by Brian McKay
Building a thriving retail business is tougher now than at any other point in history. The popularity and growth of ecommerce has meant that brick-and-mortar retail businesses have started to struggle, with even the big name stores that most of us assumed would last forever falling into financial difficulties.
However, while the offline retail industry may be going through a rough patch, it has yet to be supplanted entirely by ecommerce. There is still a place for retail stores - but there’s also no denying that to thrive, stores have to be better than ever.
Your perceptions vs customer perceptions
To achieve this goal, all aspects of a store must be analysed, assessed, and - where necessary - improved. As a retail store owner, you are undoubtedly well aware of this, and will regularly cast an eye over your store to ensure that everything is actually as it should be.
However, while active monitoring on your behalf is important, it’s always worth remembering that what you expect may be very different to what your customers expect. You may glance at an issue with your store through a lens of your own experience, based on your knowledge of the inner workings of the business - for example, you will note a long queue, but caveat this with the knowledge that you are short-staffed, so it’s understandable that things are a little slower than usual. Unfortunately, customers do not have this insider information; all they will see is a slow-moving queue, and their perception of your store will be worsened as a result.
Similarly, practical issues outside the store, such as parking lot maintenance, can also affect customer perceptions especially if the area has no clear cut area for parking. That will result in havoc and confusion for the customers, thereby souring their experience. In such a situation, hiring a Paving contractor in Royse City, TX (if your store is located nearby) for services like parking lot striping can significantly enhance the overall shopping experience. A well-marked parking area ensures that customers can easily find spaces, improving traffic flow and reducing frustration before they even enter the store. In addition, clear and professional striping shows that your business cares about customer convenience and safety. This seemingly small improvement can make a big difference in how your store is perceived by visitors.
At the end of the day, the discrepancy between your expectations of the store and your customers’ expectations can be significant. Your analysis will always be important but, ultimately, what your customers think is what matters - a fact that is especially true at a time when all retail stores are facing the stiffest competition imaginable from the world of ecommerce. To help you close the perception gap, here are the three most important things that customers will expect from your store, and that you need to ensure are implemented at all times.
#1 - Cleanliness
Simply put, if your retail store is not clean, people will not want to shop there. Even if it is not the case, an unclean store leads people to expect a poor quality of product and is simply an unpleasant experience that few customers will ever want to repeat.
Of course, it goes without saying that most store owners are aware of this; in the retail industry, presentation matters, and cleanliness is a vital contributing factor to this. As a result, the vast majority of store owners will usually ensure that their store is thoroughly cleaned once per day, usually at the close of business in order to prevent disruption to customers during opening hours.
However, the nightly clean is rarely sufficient to ensure your store remains clean throughout an entire day of trading. It’s likely that you will need to ensure your store is cleaned at least once during the day, and more so in periods of bad weather, when customers may track mud and debris in on their shoes. It’s therefore best to ask your staff to check the store - and particularly the floor - at least once per hour, and quickly clean anything they notice as a result of this check.
#2 - Easily identifiable staff
If a customer has a problem while shopping, they will want to ask for assistance from someone who works in the store. However, the situation becomes highly complicated if customers find that they are not 100% sure who actually works for the store, and who is just a fellow shopper - a situation that is far more likely to develop if staff are not wearing uniforms.
Uniforms may not be the most stylish garment you, or your staff, will ever wear, but they are necessary. Uniforms help to ensure that customers know exactly who to approach when asking for help, which then gives your staff the opportunity to provide that assistance, and bolster that customer’s perception of your company.
As a result, uniforms are a must for all staff members, including yourself. It’s worth noting that you don’t have to overspend on intricate or specially designed full uniforms, either; T-shirts of the same color that are emblazoned with a patch of your design; you can click here to find out more about the options available in this regard. When you have your uniform established and worn by all staff, life will be exponentially logo from are a great choice that ensures your staff will always stand out from the crowd, which in turn will make life exponentially easier for any customer who requires further assistance.
#3 - Plan Bs
There are times when running a store that the usual course of action will not be available. For example, your Plan A method of taking payments via an mPOS fails, and you cannot process transactions as you usually would.
Contrary to popular belief, most customers do understand that sometimes, Plan A isn’t always going to be available. Your customers are human and will have inevitably experienced upsets over the course of their own working lives, so they are unlikely to think badly of your store for experiencing an issue or malfunction. However, what customers are less forgiving of is a lack of a Plan B, as this indicates a lack of forward-planning that can negatively impact their impression of your business as a whole.
It’s therefore helpful to go through the entire customer experience and detail every Plan A; for example, the customer can browse the latest items on the shelves, ask for assistance from a staff member, make a credit card payment at the register, then have their purchase bagged and the receipt included. When you have established your Plan As, you can look to implement Plan Bs, asking yourself what you would do if - for some reason - Plan A wasn’t an option - if you were short-staffed, couldn’t process payments as normal, or you run out of receipt paper or bags. You can then formulate a solid plan for what happens should each Plan A fail, which you can then put into action if the worst does happen.
In conclusion
In a difficult marketplace, it’s helpful for retail store owners to put their customer’s perspective at the center of everything they do. By focusing on the key customer expectations, rather than your expectations as a business owner, you are far more likely to be able to ensure your store is able to thrive both now and in the future.