How To Increase Sales Of Your Grocery Store

How To Increase Sales Of Your Grocery Store

Your customers might hold the key to your sales revenue, but you can entice them to make purchases using psychology
. This is your superpower. The problem: customers today are contemporary, meaning their reasons for buying today might not be the same tomorrow. After all, 95% of customer purchases are subconscious
. Now, this type of subconscious behavior varies within different retail stores. For example, where many will strive to purchase Apple products because of FOMO or their social aptitude, a unique grit is critical in the apparel retail industry. So, how do you subconsciously excite your customers to make purchases in-store or through your e-commerce grocery store? Determine your consumer's deepest purchase desires and customize your grocery store operations and product pricing to fulfill them.

What Do Your Customers Desire?

Customers desire different shopping experiences, but the bottom line is convenience, safety, transparency, excellent service, and an excellent shopping experience. Your customers want to know and see that you care about their safety and that of others from the moment they enter your store to when they leave and and beyond.

How To Turn These Desires Into Strategies That Mint Money

1. 
   Hire The Right Employees
   

Just like customers affect your sales revenue, employees influence your overall customer experience. Get it right by hiring the right employees and then treat them like your most valuable asset. Here's why:

Other than another shopper, the first person a customer meets at your grocery store is one of your employees. For a new customer, the first impression they get from your employee significantly affects whether they become a repeat customer. Remember, it is easier to get a sale from a repeat customer than from a new one.

It is also the responsibility of your employees to instill confidence and safety that your store is the right fit for a customer. Case in point, an employee with ample product knowledge, a happy demeanor, and a willingness to offer help to any customer who asks, will likely give you repeat clients regularly.

Therefore, adopt strategies that create a thriving customer service culture
in your grocery store. An excellent training and development program creates this culture by ensuring all your employees have the proper communication and customer service skills to serve your customer.

Customize your training to ensure each employee knows how to give your customers an excellent buying experience. The goal of your employees should be to put the customer's needs first, and this expectation should be instilled in them through training and development.

2. 
   Use Technology To Make Your Store Visible
   

49% of your shoppers
are on Google discovering new products to purchase and stores near them to visit.

• Make yourself visible by setting up business listings on Google and other platforms that host your target audience, like Facebook and Yelp. Include details of your location, working hours, and reviews. This type of transparency inspires trust and confidence in your potential customers. Don't forget to use inviting images of your fresh produce to attract attention to your offerings. You can also use technology tools that display your best-selling inventory on Google Search.

• Create an e-commerce website where customers can shop for products online. Add other online shopping options, like the use of mobile shopping through an app. A store like Grain and Vine has increased their sales by 25% simply by offering the mobile ordering option for their customers within one year.

• Make your online shopping experience as convenient as possible by offering different delivery options. For instance, include click-and-collect options on your Google Listing features, e-commerce website, and mobile app. If customers can shop for the products they need online and pick them up from your store at their stipulated time, they become more likely to purchase your products. Your store becomes convenient since they don't have to stand in waiting lines or move around the store looking for items they need.

• Reduce wait times for your brick-and-mortar stores by increasing your checkout counters. Use a POS software solution to schedule your employees strategically: more employees should be working at registers during peak hours. A modern `POS system also allows you to add extra checkout systems through mobile devices like an iPad if the need arises.

• Communicate your implemented safety protocols on your website, social media pages, mobile app, and marketing avenues. For instance, you can create content based on the measures you take to maintain cleanliness in your grocery store
  .

• If you engage in any corporate social responsibility causes, include them in your content and marketing strategies and show them on your website, mobile app, and social media pages. Encourage customers to purchase your products by promising to give a portion of their purchase to charity.

• Engage in community projects or events that promote sustainable and good causes, and you will likely gain a following that translates into high-value customers.

• Make your ingredient lists visible for customers to see. Give organic and natural product options in your grocery store as well.

The more you become transparent about your manufacturing processes, the likelier customers will gain confidence to trust the food they buy from you.

3. 
   Play With Visual Appeal
   

There is a reason why videos, images, and memes are becoming an essential part of business marketing. People are drawn to beautiful things. Your customers want to feel amazing as they move around your grocery store, and happy customers make more purchases
.

You can make your grocery store beautiful by:

• Placing your best products at the front and most visible parts of your grocery store.

• Including displays like products signage with beautiful lighting as guides for your shoppers.

• Using different visual elements in color, height, and depth.

• Maintaining a clean and neat grocery store.

Remember to keep your visual appeals updated and appropriately maintained. Change them by season to keep your grocery store looking fresh. Invest in the planning process for your visuals and set a budget.

4. 
   Offer Promotions
   

Create a loyalty program that is customized to your target audience. Ley your POS system track each customer's purchase behavior and use that to create a program that offers value to your customers instead of creating one blindly.

After all, your goal is to fulfill customer desires, not yours. For instance, offer gift cards to
new or loyal customers that reach a certain purchase level. A typical loyalty program provides customers points converted to dollars for every purchase.

Customers can redeem these points during later purchases, thus, encouraging them to keep purchasing from your store in hopes that they can grow their points for more significant assets.

Let Erply Satisfy Your Customer Desires

Erply's POS system helps you sell by making you authentic and customer-centric. You can schedule your best employees during peak times by tracking your employee hours and performance. They will be better at handling many customers at a go without compromising on customer satisfaction and experience. The Erply POS system also adds to your grocery store convenience by offering faster transactions at the checkout counter, which reduces wait times. The Erply POS is also excellent at helping grocery stores develop irresistible deals for your shoppers and a customer loyalty program that will get you repeat business. So, try the Erply 60-day free trial
and taste the magnitude of these benefits first-hand.