If you are a retail store owner, you will always be more than a little aware of revenue targets, and when looking to revamp your store, there is a lot to consider. Getting it right can be a real challenge, especially if you have no prior retail experience, and with that in mind, here are a few retail mistakes that you don’t want to make.
- Failure to Monitor Customer Service – It might be that your store employees are very attentive when you are around, but what about times when you are not present? There are several ways to monitor the level of customer service; you could ask a trusted friend to visit your store and he can tell you about the service he received first-hand. Another idea is to encourage shoppers to fill in an anonymous survey that will tell you how they feel about the service they received.
- In-Store Décor – Every single retail outlet should change the interior every few months, as people like to experience something new. You could source a local vinyl shop (called ร้านรับทําป้ายไวนิลราคาถูก in Thai) and have a few banners and wall art stickers printed, which would change the ambience of your store and don’t be afraid to carry out a radical revamp if you feel that your store is under-performing. You could preplan to do this every quarter, and this would ensure that the ambience is never something that outstays its welcome.
- Closing too Early – People have strange shopping hours and if you close at 6pm or thereabouts, you could be missing out on the late group who work on to avoid the rush hour. Of course, if your store is inside a shopping mall complex, you might not have any choice regarding your opening hours, but if possible, why not have at least one weekday when you open until 9pm?
- Too Many Products – While it is a good idea to give your store visitors a lot of choices, too many similar products will be counter-productive and this tends to confuse the shopper. You can carry out your own market research by rerunning old CCTV and taking note of the products that shoppers are most interested in, plus take a look at sales and see if you can find products that are not selling and replace them with alternatives.
- The Wrong In-Store Ambience – Creating the ideal shopping ambience is a little like cooking a great dish, in as much as it requires the right ingredients. If, for example, your store is too bright or dark, this will likely have an adverse effect on sales, while a loud and overcrowded design will also be off-putting to shoppers.
All of the above could result in your store failing to reach sales targets, so do review things and look for ways to improve your ins-tore ambience.
