Store operations require strategy and maintenance
How important are great customer service and a well-organized, attractive store for driving sales? I would imagine a large part of your day is spent keeping the premises tidy, assisting customers, and arranging products neatly on shelves and in displays. It’s all about giving customers a great in-store experience and creating an atmosphere that encourages sales!
There are many reasons to apply the same mindset to your online store. It also needs maintenance and must be presented in the right way. You maintain your online store and set it up for sales by updating the site design, promoting different products, and working with search engine optimization through content production!
Here are 6 concrete examples of how to apply the same tactics in your online store as in your physical store.
- Location, location, location! A store in the middle of Karl Johan will attract more visitors than one located in a roundabout in the middle of nowhere. In the same way, a store that ranks in first place in the Google search results will get more clicks than one that appears on page four. That’s why you should invest in a strong location through SEO work or with ads that make you highly visible in Google’s search results.
- An attractive window display creates a strong first impression You no doubt invest time in creating appealing window displays to attract customers to your store. The latest clothing or the most on-trend products are carefully showcased. This sparks customer interest and makes them want to take a closer look at the products. Good design serves the same purpose in your online store. That first impression influences whether customers decide to buy or not.
- Keep it tidy both in-store and online When you and your staff are at work, a lot of time goes into tidying up, fixing folded edges on garments, or arranging products neatly on the shelves. Food items with the shortest expiry date are placed at the front, and so on. Nothing is random, and everything shapes the overall impression. The same applies to your online store. A clear menu, the ability to jump to relevant products, and filtering by different brands are all elements that improve the shopping experience for your customers.
- Smiling staff and excellent customer service Some things become almost like rituals for people in retail. You need to greet customers when they enter the store and offer assistance. At the checkout, you have to ask if the customer wants a bag or a receipt. If you have a simple checkout process online, you enable an efficient and seamless shopping experience there as well. Customers appreciate this, and fewer drop out along the way.
- Upselling at checkout We’ve all been there. You only planned to buy two items, but at checkout you spot four more small products that would be nice to have. This is usually the result of proactive store staff. But it’s not only in a physical store that you can drive upsell. Sections like “Customers also bought” on a product page, or products that help customers reach the free shipping threshold in the cart, work in exactly the same way.
- Ensure a well-organized inventory When a mannequin in the store is dressed in items that are sold out, it’s frustrating for the customer who loves the piece but needs a different size. If the customer wants another size or a different product, it should be easy to quickly check what’s available in stock. If that same customer finds your ad on Facebook and clicks through to a sold-out product, it’s just as disappointing. Make sure you keep your inventory organized – and your product feed for ads up to date.
Summary
The goal of your physical store and your online store is the same, so you should invest just as much effort in both! You need to create a great atmosphere and facilitate a seamless buying experience. You’re probably already doing this well in your physical store, but we can help you do the same online! Increase traffic and sales in your online store with digital advertising and SEO.
