Auditing Your Store Operations Through Customer Surveys

There’s no better way of knowing your customer’s thoughts than by asking them directly. Do you have specific products sitting stagnant at your shelves? Why don’t you turn to your shoppers to know how they see those products to understand their behavior towards it? Still don’t know how to do it? The answer is simple; surveys.

You can survey your customers either in-store or online. Doing this properly will lead you to a supply of precious customer data on their experience which can help you on your next business decisions.

Check out some of the things that you have to do to properly conduct customer surveys and assess your store operations so you can improve your services:

Know the Right Questions to Ask

None of this would matter if you don’t ask the right questions, regardless if you have all the right instruments. You have to make sure you relate it to your customers’ in-store experiences because this will show you the flaws that you have from the perspective of the shoppers. It is what will give you guidance on how you can improve the image of your brand. Aside from their experience, you can also ask your customers about specific products, and other sensory elements within your business.

Make Sure Your Survey is Interesting and Encouraging

You won’t have the data you need if your customers are uncooperative. So, sometimes you have to adjust to them and find out what could motivate them to be more open in providing their feedback; whether its through setting up devices in your stores or through email so it can be easier and faster to access.

Time is also a huge factor on this, no matter how they value your survey, there will come a time that they’ll get bored of it so do not make it too long. Keep it as short and as comprehensive as possible because know that customers only spend less than a minute in answering each question and expecting them to spend hours on your whole survey is too much. So, if you are seeking highly-detailed responses to open-ended questions, then limit the total number of your questions.

Invest on Staff Training and Marketing to Promote Your Survey

Being successful on gathering important data also comes with a cost. Promoting your survey is also necessary as some people will not be willing to take it without an extra push. But, with highly-skilled staff, it would be easier to encourage them to take it. This is crucial if you are gathering open-ended answers along with ratings. This leads you to repeated comments which require you to take a specific action.

As you go on with your survey, changes will have to be done on the questions based on the information you collect. You may soon notice what questions are too vague or misleading as part of survey implementation and review.

Establish a Reward System to Encourage Your Customers to Complete Your Survey

Using discounts, promos, and other rewards, you can give an extra encouragement for your shoppers to complete customers experience surveys. Knowing that they will be rewarding for it will make them more willing to give valuable information that can help you and your business succeed.

Understand and appreciate the value of doing customer survey. This is one of the important and worthy investments that you can make in your business and you can benefit from it big time as long as you have the right strategy to gather useful information.

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Finding the Best Instagram Hashtags for your Brand

Instagram Hashtags are used generally to help in making contents easy to discover. Businesses used this to expand their reach, engage with their audience and boost the popularity of their brand. But in order to achieve these benefits, one must plan carefully.

Here we will discuss hashtags, from their definition to how they can be effectively used in business.

So, what are Instagram hashtags? 

Simply put, Hashtags are clickable phrases and topics that can be attached to Instagram posts. It has the # placed in front of it, and it usually comes after or along with other image captions.

Clicking on will lead the audience to its discover feed, which shows all the public content attached to it. In short, the hashtag is an effective way for people to find content on Instagram.

How can it help a business?

Since hashtags help people to discover contents that they are interested in, they are useful in dealing with your target audience, because it allows you to be seen by them even if they haven’t connected with you before. As recognition to this helpful role of hashtags on brands, they are now able to add clickable hashtags to the profile section of Instagram bios.

Hashtags can now also be followed by other users depending on their interests so those hashtags will appear in their feed regularly.

Some of the best general Instagram hashtags include #photooftheday, #lifeisgood, and #instadaily, while if you are asking people to like or follow you, you should use the hashtags #followme, #likeforlike, and #follow4follow.

How can merchants effectively connect with their target audience using hashtags?

There are different types of hashtags that comes with different purposes. Using a strong combination of them can be a good strategy. However, know that not all ecommerce businesses can find every type of hashtag useful. So, it’s crucial to find and adopt the ones that works best for your brand and your audience so it can have a positive impact.

Users are allowed to use up to thirty hashtags on each of their posts. But it doesn’t mean you have to use all of them. It still differs and depends on your content. But what’s advisable is for brands to use at least more than one on every post.

No one can really say what’s the best number of hashtags to use in a single post, but you can know what’s best for you through testing.

Instagram hashtags are recognized to play an important role on Instagram marketing. With the right strategy that focuses on how to get more Instagram followers, businesses will be able to use hashtags that will boost your likes, comments, and followers. Without any strategy, the full potential of these hashtags won’t be utilized for the success of your brand marketing. There are also hashtag tools that can help you in coming up with a list of high-performing hashtags to engage with your audience more effectively. Take note that the only way to success is to use them based on your analysis and measurement.

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Importance of WiFi’s impact on In-store Analytics

WiFi plays an important role in marketing a business. It has become an important resource that offering for free to customers can potentially lead to more sales brand promotion.  But, providing free WiFi doesn’t only open opportunities for your brand, it can provide you essential in-store analytics that can be useful for the growth of your business and the success of your operations.

Here are some in-store analytics that you can observe and use to utilize your free WiFi and bring in more revenue:

• Through WiFi marketing, you can identify the amount of foot traffic entering your store every day and distinguish the percentage of actual buyers from those who came in.

• You can also set apart through your WiFi system your new customers from the returning and loyal ones. Knowing this will help you put up a plan on how to win loyal customers over and over again by applying a different marketing strategy. You can either welcome loyal customers back or provide first-timers with some coupon codes for visiting your store.

• WiFi easily connects to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. This means gathering demographic details about your in-store customers can be easier. Information such as gender, age, and interest can be efficiently used for personalized marketing messages.

• With WiFi access, your customers would surely go online and since it is under your control, you can set up a customer log wherein you will be able to influence what they see and redeem. The information that you have gathered can help you track the progress of your campaigns before you put them up in your social media following and other mass audiences.

• As you connect with your customers online, you can promote a call-to-action such as following your account or checking-in for a coupon or discount. Following you on social media is the start of the people’s commitment to your brand. This also gives you the opportunity to turn new customers into loyal customers. This should be followed by consistently interesting social media content to make your customers want to come back.

These In-store Analytics will be your guide in making wise business decisions instead on relying on gut-feeling or intuition. Using objective data instead of assumptions will more likely lead you to ideal results and effective promotion strategy.

WiFi is so important to people that giving it freely to them will make them feel as if they were provided with special powers. It opens up the whole wide world and it is what will keep them connected so you can also use it as leverage and asset to your store. At first, you might think that it’s the only thing that makes them stay inside but eventually, through time and along with the right strategy, you will be able to persuade them to buy until they become your loyal customers.

You can also use not only the information you gather from them but also their engagement to widen your reach and attract more potential customers.

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The Key to Creating an Effective POP Material

POP Display Materials remained unmatched when it comes to effective merchandising. This is despite the success of e-commerce and digital retail. It is what consistently catches the attention of consumers to reignite their interest on brands and their products. That’s why brand manufacturers and retailers are now being urged to focus on putting more creativity on their retail spaces to attract and excite more customers.

It is proven that POP materials influence the decision-making of shoppers. Whereas, they are urged to buy when they find merchandising tools that has significance and relevance to them.

Three Main Types of POP Display

1. Shelf Display – Effective in catching the attention of customers as they hover along the shop. Great in motivating additional purchases.
2. Floor Standing Display – Directly placed on the floor. It gives highlight on products so it is effective if you want something to be greatly noticed.
3. Countertop Display – ideal for small products or if retailers only have minimal space to spare.

Step-by-Step for a Successful POP Material

HAVE CLEAR GOALS AND A PLAN TO ACHIEVE THOSE 

Planning a merchandising project takes time, but spending several time working on it will not make sense if the retailer does not have a specific goal and an effective plan to support it. Do you want to introduce a new product? boost the sales of a particular item? Or you just want to sell-out some excess inventory? It is all up to you. But you have to understand the importance of being clear and being firm so you will know what strategies you are going to use. This will also help you determine what type of POP display are you going to need.

THINK HOW YOU CAN MAKE YOUR DISPLAY STYLISH BUT ALSO EFFECTIVE

Creativity will greatly boost your design. But it can still fail if you won’t consider its functionality. Your greatest challenges include knowing where it’s best to place it, how it can standout within your store (if that is your goal) or how it can compliment what’s around it. It is also important that you make it easy to access and to understand.

UNITE ALL DEPARTMENTS AND WORK AS A TEAM

Your POP material won’t succeed if it’s only you alone that’s working. It is important to have the support and help of your company’s other departments such as sales, finance, marketing and others as they play a vital role in effectively implementing your strategy. 

KEEP AN EYE ON EVERY PROGRESS OF YOUR PROJECT

Starting from planning to the material’s production, logistics, and installation, you as the retailer should be aware of it for you to easily identify the obstacles along the way which would place a potential problem to you. Keeping track of everything will help you know what developments are needed as soon as possible. Plus, familiarity on everything will give you time to prepare and keep your team involved in the creation, production and installation of your materials.

In short, the success of using POP displays relies on a system put up by a meticulous and well-informed manager and powered by a creative and determined team.

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How to Support Small Businesses During the Pandemic

The health crisis currently happening all around us has made a huge impact on the lives of everyone. Due to worldwide community quarantines and lockdowns which are essential in slowing the spread of global pandemic, flights are stopped and people are ordered to stay at home and practice social distancing. But this calamity does not only challenge the resiliency and hard work of service industry and healthcare workers which are the frontliners of today but also independent businesses.

Most of them have been forced to close their doors with some possibly not opening again. This is the case especially of local small businesses which are in need of immediate assistance to survive.

So, for those who now have extra funds after not being able to spend them for shopping or to go see movies, why not use them for small business? Check out these simple ways steps to help:

Avail Gift Cards

Many of these local businesses that were forced to close their physical stores are still capable of operating through their online platforms and app. Their deliveries are either limited or suspended though. But still, you can transact with them by purchasing gift cards and buying in advance. This way you help ensure a smooth flow of their revenue while practicing social distancing. This becomes a sign of your commitment to buying to them in the future.

Do Order Takeout Once in A While

Lockdowns may last for months and groceries may not have enough supply to cater to the needs of your entire community. Going there just might put you at risk while waiting on long lines at the counter. So why not practice ordering out from time to time so you can support local eateries and rideshare programs that are still open for deliveries.

Reschedule Instead of Cancelling

It’s clear that no one wanted this pandemic to happen. So, you may have all the grounds to cancel your appointments and ask for a refund. But, instead of doing so, you also have the choice or rescheduling so the transaction won’t go to waste. This way you can still make something out of the time you and the local service provider spent. We might not know how long this will last, but postponing an appointment gives small businesses hope that they still have customers who are willing to continue their regular routines once this crisis ends. This is a win win situation because it will give you some sort of convenience because you don’t have to start a new transaction from scratch while helping them regain the revenue they have lost.

Help Spread the Word About Them

You may not be capable of going outside to meet your friends and tell them about your experiences with a local business but in the social media world, you are limitless. You can post, share, and message other people a business that you know is still open and offers takeout or deliveries. Invite people you know to buy gift cards or ask them to visit the business after the outbreak. In a way you are helping these businesses with their publicity which is very important nowadays regardless if there is a health crisis or none.

In surviving COVID-19, all we have to do is sit, stay at home and make sure we are always healthy. But it delivers an even bigger blow for businesses because it gives them a financial burden. Only we can help them stay afloat. So, finding ways to help and continue or transactions with them will mean a lot.

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Understanding In-Store Advertising and why Retailers Should Capitalize on it

In-store advertising may sound complex but not no matter the size of your business or your commercial space, it can be applied as long as you can effectively and actively market products and services through point-of-purchase at times when customers are highly engaged and interested. In-store marketing can be done not only using static signs or cardboard end-cap promotions but also using media channels such as video displays and other digital tools.

Important Points of In-store Advertising

In-store advertising can be a lot of different from traditional marketing. Keep in mind that there are factors that must be acknowledged when making In-store advertising materials. While doing the said materials, the following elements must be put into consideration:

• Quality: In-store advertising content should look polished and professional. This can be done using high-quality materials that will give the message the right touch of professionalism and creativity.

• Timelessness: Irrelevant and out-of-date in-store promotions are a major turn-off. So, you have to set up a marketing content schedule that reminds your team to always update promos and advertisements.

• Positioning: Position your displays and signage wisely into your showroom layout. Make sure your messages are visible from places where customers spend the most time in your store, and place it the right distance from shopper’s view.

• Brevity: Make your message direct to the point and keep it short and simple. Use bullet points and headlines to show only the vital information that your shoppers need.

• Relevance: Send appropriate messages through mediums that will fit the identity of your target market. Make sure that it covers what matters to your audience; their needs and wants.

Benefits of In-Store Advertising

For you to better understand the importance of In-store advertising, here are the various benefits that it offers:

• Gives customers adequate information that helps them with their decisions when purchasing.

• It promotes cross-sells, up-sells, and purchase of related products by motivating impulse buying.

• Effectively markets new products by giving explanation about their features and benefits.

• Triggers your customers’ recall of promotions they initially saw online before coming to your store.

• Help gather their contact information so you can easily advertise your next promos and upcoming products.

Aside from direct sales, In-store Advertising is also useful in other aspects of your business such as information dissemination, brand recall, and increasing your audience by widening your reach. So, it’s really something that is worthy to focus on. Especially due to the evolution of modern technology which is making it easier and cheaper to apply this strategy in your business.

However, it is still important to always take note that balance is everything; You should work on both in-store and out-store advertising with great effort because collectively, they will contribute in giving your sales a boost.

Hopefully, after using this for some time, you will be able to develop a better strategy that suits your business more perfectly and cater your growing need to retain current customers while continuously attracting new audience.

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Essential Store Layout Tips to Welcome More Revenue

The quality of products and services is not the only factor that influences the revenue of a business. The strategy of the store manager in designing the store also plays an important role in bringing in customers who will be encouraged to buy. Everything they see as soon as they step inside can affect their buying decisions. So, check out these simple tips on how to motivate store traffic and increase purchase through store layout and display.

• A well-planned aisle design is not only about shelf arrangement and product categorization. It is also making your store accessible by making sure directions are clear so customers can find what they are looking for without being lost. You can use arrows, signages as well as any other creating strategies to guide your buyers inside the store.

• Attractive window displays are also essential in attracting potential customers as they walk along the streets before bumping into your shop. Window displays must effectively engage and motivate customers to enter and make their purchase. They should be unique so you can be easily distinguished helping you standout against your competitors.

• Service counters and store staff must be placed depending on the retail environment. It’s either your customers will have to inquire first to access the products and services or interact and look for the things they want to buy and just head towards the counter or staff to pay.

• Not everyone knows this but lighting has a potential to significantly affect sales. Good lighting can increase foot traffic, create visual interest and direct people deeper into your store. It can also be used to highlight particular products you want to promote. With the right store lighting, you create a comfortable environment which helps customers to look into the merchandise with ease.

• A clear product categorization will allow your customers to easily navigate through your ship helping them decide quicker. It plays a big part in influencing the direction of foot traffic on entry. It is also valuable to learn how to use visual cues to help customers who are looking for specific products decide how they will navigate your store.

• Your products position must also be optimized to directly drive your sales. Identify in-demand items and place them in low traffic areas preferably on eye level so they can be easily seen and accessed. Other items must be placed closely. It is also wise to place complementary items next to each other. Meanwhile, items that constantly need restocking can be placed near storerooms or cash registers. You can also put items that you want to promote near these areas for possible up-sales from customers who are waiting on the line.

Making the most out of your store’s spaces is what can greatly boost your sales. This doesn’t necessarily require expensive renovations but instead only well-thought plans along with some trial and error once in a while. It will also help a lot if you give your customers some fresh view regularly to motivate them from coming again.

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