fbpx 2017 is here, which means it’s a great opportunity to reassess the state of your business. ROI is a term you probably hear a lot and maybe wish you had a better pulse on when it comes to your own store. Measuring return on investment gives you the insight to know exactly how your business is performing. To gain this insight, you must have a POS and inventory management that collects the data points you need to use when measuring ROI. But what exactly are those metrics and what do they tell you? Return on investment (ROI) measures how many dollars of gross profit or margin you are getting back for each dollar you have invested in inventory (based on your present rate of sales and average inventory for the period). The equation to you use to calculate this is: ROI= (Profit During Sales Period/Inventory Cost During Sales Period) x 365 This is an important metric because it helps you identify how quickly your inventory was sold, how much inventory you carried to generate those sales, and how profitable the sales were when they occurred. This not only helps you get an idea of the current state of your business, but also gives you helpful information to make educated buying decisions. Within RICS, you can run a Sales Analysis Report to determine ROI. Click here to learn more about identifying KPIs (key performance indicators) within RICS. ROI is perhaps the easiest business concept to understand and yet the most difficult to measure. Luckily, RICS does this computing for you so that you can spend your time making important business decisions from concrete data. No more guesswork, no more hunches. Utilize your store’s ROI to improve your profit and get the most out of your merchandise. Your POS shouldn’t be complex or difficult to use. Retail technology is meant to help you save time so you can run your business more efficiently. If you are spending more time and resources figuring out how to use and navigate your POS system, you should rethink your current solution. Ease of use should be a priority when you are shopping around for a new POS and inventory management system. If you would like to learn more about other features you should require in a new system, take a look at this checklist. RICS is an intuitive system that is quick to learn. We know that training new employees can be a time-consuming process. As a retailer, we want you to focus your time and energy where it matters most. You can train your employees on how to use RICS in just two hours. We have even heard that some of our clients are able to train new salespeople in 15 minutes! With the holidays approaching, you are likely onboarding additional employees to meet seasonal demand. This means you will want to have a system that is easy for anyone to learn, regardless of their technical experience. Because your staff during the holidays may not work in retail full-time, they need a simple solution and they can learn and master for a few months. RICS is that solution. Having a quick-to-learn and simple, yet robust, POS solution allows you to save time both at the point of sale and during training, so you can take your business to the next level. Interested in learning more about RICS’ point of sale? Click here. It’s the most wonderful time of the year according to Andy Williams. Or at least the busiest. From now through the end of the year, store traffic will be at its heaviest as everyone hurries to do their holiday shopping, check items off their list or use coupons and rewards points before they expire at the end of the year. An increase in traffic in the store means longer lines, longer wait times to check out, and a higher likelihood of customers getting frustrated. As a store owner or manager, you can alleviate some of the frustration and wait time by using an additional, temporary POS. A second (or even third, fourth, or fifth) POS can be added and disabled from your RICS account at any time and will work on any Windows based computer, laptop or tablet. POSs are issued in 30 day increments and can be turned on in less than a day of reaching out to our team. In order to set this up or for more information, please contact Jamie at accounts@ricssoftware.com As the holidays approach, retailers always become more interested in how they can get their products in front of more of their customers. When thinking about getting in front of more clients, creating an ecommerce platform becomes top of mind. But as many retailers know, getting started with ecommerce isn’t just putting pictures of products on a website. There’s a lot more that goes into getting up and running. So if you’re interested in setting up an online offering, here’s how to get started.

Contact your account manager at RICS

At RICS, we fully support our retailers expanding their business to sell more. But when it comes to integrations, we want to make sure you find the right solution for you. We’ll work with you to find an ecommerce solution that fits your budget and can help you reach your goals. Check out this post from one of our account managers that breaks down how we can help you evaluate an ecommerce solution.

Start planning out your ecommerce site

Having a plan before you move straight into launching a website will not only make you more successful, but it will also make the project more manageable. Lay out a plan for what products you’ll sell, what content you’ll use on your website, and how you’ll start promoting your online presence. Check out our Getting Started with Ecommerce guide for more information on how to get your site up and running. When it comes to expanding your business online, you want to make sure you pick a partner that is cost efficient and helps you increase your profitability. Talking with RICS and making a plan before moving forward with ecommerce can help you avoid costly mistakes. Interested in speaking with someone about ecommerce? Reach out to our account managers at: accounts@ricssoftware.com to start the conversation. As a small business owner, you may be starting to realize that pulling, analyzing, and using your data to make decisions about your business is becoming a necessity to be successful. But sometimes when you’re just getting started, it’s hard to know the why’s and how’s behind looking into your data. As your data partners, we want to make things easy for you. That’s why we’re going to walk you through why you need to pull your comparative weekly sales data and how to do it. WHY: When it comes to evaluating the success of your business, using your intuition to measure your store is a quick way to find your store in trouble. Looking at your comparative sales data is a necessity if you want to understand how your store is doing. If you don’t compare your weekly sales data month over month or year over year, it’s hard to know how successful you really are. And even more troublesome, you’ll never be able to profitably forecast for your store. That means you end up overbuying, underselling, and marking down a lot more inventory than you intended. Rather than trusting your gut, use this data to start measuring your store’s performance. HOW: Run a report for weekly sales year over year. This will help you see how your store performed in the same week the year before. Being able to compare the weeks, year over year, helps you understand if your sales are up or down. Once you start to identify trends in your comparative data, you’ll be able to start identifying opportunities to improve your buying and selling strategies. RICS Pro Tip! To get started with comparative weekly sales data, go to the Dashboard, select Sales, and pick Sales Summary Comparison. Select “Order by: Store” and “Period: 1 Week” and run the report to view your store’s sales performance. It’s no secret that specialty run retailers are facing their most difficult selling market in decades. While reports say spending is up, retailers aren’t just up against a lack of spending, they’re also facing a market that craves personalization. With big brands and ecommerce giants selling running gear for less and giving customers top-notch personalization, how do smaller retailers win sales, while giving customers the personalization they crave? In order to stay competitive, retailers need to do more than just collect data, they need to start using it. The argument for the switch to data-driven retailing is more prevalent than ever. Using your inventory, sales, and customer data to make decisions about your business can help you buy smarter, sell better, and give customers a one-of-a-kind experience. Interested in learning more about how you can do this? Join us and the IRRA for “Using Data to Make Moves in a Bad Economy,” a free webinar on October 26th at 2 p.m. In this webinar, RICS’ own retail data expert, Jimmy Richburg, will break down: Register for the webinar here. Sign up to learn more about how you can use your data to stay competitive and drive more sales. Data is taking the retail world by storm. In order to be profitable and stay competitive, retailers are tapping into this incredibly valuable asset. They’re pulling, analyzing, and using their data to make smarter business decisions about the inventory their buying, how much their buying, and even how and when they’re selling it. So how can you start using your data to make positive changes in your business? Check out why you need to proactively identify slow moving inventory and how to do it. WHY: When you don’t proactively track your inventory to identify which pieces have been around for too long, you run the risk of having an item that will only sell after a massive markdown. Markdowns are a healthy part of running a business, they’re a necessary part of moving old inventory out to make room for items you know will sell at full price. When you don’t know that certain items aren’t selling well (because you’re not using your data), you end up holding onto depreciating inventory that can’t make you money. HOW: Use your inventory management system to dig into which items are your worst performers. After you can identify what products might be taking up room on your shelves, you can stop yourself from ordering more of the poor performers and start setting up a markdown calendar for those items. When you understand how your inventory is performing, you have the opportunity to make better buying decisions in the future. RICS Pro Tip! Use the “Best Sellers Report” to identify items that are your worst sellers. Go to the Dashboard, select Reporting, select Sales, and choose “Best Sellers Express.” Set the options to show the number of poor performers you want to clear out (5, 10, etc.) and choose display by SKU. Try running the reports a few times to show the items that were worst by ROI, Profit, and Quantity Sold. In the retail space, data is not a one-trick pony. There are countless ways you can use your data to help you make smarter (and more profitable) decisions about your business. If you’re just getting started with using your store’s data, it can be hard to know which data points to use. So what data points can help you make better decisions about your business? Check out why identifying your recent top sellers is important and how to do it. WHY: Customers wants are always changing. Some items that were top sellers for the last few months may not be this month. Whether it’s because of seasonality, changing trends, or other random factors, you want to be on the pulse of what and how your customers are buying so you don’t miss out on an opportunity to win a sale. When you know which items are selling well and which ones aren’t, you know what you need to be restocking and which items you can start moving into your markdown section. HOW: Make sure you’re keeping tabs on your weekly sales. When you see what items are moving on a continuous basis, you’re able to identify trends that are emerging with your customers. When you know what your customers want, you’re able to make sure you have the right product at the right time ensuring you’re always meeting your customers needs. RICS Pro Tip! To identify your recent top sellers, use a Best Sellers report. Go to Reporting, select Sales and choose Best Sellers Express, then set your run options to display your best 5 SKUs from the past month. To broaden your reach, try running the report by Class to delve into the trends and see which departments of your store are flourishing. [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]For retailers, change can often spark feelings of fear and anxiety. They think, “Why should I change something that works?” But the problem with that mentality is that if you’re not assessing the status of your processes and strategies, you may miss out on a tool that can add value to your business. The fear of change can ultimately harm the business you’ve worked so hard to build. Changing and part of your retail technology doesn’t have to be something that you fear, in fact it should be something that excites you. Change gives you, as a business owner the opportunity to improve upon tactics that are working and overhauling things that aren’t, setting you up for the ultimate success. But if change can do great things for your business, why are people so hesitant to embrace it? A few reasons we’re all a little scared of changing comfortable aspects of our business (and life) include: While change can seem scary, it doesn’t have to be intimidating. With the right partner and the right plan, you can execute a process, strategy, or technology change easily. At RICS, we have proven time and time again to our new clients that they had nothing to fear in switching systems.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Learn more about overcoming the fear of change with our guide below:

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][minti_divider style=”4″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][vc_column text_align=”center” width=”1/2″][minti_headline type=”h2″ font=”font-special” size=”fontsize-xxxl” weight=”fontweight-800″ lineheight=”lh-12″ transform=”transform-uppercase”]Get the Guide[/minti_headline][minti_button link=”/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/eBook-Overcoming-the-Fear-of-Change.pdf” target=”_blank” icon=”fa-chevron-right” appear=”true” size=”medium”]Download Now[/minti_button][minti_image img=”3904″ lightbox=”2″ url=”/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/eBook-Overcoming-the-Fear-of-Change.pdf” target=”_blank” hover=”image_tilt”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][minti_divider style=”4″][/vc_column][/vc_row] As big box retailers are closing up shop and online retailers are taking center stage, retailers are feeling the pressure to keep winning sales from their customers. When it comes to winning in such a competitive retail landscape, data has becoming increasingly important. Some would even argue that data is the number one tool retailers should be using in order to stand out in a saturated market. With consumers (especially Millennials) craving targeted, personalized shopping experiences, the need to collect and analyze customer data has become a necessity. But which data points are the most important and how can you use the data to create a more personalized experience for your customers? Check out a couple of the data points we recommend collecting (and how to use them): Needs and Interests: After you’ve built out a customer profile with basic information (name, email, address) it’s important to start collecting notes about your customers. Understanding specific needs and interests customers have is a great way to add a layer of personalization to their shopping experience. Use it: Start using the personal notes you’re collecting about your customers to target them in specific marketing campaigns. If you have a group of customers who are training for a specific marathon, send them a trickle of emails promoting different items that will help their training in the months leading up to race day. Purchase History: If you have the right inventory management system, your technology can track customer purchases back to customer accounts. Having a sense of brands and items customers have bought can help you properly sell to them in the future. Use it: Purchase history is a great way to group customers together for coupons and mailers when a new item comes out. If a group of customers have routinely bought the newest Asics Nimbus Gel each year, consider sending them a coupon they can use on the purchase of any two items when the latest shoe comes out. You know they’ll be interested in the shoe and the coupon offer will encourage them to add other items onto their ticket.   These are just two examples of the many data points you can track using RICS. To find out more about collecting (and using) your data, check out our Small Business Definitive Guide to Data. “The More You Know” is a popular slogan that started in 1989 with Tom Brokaw. The PSA series features educational information, ending with the tag line “the more you know.” The slogan has become a marker for many distributing educational content, whether in truth or in parody (as seen on SNL and The Daily Show). The fact is, the more you know, the better business decisions you can make. As a retailer, this is important to maintain and grow your business. Analyzing customer purchase history, inventory turns, and markdowns can help you make better buying decisions. Looking at purchase patterns for customers spending a certain dollar amount or buying items within specific classes can help you tailor your marketing efforts. Understanding when you received specific SKUs, how long they have sat on the shelf, and at what price points your customers make purchases can help you merchandise and sell product more efficiently. RICS realizes that the data stored in its system is very valuable to its clients and could be used for purposes beyond the scope of RICS current functionality. To help clients get access to their data and integrate with other applications, RICS has three ways that can be used to exchange data and enable integration: If you have outside tools or system that you are using for your business, accessing your data in other formats might be beneficial. To learn more about these methods or if these solutions would meet your needs, please contact an Account Manager at accounts@ricssoftware.com Having a slow point of sale can really delay the efficiency of your business and decrease your customer’s overall experience in your store. This day in age, shoppers expect efficiency and want to get in and out as fast possible. If you can’t offer them the experience they expect while shopping, they likely won’t return to your store. If technology is to blame for your subpar in-store experience and lack of foot traffic, maybe it’s time to consider finding another solution. Your retail technology should be an investment in helping you grow your business, not something that is preventing you from building a loyal customer base and repeat shoppers. If you are experiencing the challenges of having a slow POS, you should reevaluate your system. Is it installed or cloud-based? How long have you been using your current system? Do you have to rely on your servers? Stop worrying about being in the IT business, and focus on doing what you’re good at- managing your retail business. Switching your POS and inventory management system to the cloud has many benefits and will ensure your POS runs smoothly without freezing or delaying your business processes. A cloud-based solution gives you the power of a cloud partner, so you are not alone when you are experiencing difficulties. Being cloud-hosted, and not having to depend on the servers in your store, alleviates the risk of losing your data. It should also speed up the point of sale itself because the data is no longer stored in the system and bogging it down. The cloud has unlimited space for data and allows you to access it in real-time, so that you can assess the state of your business, from anywhere, whenever you want. Run your reports fast, upload information quickly, and make changes across your organization in real-time with a cloud-based solution. It’s not worth worrying about your technology and the risks of having a system that might fail on you. Check customers out as quickly as possible and offer them an experience that will keep them coming back for more. By switching to cloud-based retail technology, you can do this and more! Download our free guide, How to Grow Your Business with Technology, to find out how you can maximize the benefits of a cloud-based solution. When you turn on your cell phone, you expect it to be updated with the latest and greatest features. Apple has done a really good job of setting this expectation by automatically sending out software updates. Sometimes you have to click a button to install them and sometimes when you turn on your phone in the morning they are just there.  Either way, we live in a world where we expect our devices (and the software behind them) to just work. This isn’t always the case in the world of POS providers. Many POS solutions are installed, meaning you install the software version on your computer one time and then use it until it is no longer supported or you find something different that you want to use. The benefit of an installed solution is you pay a one-time fee. There may be an ongoing support fee and every time you want an updated version you have to pay another large one time fee to install it. The other option, which is less common, is a subscription based model. There is a smaller one-time set up fee, along with a monthly subscription fee. Within this subscription, you automatically get all updates and fixes to the software on a daily basis. Also, support, integrations, ongoing education, and other services are included. The monthly subscription supports your POS, much like your monthly cell phone plan supports your phone usage. Having the latest and greatest from your service provider, as well as all of the customer support and education you need, it is well worth the monthly investment.  To learn more about how a subscription based plan can benefit your business, please contact us at sales@ricssoftware.com. [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Ecommerce is more than just online shopping. It’s important to recognize that having a website is only part of creating an online presence. There are several ways you can improve your online experience to reach millennials. Getting a website set up is important, but that’s only half the battle. One easy way to increase your online presence is through social media. Setting up accounts are free, easy, and help customers find you more easily. A Facebook and Twitter account can provide pictures, reviews, and an easy way to communicate with customers. Make sure your customers know about your new online presence by sending out an announcement via postcard or email. This lets customers know where to find you and could even offer a coupon for their first online purchase. Encourage your customers to follow your social media accounts for special offers or campaigns. Your new online presence should be consistent with the brand you promote in store. Having a uniform brand creates trust with the customer because they know what to expect from you. It is also helpful for employees to fall in line with the brand. Your online store should show the same products you have in store because over 80% of shoppers research their future purchases online before purchasing in store. Offer a ‘pick up in store’ option to let customers know that the product they’re looking at is available. This is convenient because they can try it on and don’t have to wait for shipping.  Showing the actual number of products you have left could create demand through a “buy now or miss it” mentality. You can also use your online presence to deliver valuable content to your customers about the products, how to use them, and the life experiences they offer. This content can showcase your knowledge and improve customer loyalty. Create a blog on your website where you can share your ideas and interact with customers.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

To learn more, see our guide below:

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][minti_divider style=”4″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][vc_column text_align=”center” width=”1/2″][minti_headline type=”h2″ font=”font-special” size=”fontsize-xxxl” weight=”fontweight-800″ lineheight=”lh-12″ transform=”transform-uppercase”]Get the Guide[/minti_headline][minti_button link=”/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Creating-a-Better-Ecommerce-Experience.pdf” target=”_blank” icon=”fa-chevron-right” appear=”true” size=”medium”]Download Now[/minti_button][minti_image img=”3715″ lightbox=”2″ url=”/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Creating-a-Better-Ecommerce-Experience.pdf” target=”_blank” align=”center” hover=”image_tilt”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][minti_divider style=”4″][/vc_column][/vc_row] There are countless challenges in running a retail operation. What merchandise should I select? How should my store be organized? Where do I look for customers and how do I get them to come through the door? Beyond some of these retail fundamentals, you also have to decide on numerous business processes that will define the everyday operations of your store. For new business owners, determining these specific business processes can be a matter of trial and error. If you have experience in the industry, you probably have some basic ideas about the processes you want to implement inside your operation. As your business continues to grow and becomes more successful, you’ll experience process refinement and fine-tune all these business operations that have aided your success. Managing these processes as an owner operator is the best way to ensure process continuity. But as you grow and become busier, it generally becomes necessary to bring in help to run your store.  People are an important asset and hiring people who will embrace your processes is key. Regardless, you’ll be there to make sure things are running the way you envisioned, right? But what happens when you open that second store?  What about a third? You have now encountered a whole new set of challenges around new business processes, in addition to trying to exercise oversight of your original vision. Now you need help. The best tool for tackling these multi-location retail challenges is a cloud-based POS and inventory management system. Being able to look in one place and oversee your entire operation, in real-time, is a key to effective organizational management. You need real-time reflection of inventory levels for evaluating transfer and purchasing decisions.  You need real-time insight into daily store/salesperson performance.  You need to see what products are turning over quickly, company-wide and in individual locations. RICS Software has been providing its retailers with a real-time solution for years. Being cloud-based has ensured that our retailers are no longer worrying about being in the IT business.  They can see across their organization in seconds. They can get real-time access to countless evaluative metrics for gauging their locations’ performance. RICS is helping retailers with multiple locations buy from themselves (transferring inventory) instead of ordering more from suppliers. It also has the business intelligence capability to analyze how your inventory is performing across all locations and recommend those inventory moves, saving you countless hours of analysis. Set yourself up for success from the start. Selecting the right inventory management system will be quintessential to your growth. Find the right system from the beginning and feel confident that a POS technology is something you want from a partner, not a provider. For more information, check out our Guide to Multi-Store Management. You’re all in on omnichannel selling, you’ve set up a website to show off your products, and you may have even started a blog to engage your customers. But now that it’s all said and done, you’re having a little trouble coming up with topics you can write about that will excite and captivate your customers. So what are different things you can write about that are both pertinent to what you’re selling and helpful to your customers? Read on for a few easy ways to curate content for your retail blog.

Featured Products

A great way to create a short, meaningful post is to discuss the latest featured product. Whether this product is a new model from a brand, or a product your store is running a special on, it’s important to let your customers know about it.

Expert Advice

Use your blog to write about ways and places your customers can use your products. Are you a specialty running store? Share training plans on your blog, and highlight how many miles the average shoe can withstand before it needs to be replaced. You’ve introduced your customers to all of the reasons they need your product, but also provided them with information that will enhance their use of your product.

Checklists

Similar to expert advice, checklists give you an opportunity to showcase your expertise. A specialty running store understands what runners need for race day. And if you have a customer who is running their first race, this is a great way to help them itemize what they have and what they still need.

Community Engagement

Customers like to see stores they love involved in the community. Whether you sponsor sports teams, offer summer ‘fun runs,’ or sponsor local athletes in local races, let your customers know. Do an interview with one of your sponsored runners that discusses their go-to products and training methods.

Events

Highlighting your upcoming events is always an easy blog post. Discuss store events you’re hosting, campaigns and sales you’re going to have, and any holiday hours your customers need to know about. This encourages customers to come into your store and build a stronger relationship with you. To learn more about making your online experience better for your customers, check out our guide to Creating a Better Ecommerce Experience. [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Measuring success is part of our culture; it is the way we have been programmed. In grade school, our learning is measured by grades. In college, our success in mastering a specialty is measured by being awarded a degree and the honors associated with it. In the work place, our performance is measured by performance reviews and (hopefully) a raise. The same should be true when evaluating how we are performing as a store. In order to deploy the right buying, selling, and management strategies, we have to understand what is working and what isn’t. We can’t make decisions based on our gut or because that is the way it has always been done. With new competitors opening and others going out of business every year, we have to be smarter and faster in our decision making. Using data can be a powerful way to make important decisions for your business. The data you need to do this is stored in RICS and utilizing the right reports will help you gather and analyze the right information. To help you get started, here are some common reports and alternative ways to look at some of the data in each:

Sales Analysis Report

Best Sellers Report

Salesperson Analysis

Of course these examples aren’t the only reports in RICS that are useful. And the above data points aren’t the only ones you can analyze in the three reports mentioned above. But hopefully this gives you some examples of ways you can measure the performance of your store and make informed decisions. If you need additional help with reports or what data can be extracted from them, please contact the Support Team at help@ricssoftware.com[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row] By having customer data at your disposal in your POS and inventory management system, you can understand what your customer base looks like, what they like to buy, and the best ways to bring them back into your store. This information will help you market better, buy smarter, and will in turn make you a more profitable retailer. It is important that you collect as much customer information as possible so that you can use it to your advantage.

Understand Your Customer’s Profession

Knowing your customer’s field of work is essential for buying inventory that your customers want and need. Taking time to get to know them when they come into your store and then adding their profession to your sales notes will be helpful information to guide your buying decisions. You can also run reports on inventory that has been purchased in the past and that will offer insight into the types of workwear your shoppers are buying.

Know What Brands They Like

Supplying your customers’ favorite brands will get them to come back in and keep buying from you. You can run reports on what brands are the best and worst-selling, so you are always appealing to popular demand. Having conversations with your customers about their favorite brands will also help you know what they like and you should continue buying.

Personalize Your Marketing Efforts

Using customer notes that include their profession and favorite brands can help you personalize marketing tactics to capture their attention. Let customers know when inventory relevant to them arrives. For example, email those customers when you receive the newest Timberland work boots. Adding as much customer information as you can will help make your marketing campaigns more specific and applicable to the recipients. Want to learn about how RICS can help you manage your workwear store? Click here! When it comes to turning inventory, more than just the quality of product can affect sales. Making sure your employees are trained and up-to-snuff about your products is incredibly important to your success. But how do you make sure they are following through with training and feel comfortable on the sales floor? Check out how you can use your data to help your employees knock it out of the park. Training It’s important that you offer continuing education and training to your employees. The better they know your products, the better they’ll be able to sell them. Even outside of products, training your staff on the best ways to talk to customers can help them collect more information and give your customers a personalized experience. Data-driven tip: Use your reporting to pull a salesperson analysis monthly for training purposes. Pinpoint what areas they made need additional training in and set aside time to work with them each month. Maybe they’re great at selling the products you have in-store, but aren’t getting additional sales from add-on items. Have a training meeting focusing on the best ways to sell add-on items to your customers.   Rewards Rewarding good work is a great way to show appreciation, boost employee morale, and keep good employees around. Whether you set monthly quotas or host selling contests every month, have some form of reward for your top salespeople. People who feel recognized in their job are more likely to continue going above and beyond to sell your products. Data-driven tip: Run a report to find what inventory may not be selling as quickly as you thought it would. Have your employees engage in a little friendly competition to see who can sell the most over the next month. At the end of the month, run a report to see who wins and reward them with money, a paid day off, or free lunch. A little appreciation, goes a long way. Scheduling Creating a schedule for your employees should be done more purposefully than just scheduling two salespeople every 4 hours. When planning a schedule, you want to make sure you are maximizing your employee’s time and experience. Unsure of how to effectively schedule your employees? Data-driven tip: Pull reports on your sales by time. When you’re able to see what your busiest and slowest hours are, you can schedule employees better. If mornings are slower than midafternoon, schedule just one salesperson rather than two. Aligning at least one of your top salespeople with your peak hours will also ensure you have a more experienced person on the floor to help customers and coach other employees. When it comes to keeping your staff up-to-speed, it’s best to focus on training in areas where they need improvement but also reward them in the areas where they excel. Focusing on training, reward systems, and effective scheduling will help your employees not only sell more, but also feel more valued in their job. As a retailer today, you’re no longer just competing with your competitors’ products and prices, but also with their customer loyalty programs. Shoppers are becoming more and more inclined to shop with a retailer who rewards them for their purchases. So how do you create a loyalty program that rewards your customers and creates a higher demand for your products? Check out the best ways to create an effective data-driven loyalty program that will actually help you sell more.

Get to know your customers

This may seem like a given, but it’s impossible to deliver a genuine, personalized experience when you assume all of your customers are the same. The truth is, they’re not and they’ll be less likely to continue shopping with you if they fell they are just being treated as a number. Data-driven tip: Use your POS to collect information on your customers as they check out. Collect basic information like name, email, and birthdate. Consider adding in notes about the customer’s purchasing habits. The more information you have about them, the better you can serve them in the future, and the more likely they’ll be to return to your store.

Implement a ‘buy to earn’ strategy

The concept is simple; reward purchases with points that can be used on later purchases. Smart retailers choose a threshold that customers must hit in order to get a reward amount (i.e. each dollar spent equals one point, but points can’t be redeemed until you have 250). Once customers earn the appropriate amount of points, reward them with a percentage or dollar amount off of their next purchase. Data-driven tip: Use reporting in your POS and inventory management system to find customers who are nearing in on a reward. Send out emails to those customers reminding them of the incentive. When customers know they are close to a reward, they’re more likely to pull the trigger on a purchase they’ve been considering.

Personalize rewards

Customers today expect a personalized experience when shopping. Go above and beyond your competitors by using your data to target rewards and incentives by past purchases. Use the information you have on your clients to dictate what offers you send them and when. Data-driven tip: Pull a report on your customers who are closing in on their loyalty reward. Using that list, cross-reference past purchases with new products to send personalized offer emails to your customers. The more genuine and personalized experience a customer receives, the more likely they will be to purchase again. When it comes to customer loyalty, focusing on collecting and using your data in your marketing and sales tactics is the best bet to keep your customers coming back again and again. Stay tuned for more posts on becoming a data-driven retailer using data to run a more successful business.