The beginning of the year can be hard on many business owners. According to data compiled by the Bloomberg Intelligence, January is “peak season for bankruptcy filings”. If your retail business is struggling, consider the following tips to save your business and refocus your efforts to have a successful 2018.
1. Compete for customer experience
Competing for customer experience goes beyond customer service; it means analyzing and strengthening the end-to-end experience (interactive elements, social media, in-store experience, your location, your business’ atmosphere, etc.) that the customer has when they do business with you. You want to build an experience that will attract and keep your customers coming back again and again.
2. Focus on social commerce
Whether your business is a brick-and-mortar or solely ecommerce, every business should take advantage of the opportunities social commerce has to offer. What is social commerce? Social commerce is centered around connecting social media and shopping, allowing retail stores to increase business by encouraging consumers to share their experience and reviews online.
3. Educate your customers
In addition to making your customers fear valued, it is also important to educate them. Explain the benefits of shopping with you. Share what makes your business and products standout. Do they know your price-match guarantees and upcoming promotions and sales? Do they realize how many years of experience your staff has?
4. Create a seamless shopping experience
You want to make sure there is not a glaring difference between digital and brick-and-mortar shopping; you want to create a seamless shopping experience. This can be done by utilizing new technology (e.g. retail apps, smart-shelf technology, smartphone discount alerts, etc.). You will not only blur the lines between retail and online shopping, but also create more options for consumers with different shopping preferences.
5. Cater to mobile customers
More and more consumers prefer using their mobile phones for shopping vs. the in-store experience. Some choose to use their mobile phones first, while others only use their mobile device. Incorporating key technology tools will help you gather data useful for future product development and marketing campaigns and communicate more effectively with customers.
6. Research trends and discover new possibilities
If the future of your business is shaky, it might be time to reimagine your space. Research trends in your industry and search for upcoming opportunities. It might even be necessary to start from scratch. While each business’ situation will be different, taking time to rethink and recreate your business’ direction and your customer’s journey may be the key to success.
Are you in need of business funding to get your business back on track? Consider the many options an alternative provider can offer your business. In as little as 24 hours, your business can secure the working capital it needs to fund growth and new plans.
