solution can be tailored to fit the needs of any retail outlet and can easily integrate with multiple screen sizes, payment devices, printers, and scanners.

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With over 40% of consumers preferring self-checkout, businesses and organizations should consider self-service options. In fact, more and more customers are looking for unique experiences, so self-checkout kiosks are the ideal solution for providing convenience and efficiency. The result of this investment is, undoubtedly, a well-organized establishment, with attentive staff and customers who feel comfortable and well served.

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Endless Aisle: Endless aisle kiosks provide a convenient way for customers to browse and purchase products that may not be available in-store. These kiosks offer various products and allow customers to purchase items quickly and easily.

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4. In-store Mobile Checkout 

Top retail brands are increasingly introducing in-store mobile checkout to save transaction time, delight customers and maximize in-store conversions. Customers have to browse a short URL on their smartphone, scan the product barcode and pay through different methods.

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Few good examples of retail stores in India using this technology are brands like Satyapaul,  Clarks, AND,  Diesel, Raymonds, and Spykar. Store Associates in these physical stores download the Fynd Store app on their handheld devices.

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They can move around, attend to the customers wherever they are, show them the entire brand inventory in the store, add selected products to the cart and checkout from the app. A QR code or payment link can also be shared on email or Whatsapp through which the customers can complete the payment. 

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An innovative use case for this was implemented by Fynd Store for TCNS clothing, for its brand W and Aurelia. During the festive season around September-October, footfall remains the highest as people shop for Durga Pooja and Diwali.

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To address the long queues in the stores,  the endless aisle Fynd Store app was used as a mobile POS in W & Aurelia stores. Store associates moved around the queues and helped them check out on their mobile and had a great queue buster success, not to mention happy customers. 

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Contactless Payments 

Contactless payments are the new normal for the retail industry. Retail brands use numerous methods to accept contactless payments from customers like QR codes, UPI, contactless credit/debit cards and mobile wallets.

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Why are Retailers Adopting Contactless Payments?

Make safer transactions: 80% of retailers agree that contactless payments keep their checkout area cleaner and safer for employees and customers. Especially post-pandemic, it has become a basic necessity and hygiene measure.

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Customer's choice: 57% of consumers say they are more likely to do business with retailers that offer a contactless payment option. And why not? One of the major reasons for e-commerce business to peak after Covid was it being contactless.

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Offering contactless payment at retail stores is an opportunity to scale up to be at par with e-commerce with an added advantage of in-store shopping experience for the customers.

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5. Have an Attractive Loyalty Program

Loyalty programs are an essential marketing tool for retail stores. They incentivize customers to return to the store and make additional purchases. Traits of a marvellous loyalty program.

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• They mention clear benefits availed by the customer.

• They encourage customer loyalty and repeat business.

• They drive Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

• Customers are able to save money & receive rewards.

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H&M's retail loyalty program is a great way to get discounts and exclusive access to shopping events. To join, shoppers have to register on the H&M website or through the H&M app. They will start earning points with every purchase that can be redeemed for $5 rewards every 200 points. As a loyalty member, they enjoy 10% off on their first purchase, free delivery on orders over $25, free online returns, and much more.

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Signing Off

As we discussed, there are some innovative ways to grow retail sales. Many of these strategies revolve around omnichannel retailing, which are rapidly increasing in-store sales. World-class retail brands are adopting these strategies and are seeing great rewards in customer preference and increased sales.

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If you want to increase sales and expand your customer base, Fynd can help you in many ways. We can help you implement these practical strategies that will get results. Book a demo and learn more on products and services that can fit your business strategy and help you scale your retail business.