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Promotions for sellers to increase sales. How to increase sales in a retail store

In the 21st century, the profession of a sales consultant remains one of the most sought after in the labor market. Salespeople or sales managers are always required, and good specialists sales worth their weight in gold. For such personnel, there is very high competition and having mastered the technique of sales, you will definitely not be left without a job. But getting a job as a seller is not difficult, but learning a lot, selling and, accordingly, earning a lot is much more difficult. Let's take a look: how to increase personal sales to a salesperson.

Knowledge, skill, skill

To increase personal sales to the seller you need to understand that in any case you must be able to sell. In order to be able to, you need to know, and over time, skills will develop into a skill and sales will go by themselves. On the one hand, there is nothing complicated here, but if you look at it, then this is a whole science. Here you have the stages of sales, and, and and. You can sell, etc. What should a competent seller know?

. You should start studying sales with the 5 stages of selling. This is the basis of any sales and you cannot do without this knowledge.
Knowledge of the product you are going to sell. The better you know about the product, the more competent advice you can give to the buyer.
Knowledge of competitors and customers. No wonder now all companies invest a lot of money in market research. It is your duty to know the competitor and even more so the buyer.
Non-verbal communication is a very powerful tool, you should at least understand the basics non-verbal communication in order to avoid the classic mistakes of sellers.

Most large companies be carried out, but what if no one teaches you or gives you not enough knowledge? For starters, I would advise you to read books for sellers, you can learn a lot from them. useful information. To get started, read - "" and the book. In addition, you can find out a lot of useful information on our website - you can also ask your questions at.

Motivation and sales funnel

Any leader knows. But ordinary sellers, as a rule, do not delve into such terms. But the sales funnel is the best way to understand what to do to increase the result in sales. Speaking without going deep, the sales funnel shows at what stages of interaction with the client we lose sales. To make a sales funnel, an ordinary seller needs to calculate how many contacts he had with customers, how many of them refused to communicate immediately, how many after the presentation of the product, how many decided to think, how many agreed to purchase. This is a simple example because these items will vary depending on the type of sale. First of all, it is important for you to understand:

At what stages do the most customers refuse? For example, if, when establishing contact with a buyer, it means that you need to somehow change this stage, etc.
Understand how the result will change if you increase the number of contacts.

Increasing the number of customers is the easiest way to increase sales, minus it is not available to all sellers. But as a rule, sellers do not even think that if you spend less time on each client and try to serve as many buyers as possible, this will quickly lead to an increase in sales. Or you can just spend more time working. One way or another, it all depends on the motivation of the seller, as a rule, the most active managers sell a lot.

Self-motivated sellers

The seller, if he wants to increase his results, must work on his personal motivation. You must set a goal for yourself, such as buying a car or an apartment. Calculate how much money you need for this and how much you need to sell daily. Draw yourself a poster, print yourself a photo of your goal - visualize and review before you go to sell. This will help you be more focused on the result rather than the process.

Seller - sells himself from the beginning!

The seller first sells himself, then the company, and then the product. This phrase is taken from, but nevertheless it is suitable for sales individuals Same. You need to understand that people do not like being sold to, but they love to buy, and the role of the seller here is not to impose and not sell the goods, but to establish a trusting contact and charge the client with positive emotions. The seller must be an adviser to the buyer, a friend and partner in a common cause. For many buyers, visiting a store or communicating with a seller is a certain stress, the client is afraid of being deceived and wasting money and time. The seller must create an atmosphere of ease and trust, only then the client will truly open up to you and you will be able to sell anything.

It is very important for the seller to be in a good mood and be focused on the buyer. There are a number of simple rules that you need to follow for a good mood:

Get enough sleep. Always get as much sleep as you need to feel good.
Deal with personal issues. Very often I meet sellers who are focused on personal problems. This greatly distracts from work and buyers feel it.
Don't work with a hangover.
Watch your hygiene and be neat.

Pareto principle

The Pareto principle (often called or the 80/20 rule) states:

80% of the profit comes from 20% of the customers.
20% of labor brings 80% of profit

This means that the main profit you bring is not significant labor costs. And most of the time and effort is spent on minor activities that do not bring you the expected income. The main thing is to understand what is included in these 20% of efforts, clients, time and work on improving the processes associated with these costs. Since the remaining 80% do not give a significant result. Here are some real life examples:

Example #1

In the shop household appliances Each salesperson, in addition to selling, is responsible for maintaining order in the department. Sellers with the best results spend less time cleaning up, do it faster and in the morning when there are few buyers, while they are customer-oriented and immediately go to him when a buyer appears. In addition, more successful sellers try to take days off on weekdays, since there are fewer customers on these days, to dine in the morning, not to have smoke breaks in the evening. Salespeople with poorer results get immersed in the process, take longer to clean up, and lose sales as a result. That is, more successful sellers understand that you need to concentrate on customers who bring money, and everything else can wait.

Example #2

Agents active sales sell the services of an Internet provider by door-to-door approach. Bypass is carried out in the evening. The most successful managers put in the most effort from 19.00 to 22.00 because at this time people are more at home and they are more willing to communicate. Whereas less successful agents at this time can spend a lot of time on smoke breaks or communicating with the client, and who are not going to buy today.

These examples show that it is important to focus your efforts on those things that bring you the maximum profit. This is exactly what successful sales people do.

Analyze your sales

Sellers have a very bad habit: to justify their poor results by blaming the buyer, seasonality, competitors, etc. The vast majority of people feel sorry for themselves and do not want to change something in themselves, looking for problems in others. It is important to decide what you want: to remove responsibility from yourself or to earn money. If the latter, then when faced with difficulties, you need to look for a solution, and not blame the injustice of the world. There is a good story among sellers about this:

One shoe company sent a salesman to Africa, a week later the salesman sent a telegram: get me out of here, there is nothing to do here, all people go barefoot.

After a while, another merchant was sent there, after a while he reported: “This great luck! - the second wrote enthusiastically, - Send everything you have, the market is practically unlimited! Here everyone walks barefoot!

There is another good proverb - the weak is looking for a reason, the strong is looking for opportunities. It is much easier to justify your failures than to analyze the situation and look for ways to sell more.

A good seller always analyzes his work and looks for areas of growth. Any seller always has something to improve, but not everyone can see what exactly. In order to understand, you need to start daily and if something goes wrong, look for ways to do it differently.

04May

Hello! In this article, we will talk about ways to increase retail sales.

Today you will learn:

What are the characteristics of retail;
What are the ways to increase sales in a retail store;
: step-by-step instruction.

Retail Features

Retail sales - sale of goods by the piece to the final consumer for his personal use. This short definition characterizes retail as well as possible.

Retailers sell goods to the most ordinary consumers, individuals who use it for their own needs. To understand what kind of product the end consumer market needs at the moment, it is necessary to carry out a complete analysis.

However, it should be noted that retail covers almost all areas of business: from consulting services and Food Industry to mechanical engineering and construction.

Retail trade requires less capital investment compared to wholesale. This makes entering the market accessible to almost everyone. However, not everyone should jump into retail because of its affordability.

First you need to familiarize yourself with the features of this type of trade in order to understand whether it is right for your company:

If you manufacture or purchase goods in large quantities, and you do not have several hundred square meters or a developed distribution system in several geographic regions, then retail is not for you. The end consumer market will not be able to accommodate a very large volume of products. There are exceptions: for example, branded goods. They are bought on the first day they enter the market. Remember the queue on Red Square for brand new apple smartphones. However, this is the exception, not the rule. If your product is not yet very popular, then your offer should match the demand.
If you are not ready to spend your money on, then retail is not for you. An important role in retail market Emotions play, it is they that influence the decision to buy. Bright advertising campaign, . In addition, retail is characterized by a large number of consumers who buy goods in small batches. And this means that in order to ensure sufficient sales, the company needs to notify a large number of consumers about the product. This can be done using marketing communications. We will definitely talk about them.
If you are not sure about the "hardness" of your final price, then retail is not for you. Demand in the end-user market is quite elastic. There are exceptions - these are essential products, such as bread, matches or salt.
There is a need for constant marketing research. Otherwise, you will miss the moment when your company's sales began to decline and you will not have time to eliminate the negative factors that we will talk about now.

Why sales are declining

There are many factors that can have a negative impact on sales. And sometimes it can be circumstances that we have no control over. These include economic, political, technological, socio-cultural, legal and environmental factors external environment.

To determine the strength of the influence of these factors on your business, you need to conduct a PESTEL analysis. In the event that the strength of the influence of these parameters on the market is too great, then it is better not to take risks and refuse to exit. This will save you from financial losses.

But there are negative factors in the occurrence of which the company itself is to blame. We can influence these parameters, so it will be useful to consider each of them in more detail.

Bad store location.

This is the most common mistake new entrepreneurs make. Before or stall, do a little research. Find out where yours is, in what cases your product is purchased. If you answer these two questions, you can save a lot on marketing.

Example. We want an economy format. Our target audience are students and working women aged 18 to 35 years. It is not practical to open a salon near the university, as we will cover only female students. It is also unprofitable to choose a sleeping area for opening, since we will cover only one geographical region. But opening a retail outlet near a shopping center near the university and not far from the sleeping area would be a good solution. It will be visited by both of your segments.

Registration.

We opened and decorated the window. But clients do not come to us. What is the reason? Walk up to your point of sale and look at it through the eyes of a consumer. Perhaps it looks unattractive or does not represent your product, and consumers simply do not understand why they should go to you.

When registering an outlet, follow the following rules:

The showcase should reflect your product, be associated with it;
Give examples of prices. This attracts consumers, especially if these prices are low. But do not deceive, they must correspond to reality;
Duplicate information about your promotions on the showcase;
Use relevant themes for design.

Range.

There can be many options here, let's look at each:

Insufficient assortment width. Your clients don't come back to you after the first visit. This is one of the signs of this problem. Compare your range with your closest competitors, ask consumers what your outlet is missing. This will allow you to eliminate the problem and attract visitors;
Too wide range. In this case, the consumer simply cannot choose one product and leaves without buying. One of the marketing agencies conducted an interesting study. First, the client was asked to choose one of three jars of jam of different flavors. The consumer made his choice. The same customer was then asked to choose from 24 different jars of jam. In the second case, the consumer either chose the taste that he chose the first time, or left without buying. The researchers concluded that an assortment containing more than eight items negatively affects sales volumes;
The assortment does not match the location of the outlet. For example, our nail salon is located next door to the bridal salon. good decision to increase sales, there will be inclusion of wedding manicure in the assortment.

Low quality of service.

The modern consumer is very demanding. He wants to enjoy the process of making a purchase. The boorish behavior of the staff will not save even the highest quality product. , conduct trainings, . A good retail salesperson is 90% successful.

Ways to increase sales in a retail store

In fact, there are only two ways to increase sales - increasing the consumption of products by existing consumers or.

Attraction of new clients

This method can be implemented by poaching customers from competitors or by entering new segments.

In both cases, you will have to turn to marketing ploys. Tools for implementing each of these methods are given in the table. Some methods are generic.

Looting customers from competitors	Entering new segments
Accompany your potential customer on the way to the store. This method is especially effective if you are in mall. In this case, the consumer who went to your competitor will be interested in your product, because he needs a product, not specific company. But be careful, excessive advertising can scare the client and cause irritation.
Use discounts, bonuses and gifts. Passing by your point of sale, the consumer will see a tempting offer. Even if he first passes by, then, not seeing the benefits of his "pet", most likely, he will return to you. But this technique will only lead to a short-term increase in sales.
Show that your product is better. This can only be done by improving the quality of products and improving service.	Cross events. Agree on a joint promotion with any enterprise. This can be an event (for example, a product tasting in a supermarket), a gift for a purchase from a partner (remember the joint action of the Perekrestok supermarket and the Sunlight jewelry store). The main thing is that your target audience and the target audience of your partner match

Increasing sales with existing customers

It also has two options for implementation: increase in consumption and increase in sales conversion.

Increasing sales conversion.

Sales Conversion - the ratio of the number of visitors to the store to the number of buyers.

From the definition, we can conclude that the conversion is mainly influenced by the parameters of the outlet itself. Therefore, we will work with them.

We improve the quality of service. A good seller will be able to sell any product. The bad one will not sell and the best one. There is such a thing as intra-company marketing, which is determined by the company's attitude towards its staff. The better the working conditions, the more sales You'll get. Also, don't forget about training and motivation;
Merchandising. has a direct impact on the sales of your products. There is an arm's length rule in marketing. According to this rule, in 80% of cases, the client takes the goods to which he can reach without special efforts. If your product is above or below this zone, then sales will be low;
Promotions, sales, bonuses. This method will allow you to increase the conversion, but only for the duration of the incentive events.

Increase in consumption.

In this case, all our actions will be aimed at increasing the average check.

You can do this in the following ways:

Price increase. By increasing the price of your products, you will increase the average purchase amount, but may decrease the conversion rate. So you won't get an increase in sales. To prevent this from happening, remember a simple rule: any price change must be justified. The client must understand that you raised the price for a reason, but because your packaging has changed to a more convenient one (in fact, the price and packaging may not be related to each other).
Additional services or goods. After your consumer has chosen the main product, offer to complement it with a service or another product. For example, you sold a necklace, offer the buyer a gift box. This add-on will not be a significant expense for the client, but in total will bring you a good additional sales volume in monetary terms.
Loyalty program. Loyalty card will not increase average check, but will lead to an increase in the number of purchases by the consumer in your store. There are several types of discount cards: bonus, accumulative, privileged. Each of them has its own tasks, but combines them common goal- increase in sales.

How does the loyalty program work? For example, we own a grocery store and we have a loyalty card, which is provided free of charge when buying from 1000 rubles. There is another grocery store opposite us, but it does not have its own loyalty program. Customers who have a card of our store will come to us to receive a discount, bonuses or gifts (depending on the type of card). Thus, we "tie" consumers with a card, forcing them to buy only from us, increasing sales.

Step by step guide to increase sales

Each business is unique, but there is a certain sequence of steps that will increase sales for both a furniture store and a consulting company.

Step 1 . We define the specifics of our outlet.

Exists great amount various forms retail stores.

They can differ in the following parameters:

Form of service: self-service, online trading, catalog sales, self-service machines and stalls, traditional service, pre-order;
By form of organization: single a store, net, retail trade, mobile trade;
By type of goods: food and non-food.

The shape of the store determines the range of problems that can affect the decline in sales. For example, at retail store clothing, the main reason for the decline in sales may be the low qualification of the contact staff, and this reason is unlikely.

Step 2. We are looking for weaknesses.

The main weaknesses of retail stores are:

Small volumes of a one-time purchase by one client;
Too high price. Big margin is good. But do not go too far, otherwise you will lose customers;
Too wide target audience. You want to sell everything to everyone, but it is very difficult to do so. A much more effective solution would be to focus on one segment.

Separately, I would like to highlight the problems of online trading:

Inconvenient location of active buttons. These include the button "buy", "pay", "place an order" and others. If the client has to look for such a button for a long time, then he will simply leave without buying;
The site is not adapted for mobile devices. According to statistics, about 40% of sales are made with mobile devices, so displaying the site from a phone should be as convenient, understandable and informative as from a computer;
Too complicated and long checkout and registration forms. The client does not have enough nerve cells to fill out your questionnaire and place an order. Don't test his patience;
Insufficient information about the product, low quality photos. The consumer must know what he is buying.

Step 3. We choose methods for solving the problem.

Scroll up and see which method and tool to increase sales can increase sales in your store.

For example, if your customers are shopping for small amounts, then you should use the increase consumption method. Offer additional goods at the checkout, enter a cumulative bonus card.

We will talk about possible reasons drop in sales in a retail or wholesale store, how to solve the problem and how to increase the number of sales step by step.

When they fall financial results businesses, action must be taken quickly. How to increase sales? is the cornerstone of business.

There are several effective ways to increase sales and increase the profitability of the store. Qualitative analysis of activities will determine effective tools to stabilize the situation.

1. Features of wholesale and retail trade - the psychology of sales

Retail sales - piece sales of goods to the final consumer.

furniture stores;
women's clothing stores;
pharmacies;
markets;
crafts fairs, etc.

Wholesale trade is aimed at corporate buyers who purchase products in bulk. Most often they are intermediaries who are engaged in resale. IN individual cases large parties are needed for the personal purposes of the enterprise.

Example:

The factory produces upholstered furniture - sofas, armchairs and ottomans. For the uninterrupted supply of upholstery material, the company concludes a supply contract with a wholesaler.

When drawing up a plan to increase profitability, the director wholesale enterprise not focused on the end user.

Attention is paid to:

Search for new counterparties - achieved through presentations, a recommendation channel, cold phone calls, personal sales, studying the psychology of buyers, etc.
Development of relations with current partners - optimization of logistics, provision of discounts, feedback, etc.
Increasing customer focus and developing the professional skills of salespeople - conducting trainings, mentoring, motivation, etc.

For retail manager the main objective- to interest and encourage the visitor of the representative office or the company's online store to make a purchase. To increase sales, you will need to analyze the current situation, identify weaknesses, development and implementation of measures to improve the situation.

2. Why retail sales are falling - possible reasons

It is difficult to take into account and predict economic, political, social and other factors influencing sales volumes. Even if they are obvious, it is often almost impossible to influence them.

But there are probable reasons for the decline in retail sales that need to be identified and addressed first.

Poor store location

Even when choosing a commercial premises for purchase or rent, you need to compare the location of the object and the specifics of the company's activities.

Example:

An entrepreneur decides to open a clothing store near a popular business center with the expectation of a large flow of customers. This idea is unsuccessful - visitors come for work, and not to update the wardrobe. It is better to move the outlet to a residential area, and open a stationery store near the business center.

You need to take into account the presence of competitors and their conditions, transport accessibility, convenience of access, the population of the area and the daily number of people passing by. If the store is in the courtyard of a house with a barrier, then only customers living nearby will visit it.

Poor window display

If the buyer does not like the appearance of the store, then he will not enter it.

Showcase that will encourage the buyer to visit the outlet:

informative - the consumer understands what the store sells;
attractive in appearance - the design is bright and noticeable, but not flashy;
talks about current promotions - the data is necessarily relevant and truthful;
stands for price category- An example of a product with an indication of its cost looks good.

If you want to know an objective opinion about the design of the store - ask the buyers themselves to evaluate this criterion through a survey or checklist.

Small assortment

If a competitor has a wider choice, then the buyer will go to him. Comparing the assortment of a similar outlet with your own will allow you to understand what is missing.

Another way to expand the product offer is to take into account the interests of a larger number of visitors. In a shoe store, it is good to have each model in unpopular sizes, and when selling food products, products for diabetics should be added to the assortment.

Poor quality of service

If the sellers are careless in their communication with the buyer, he will not want to return to the store. Service should be polite but not intrusive.

Trainings and seminars will teach the staff the basics of quality sales, and the mystery shopper and Feedback from users will help to control the fulfillment of service requirements.

3. 7 simple tools to increase retail sales

When a manager sees that profitability is falling, he needs effective measures to stabilize the situation.

When developing measures to increase profitability, be sure to take into account the specifics of the company. But there are a number of universal methods that will raise profits from product sales.

Method 1. Competent merchandising

Clear and visual placement of goods in the store - simple and effective method increase sales immediately by tens of percent. But the products should be laid out not only conveniently for the visitor, but also beneficially for the seller.

Place the most profitable goods at the eye level of the consumer, and place promotional products in the checkout area - these are the main recommendations of specialists for the effective display of the assortment.

Pay special attention appearance goods. The packaging should be neat and intact, and the thing should make you want to look at it closer.

Method 2: Companion offer

This technique is used by McDonald's - for each order it is proposed to try a pie or something else. Related products are available in every store.

Example:

In the furniture salon, the buyer purchases a sofa, upholstered with elite fabric. The consultant suggests taking a cleaning agent that will effectively remove the most popular types of dirt.

Some of the customers will agree to an additional purchase, someone will refuse it. But if you offer each buyer, then the average check will increase.

Method 3. Loyalty program

Discounts on discount cards and bonus points for purchase are powerful tools that increase sales. If the client chooses between two similar outlets, he will prefer the one in which he has privileges.

Use the method with caution. It happens that the return on the loyalty program does not cover the costs of using it. This happens if regular customers were given discount cards, but new customers did not appear. In this case, the bonus system is subject to revision or cancellation.

Method 4. Promotions and sales

The goal is to motivate the client to purchase more than he originally planned. The tool is especially popular for increasing sales during a crisis or when you need to get rid of the old assortment.

There are several stock options:

Sentence	Condition example	Possible Features
Promotion "2 + 1"	If you buy 2 items, 1 more will be free	The product is given as a gift with lowest cost by check
Discount for one category or another	Red clothes 2 days 10% cheaper	In addition to outerwear
Complete sale	20% discount on the entire range	Exception - items from the new collection
Action "Bring a friend"	5% discount on referral from an existing client	Maximum 1,000 rubles
10% discount on birthday	Available 3 days before and 1 day after the event	Does not apply to alcohol and confectionery

Method 5. Social networks

Representing your store on Instagram, Facebook and VK will significantly increase the number of users. They will learn from publics and groups about the assortment, promotions and discounts. To do this, the manager needs to fill the accounts with interesting content and relevant information.

An effective way to increase the return from a site or group on social networks is to announce a repost contest with a real prize.

The conditions are roughly as follows:

The user shares a post with friends.
The message is not deleted within a month.
A winner is chosen at random.

It is better to offer a sold product or a service as a prize - the advantages and features of the offer indicated in the text of the repost will be read by a large number of users.

Method 6. Feedback

A selective call to customers, questionnaires, surveys in groups on social networks - these tools will allow you to identify what buyers lack. It is better to ask closed questions about the assortment, quality of service, accessibility and design of the store and any other aspects, but detailed answers should also be provided.

Proper use of the information received will not only increase sales, but also improve service.

Method 7. Marketing promotions

Distribution of leaflets, contests and sweepstakes, gifts for a purchase, an offer to try products for free - these and other events will increase customer interest and business profitability.

When conducting marketing research it is important to control their effectiveness. If the costs do not pay off, the customer acquisition policy should be reconsidered.

4. How to increase sales - step by step instructions

To determine which tools to apply first, follow three simple steps.

Step 1. Determine the specifics of trading

The problem of each store is unique.

The specifics of the activity depends on:

product categories - food or non-food products;
forms of enterprise - a network, a single outlet, mobile trade, etc.;
type of service - an online store, distribution through catalogs, placement of ads on Avito, a self-service point, vending machines, etc.

To understand the reasons for the decline in profits, it is necessary to determine the features of a particular outlet.

Step 2. Looking for weaknesses

It will be possible to determine which method is more effective and will increase sales after analyzing the reasons for their decline.

Example:

A customer enters a clothing store and immediately leaves it. There may be several reasons - an obsessive greeting, disinterest on the part of the staff, an unsuccessful display of goods, etc. The buyer will leave the online store sooner because of an incomprehensible menu or a repulsive interface.

Meanwhile, there are hundreds of ways that, without requiring special investments, help to bring more customers. Described below TOP 5 best methods to increase sales. This is the foundation that any entrepreneur can build on.

Building a customer base is one of the best things an entrepreneur can do for their company. At the same time, it is necessary to lead not only already established buyers, but also those who just “came to see”.

One of good options get potential client contacts retail- invite him to fill out a questionnaire and issue in return discount card, a discount on the first purchase, a gift.

How, using the customer base? You can attract customers with promotions and special offers. One option is to select a specific segment of customers and prepare gifts for them.

When a person comes for a souvenir, the manager should try to make sure that he leaves not only with a gift, but also buys something in the store. Naturally, promotions and gifts should be of interest and be useful - this is the only way they can attract new customers and increase sales.

Calls to the buyer after the purchase

Gifts for clients still require certain investments. And how to increase profits without investing money at all? Show customer care. This method helps to increase customer loyalty.

The bottom line is simple- after purchasing a product or service, the manager calls the buyer and asks if everything is in order: does the washing machine work well, did you manage to set up the laptop, did you deliver the goods on time, do you need any additional advice, etc.

Let the client know that you are always ready to help him and eliminate all the shortcomings, if any.. Will the person be pleased that they are worried about him? Certainly! And for sure next time he will again use the services of such a caring company.

Give the customer more than they expect

Trade in Russia, as well as the service sector, is still below average. Try to remember where you were last surprised by impeccable service.

In our country, customers are already happy that they were not nasty in a store or company office. Such seemingly elementary things as high speed service, polite communication with the client and a respectful attitude towards him, already exceed the expectations of a person and become a reason for a repeat purchase.

Therefore, if you think about it, first of all, establish a service. Selling goods with a high level of service will be much easier. Unexpected surprises are also great. which were not announced.

For example, stores that sell cosmetics and perfumes often give away mini-versions of products to customers. The client will be pleasantly surprised by a handwritten thank you card, a discount card for the next order, a small box of chocolates or some kind of souvenir.

The method works well both in the service sector and in the retail trade. People often speak warmly about such surprises and tell their friends about them, create posts on social media. networks. As a result, word of mouth is triggered and, in addition to one loyal client, the company receives hundreds, if not thousands, of new customers.

The effectiveness of the method can be shown by the example of a company providing services in the field of music business. After the buyer purchased a certain package of services, he was offered to repost on Facebook, and in return he was given products total cost 100$.

For five days, information with the services of the company received 250 reposts. This helped close 34 deals totaling over $2,000.

How to boost sales with promotions

Promotions are an effective method to help push people to buy.. The main rule is to conduct them regularly.

Look at corporations like M.Video, L'Etoile, Lenta - people know that you can almost always buy something on sale there, and therefore they go there.

Another important condition is your spec. the offer must be of real benefit to the consumer. For example, retailers often offer to buy two items and get the third one for free. This is especially true for clothing stores.

And in networks trading household appliances, attract customers with promotions like "exchange your old TV for a new one."

Killer USP

Unique trade offer(USP) is what sets the company apart from thousands of competitors. “Always sober movers!”, “We will deliver pizza within 30 minutes or pay for the order ourselves”, “If you find a product cheaper, we will refund the difference” - these are examples of effective USPs that “shot” at the time.

Now such proposals are quite common, so entrepreneurs constantly need to come up with something new.

How to increase sales with USP by 345%?

How effective a USP can be can be seen in the Australian pillow company Tontine. The company was the first in the world to indicate the expiration date on pillows.

Each product began to be stamped with a date, after which it is better to replace the pillow with a new one. At the same time, the company launched advertising on television.

Thus, the company hoped to increase profits by a third, but the effect exceeded all expectations. Unusual idea helped increase sales by 345%.

Using the methods listed above, a company can increase sales volumes without major investments. All these rules work and are successfully applied by both small enterprises and global giants.

However, it is worth remembering that anyone choosing what is best for your firm.

10 Dec

In this review, I will give a methodology for increase sales in a retail store, which includes tools to attract customers, retain them, as well as effectively set them apart from competitors. I am sure that you are already familiar with the main directions and specifics of the development of your market, so let's immediately move on to specific steps ...

Retail store business strategy

Some experts suggest planning 10 years ahead. I consider this opinion to be erroneous. For the strategy, it is enough to define goals and plans for the coming year and be sure to adjust them quarterly. Such long-term planning, as 3-10 years should be, but this refers to the "vision" of the business and is closely intertwined with the personality of the entrepreneur. Vision can improve business performance by 40%-70%. How to use this business tool, I individually.

The second step is to align business and marketing goals. To do this, develop a "marketing mix" or a marketing mix.

For a retail store, the 8P system is best suited:

Product - those products, services and services that your retail store offers customers.
Price - price policy shop.
Promotion is a set of activities, including non-marketing ones, aimed at encouraging sales.
Location (Place) - the territorial location of the retail store. In the presence of a strong brand, the factor may play a minor role.
Process (Process) - a way of providing services and services.
Customers (Prospect) - the number of expected visitors to the store.
Staff (Personal) - employees of your store
Physical evidence - interior, equipment, exterior, .

The main mistake of most retail store owners is the lack of focus on the target audience. Of course, you can sell everything to everyone, but it is unlikely that with this approach you will be able to compete with large supermarkets or your closest competitors for a long time. Choosing a target audience is another step in developing a strategy. It begins with the division of the market into consumer groups that are common in their characteristics -.

The attractiveness of a segment depends on many factors, but it is obvious that each segment should choose its own approach. It is useful to consider the relationship of segments. For example, store building materials can be oriented both to specialists and ordinary retail consumer. In addition, such stores can be partners with design agencies, plumbing and roofing stores. Thus, without having large retail space, you can meet the needs of your customers as much as possible and get additional profit from the sale of related products.

Now pass comparison of your store with the main competitors that target the same audience of shoppers as you. Comparing them to the main elements of the marketing mix that you described above. Give points from 1 to 10.

Think about how your store differs from competitors? By product, by services, by staff, by image or, perhaps, by service? Describe and evaluate the most significant factors for your target audience and compare them with the existing parameters of your store.

So, the retail store development strategy is almost ready. It remains to create a unique selling proposition. The USP is designed to give potential customers a reason to choose your store over one of your competitors.

Don't forget about the powerful operational management tool - SWOT analysis. It includes determining the strengths (Strengths) and weaknesses (Weaknesses) of the company; identification of existing opportunities (Opportunities), as well as external threats (Threats); comparing strengths and weaknesses with opportunities and threats; .

Retail Store Advertising

What to use? There is an advertising bedside table or light boxes on the street in front of your store. Proper window dressing and "selling" signs on the store itself. Low-budget advertising media in densely populated areas of the target audience.

If you give , then pay attention to the indicator affinity index(correspondence index) — the ratio of the rating by the target audience to the rating by the base audience of a particular media.

Additionally, you can work through the service of collective discounts. For example, Groupon, KupiKupon, Biglion and others.

A website is another marketing tool that allows you to significantly increase the number of visitors. If your target audience is using social networks, then this channel is also worth using. Don't forget sites like Youtube.com, Slideshare.com and Podfm.ru

Sales promotion in a retail store

Here are a few tools to increase profits without additional costs:

Price testing
Price targeting
Price increase
Additional warranties
Joint Marketing
Sale of additional products
Additional services

And these require additional investments on your part:

Discount programs
Discounts and gifts
Promotions, sampling, etc.
Special offers: kits, recommendations, sales windows…

Retail Store Public Relations

Determine what your target audience is reading, watching and listening to. Suggest your expert assessment or support. A well-written article can become free advertising. Next, you need to send the material to editors or journalists.

Be a sponsor or organizer of special events:

concerts and parties in your city
organize holidays and fashion shows
exhibitions, presentations, local competitions and others work well

Create and promote the distinctive sides of your retail store. It can be:

Purchase Features
Service Features
Range Features
Interesting employees
Process features
Unique visitors
Features of the architecture of the building
Extraordinary events that took place in the store, etc.

Set up polls. Get feedback from your customers and customers from other restaurants about what is important to them, what they are happy with or what needs to be changed.

Study the features of orders of different groups of buyers. Loyalty programs allow you to collect information about the individual preferences and desires of individual customers.

Build personalized relationships with visitors. Regular customers, if your store is small, you need to meet by name. Smile for all customers. Be professional.

If after reading you have any questions, I am ready to answer them in the comments to this article.