We all have our favorite places to shop. Whether it is because the sales associate remembers what you like to purchase, the store manager greets you by name, or the staff go above and beyond to meet your needs, we have places that we will return to time and time again because of the way we are treated as a customer. In reverse, we try to provide that same level of service to our customers. We diligently educate and train our staff to be proactive and friendly, we train our managers to implement loyalty programs and perks for our returning customers and constantly strategize on how to create the best customer experience. And sometimes, despite best efforts, the customer experience is less than ideal. The product might not be in stock, the customer was given the wrong or damaged item or an associate was short or unhelpful. Having the right strategy to address unhappy customers is extremely important. Just as important as any other approach to gaining and maintaining a customer’s loyalty. Businesses who can retain and satisfy their customers when things don’t go well, will gain an even more loyal following. At RICS, we have put serious thought into the resources needed to support our clients when you have questions, need additional education, or are having difficulty. First, our Support Team is available 9am-9pm EST, seven days a week. They are experts on our software and are here to provide information, guide you through the product, address issues, and help find a resolution should a problem arise. While we do our best to maintain a stable product, occasionally a problem may arise and it is our number one priority to help resolve it as quickly as possible. The Account Management Team is another resource, dedicated to our clients and advocating on their behalf to ensure the organization is aware of their wants and needs as RICS continues to build and improve its product. The Account Management Team is the voice of the client inside of RICS. They are a resource for additional education and a point of escalation when a problem comes up. While RICS is here to help you grow your customer base and their loyalty, we want to gain yours by creating an excellent experience no matter what the interaction may be.  For more help, please contact the Support Team at help@ricssoftware.com or the Account Management Team at accounts@ricssoftware.com. Being a sporting goods retailer can be challenging because there is such a wide array of sports and equipment that you sell. Product knowledge is such an important factor in selling your inventory, so you really need to know your facts. We have a few tips that will help your sporting goods store have a winning season and beat the competitors.

Understand your customers’ needs and educate them

If you want your customers to make purchases, you need to educate them and share your product knowledge. Taking time to listen to what your customer is looking for will give you the ability to best assist them. By giving the customer as much information as possible and not forcing any specific product on them, they will be more inclined to trust your expertise. Be genuine and helpful when you spend time assisting shoppers.

Take time with the fitting process

Whether you are fitting cleats, a glove, or a bike, be sure you are spending adequate time and have patience with each customer. Bring out options for the shopper to compare and explain the benefits of each product. This is another opportunity to share your product knowledge and educate the customer on their potential purchase. Taking time with the fitting process shows you are willing to find the best sporting equipment, apparel, etc. for them. In turn, they will be more likely to make the investment.

Create an inviting and comfortable in-store experience

Your sporting goods store should offer an exceptional in-store experience when it comes to customer service and the space itself. Be intentional about how you set up your store. Make sure you have comfortable chairs around for customers to try on shoes, and enough seating for their companions. Full-length mirrors are also a must, so that the shopper can see the complete outfit. For more ways to make your store stand out, see our infographic, about Perfecting Your Store’s Layout for a Better Customer Experience. Learn how Playmakers uses RICS to measure their store’s performance and make better decisions. If you are interested in joining other sporting goods retailers who use RICS to grow their business, click here. As a retailer, we are always trying to figure out how to drive sales. How do we get more people through the door? Larger sales. Add-ons. How can we boost that overall revenue number and have bigger days, month, and years. Like most complex problems, there is a multitude of variables at play in finding the perfect formula for consistently growing sales. Some of those variables are harder to control. However, one effort you can take advantage of if you currently are not is the loyalty or reward program. Is this a pervasive practice in retail? How many business are using it? How many consumers are subscribing to it? Is it really effective? These are all questions that are pertinent to making a decision on whether or not you should subscribe to this practice. The long and short of it is you should have a rewards program if you don’t. Let’s talk about why. According to an academic study from the University of Washington, US participation in loyalty programs has reached 2.6 billion participants. This number is easier to comprehend when paired with the average number of programs that at US household participates in… 21.9. So there are lots of people participating in lots of programs. Don’t want to miss the boat, right? Well, there are some arguments against it. In certain environments there can be a negative effect associated with the concept of inferiority perceived by non-participants when they observe privileges earned by others. Luckily, in the retail world most rewards/points/discounts earned from participation are not flaunted in the face of other customers. This idea of the “negative effects on bystanders” is less applicable in the retail business setting. So how do we practically put this rewards program in action? Some retailers have had stamp cards, or a card catalog references in place for years. As technology evolved, some people began keeping track on a spreadsheet or using an external service. Many retailers use their credit card processor to process gift cards and a loyalty program, at a premium price. A better choice is utilizing a POS and inventory management system that has a built-in feature and can effectively provide feedback on program usage and rewards balances. RICS Software is a great choice for people who don’t want to pay extra for a rewards program, but do want to take advantage of a segmented marketing opportunity. Marketing directly to your rewards customers and those who are close to a reward attainment is an effective call to action that you will get a better return on your investment. So if you’re not taking advantage of a simple way to increase sales and get your shoppers to become more frequent repeat customers, you should. And if you’re looking for help to automate and maximize the benefits of a program like this, you should contact RICS. Summer is warming up! And that means festivals, community events, tent sales, and the like are upon us. And they will be here from now, well into the fall. As a retailer, setting up at events is a great opportunity.  First, it is a way to raise brand awareness through grassroots marketing efforts. Second, it is a unique opportunity to sell merchandise and showcase the products you sell.  Here are a few tips as you get ready for events this summer: With some well-thought-out preparation and follow-up, events can be a great source of revenue to complement traditional store sales. If you need help executing any of the above tactics in RICS, please contact us at help@ricssoftware.com. 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. Because Millennials hold the spending power and consume over half of the running population, you should make sure you are effectively marketing towards them. They are a very digitally active group of individuals and use technology in most aspects of their lives. If you are not getting in front of them online, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to sell!

Align with brands and runners that believe in something

Millennials desire a brand experience that is emotional and engaging. It is important that the brands they buy have similar values to their own and believe they are making a difference in the world and truly stand for something. Be sure to capture Millennials through belief-based branding and promote the values that your store and brands believe in.

Personalize the experience

Millennials expect a genuine, personalized experience as soon as they walk into your running store. Have you consider creating a personalized experience for your customers before they even make the visit? Take full advantage of your POS and inventory management system and collect customer information so you can create targeted marketing campaigns. This will increase the likelihood that Millennials will stop by your store to try on some running shoes.

Actively use social media

Because Millennials are constantly on social media, it is a great way to reach them. It is unlikely that Millennials will seek out your store, so you need to connect with them and capture their attention on your social channels. Promote your new products, brands, and athletes who are sponsored by your brands on sites like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. You can also personally connect and form relationships with your Millennial consumers on social media. Learn how 3 Rivers Running, a specialty running store in Indiana, has used RICS to overcome many of the challenges associated with managing a running store, including inventory, sales and customer management. If you are interested in joining the majority of specialty running retailers who use RICS to grow their business, click here. Managing a boutique can be a lot of fun, but it also has its challenges! Building strong customer relationships is an essential step in having a successful retail business. Your loyal customers will be the ones that spread the word about your store and get new visitors to come by. Most people shopping at boutiques expect a personalized experience the moment they walk into your store. Meet these expectations and make sure your store is a place that shoppers seek out. The following three tips will help your boutique reach its fullest potential: Spread the knowledge: If you have products that are local, unique, or organic, be sure to share that with your customers. The more they know about what they are looking at, the more likely they will be to want to make a purchase. People like to make informed buying decisions, so give them all the information they need to do so. Social media: It is imperative that your store has a social media presence. Use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, to interact with your customers and share new products with them. Brand awareness is important for establishing your business, so use social media as a tool to do so. Be active in the local community: People love feeling like they belong to a community, so make your store a place where people feel welcomed. Host events and partner with other local businesses to get more people involved. Use the community as a foundation to build your business and spread the word. Check out how Marigold Clothing, a boutique in Indianapolis, has used RICS to increase sales, build customer relationships, and monitor KPIs. If you are interested in learning more about using RICS in your boutique, click here. Did you know that returning customers spend 2/3 more money at your store than first-time customers? That is why it is so important to give your customers reasons to come back in your store. You have to exceed customer expectations in terms of your use of technology, customer service, and sense of community, to stand out among your competitors.

Technology

Use modern retail technology to your advantage by collecting customer data at your point of sale. You can use this information to personalize the shopping experience to make note of and remember things about your customer for the next time they walk in your store. You can also use their purchase history to make suggestions on other items in your store they might like. Some other ideas on how to use technology are to create a mobile app for your shoppers or even have tablets in your store to help them find what they’re looking for.

Customer Service

Excellent customer service is something that will always impress your customers. Make sure you train your employees to provide a positive and memorable experience for anyone who walks through your doors. Since most shoppers expect great customer service, make sure that your store does something unique to make you stand out from your competitors. Some ideas include curbside pick-up, delivery service, act as a personal shopper and offer suggestions, and send personalized gift cards for your top 50 shoppers.

Sense of Community

Some of the best stores are also community hubs and host and organize different events to the public. This will encourage your loyal customers to come back, while also getting your name out there to new shoppers. There are many ways to create a sense of community in your store. Some suggestions are to organize a weekly run club, partner with other neighboring local businesses, host a happy hour, or serve drinks and snacks in your store. No matter what you decide to do, make sure you get the word out! For more tips on how to optimize your in-store experience, click here.   Did you know that returning customers spend about 2/3 more more than first-time customers? So after you’ve managed to get both new and returning customers into your shoe store, you should be focusing on how to keep them coming back for more purchases in the future. As a footwear retailer, there are three things you can do to help build loyal shoppers:

1. Be Personal

Personalizing someone’s shopping experience is a great way to make them feel special. When your customers enter your store, greet them by first name (if possible) and ask them how they’re doing and if you can help them find anything particular. If you can, pull up their customer profile at your point of sale and see what kind of information you can find. You can look up their purchase history or see if you made any notes about their last visit. Perhaps they purchased a pair of shoes for a party – you can use this information to your advantage and ask them how they worked out!

2. Be Real

No one likes a sales-y salesperson. So when you’re talking to your customers, make sure your sales pitch sounds genuine and not scripted. Be an active listener and find out what your customer wants and needs. Help them find what they’re looking for, and if appropriate, share your opinions with them. This lets them know that you are there not only to sell them something, but also to help them find something that looks and feels best. The more sincere you are, the better relationship you will build with your customers.

3. Go Above and Beyond

Excellent customer service is remembered and brings customers back to your store time after time. Go the extra mile to make sure you exceed your customers’ expectations and make them happy. Make your customers feel special the moment they walk through the door. Let them know about your discounts or surprise them with something special when they check out – perhaps a free pair of socks to go with their new shoes! Provide your customers with a positive and memorable experience and remember that the customer is always right. Want to learn about how RICS can help you manage your shoe store? Click here!   It’s that time of year again….it’s time to think about spring cleaning! Spring is a time of change and new beginnings, so why not take the time to think about how you can refresh your store? Here is a list of spring cleaning tips for you to consider this season:
  1. Go through all of your old inventory and decide what is worth keeping. Try to sell at a marked-down price, or perhaps you don’t want to keep it and are willing to donate it instead. If you haven’t sold it for the last 2 seasons, maybe it is time to say good bye.
  2. Go through all of your employee files and make sure all of the information is accurate and up-to-date.
  3. Do you have any outstanding purchase orders? If so, you might want to cancel them if they are still on backorder.
  4. Go through your records and make sure no one owes you money. If they do, it is time to pick up the phone or send an email to let them know.
  5. Spring clean your store! Invite your staff to come in and help clean, but make it fun! Play music, order food, and take photos! Pull out that dusty vacuum, use a mop and broom, and scrub all of the nooks and crannies throughout the store.
  6. Do your air vents need to be cleaned out? Now is the time to find out!
  7. Be sure to clean your window displays and wipe away all of those fingerprints and get rid of those dead flies!
  8. If you have a bathroom or an employee break room, you should definitely deep-clean them.
  9. Go through all of your emails and delete those that you don’t need anymore. If you don’t like to delete anything, create separate folders and move items from your inbox to your folders.
  10. Do your employees need a training refresher? Could your employees benefit from evaluations? Spring is a great excuse to do those!
Happy cleaning! If you’re looking for other tips for your business, check out our other resources! In this day and age, excellent customer service is the rule, not the exception. So if your customers are always expecting you to go above and beyond, how will you exceed their high expectations? Here are 10 quick tips you can use to win your customers over:
  1. Beat deadlines. People are always pleasantly surprised with things happen or arrive earlier than expected. If you need to ship them an item that is not currently in your store, expedite their shipping or do next day delivery free of charge.
  2. Overdeliver. Make sure you manage customer exceptions honestly, but when you can, surprise them by doing the unexpected. Throw in a coupon or give them an additional discount with their purchase.
  3. Ask for feedback. Don’t be afraid to have conversations with your customers and ask them how they’re feeling about something. If you made a change in your store or are thinking about it, ask them for their opinion on it. If your customers aren’t happy, then no one is happy!
  4. Be grateful. Always say thank you and make sure your customers know that you appreciate their business. You’ll leave them feeling good about being in your store and they’ll be more inclined to come back in for future purchases.
  5. Say yes. If there’s a will, there’s a way. If your customer wants something, find a way to make it happen.
  6. Know how and when to apologize. People make mistakes. If you do, make sure you own up to it, say sorry, and make it right.
  7. Do your research. Find out what your competitors are doing to make their customers happy. Use the internet to find out what customers want during their shopping experience. Once you find out what customers want, do it.
  8. Create a sense of convenience. Shopping should be easy and stress-free. Make sure your customers don’t feel overwhelmed in your store and that it is easy to find what they’re looking for. Make sure the setup of your store makes sense and that your staff can jump in and help the customers when they’re feeling lost or confused.
  9. Treat your staff well. If your customers see that you treat your staff well, they’ll believe that you’ll treat them well too. Make sure you are friendly to everyone in your store, no matter who they are.
  10. Be personable. People expect personalized experiences. Work on remembering things about your loyal customers so they feel special when they walk in your store.
Click here to find more ways to enhance customer experience in your store! As a business owner, you may have your sight set on opening additional locations in your future plans. But how do you make sure you’re really ready to make the leap and start the process for opening your next location? Ask yourself the following questions and get a plan in place before you make the decision to pull the trigger.

Are your current locations stable?

Before you venture out and open another location, you need to make sure your current stores are pulling their weight. Opening additional locations will take a lot of your attention, so you need to make sure they are functioning in a profitable manner. If you find you have a store that’s struggling to stay above water, you might want to put your efforts into revamping that store rather than opening a new one.

Do you have funds available for this venture?

It’s a mistake to think the cash flow from your current location can fund your second location. You want to make sure you keep the plans for financing a new venture separate from your current store. You don’t want your new location to be sucking in all of the profits from your older, successful stores.

Are you running out of room?

If you find yourself bursting at the seams and failing to keep up with demand, you may want to consider looking into a second location. But if you find that demand in new locations aren’t as high as they are in your current location, you may want to consider moving your inventory to a new space, or looking for a larger unit for your store.

Do you have the right people to take on more responsibility?

If you’re venturing out to open a new location, you need to make sure you have staff at your current stores that you trust to continue running them the way you want. If your staff lacks the ability to take on the additional responsibilities, you may want to consider building a staff that can better assist you in your venture. Adding the right people to the payroll can even improve the overall performance of your stores, giving you more incentive to open a new location!

How will you bring your current culture to your new store?

Retailing today requires more than just inventory, it needs a great experience for shoppers. If you have a successful business, chances are you’ve provided a great experience for your customers. How will you make sure your next venture offers the same culture? Making sure you can bring an equally successful culture to your new store will be an important part of planning a new store. While answering these questions will help you evaluate if you’re ready to become a multi-store business, you need to put the effort in to make a business plan. Opening a successful new location will require a detailed plan for how you’ll fund, run, and market your new store. Interested in moving forward? Download our Guide to Multi-Store Management for more information on how to effectively run multiple stores. So you decided to open a new (or an additional) store, but how are you going to get the word out? In order to have a successful grand opening, you’ll have to make people feel curious and excited about your store. But the question is, how do you evoke those emotions in others? What are the steps you need to take in order to have a grand opening? According to Dave Carter of The Store Starters, “Pulling off a successful grand opening also involves detailed preparation along with creative promotion in order to produce your opening in ‘grand style.'” Here’s how to get started:

1. Book a date

Take some time to figure out a day and time that would most benefit your business. When do people normally shop for your store’s product? What day of the week? During the day or night? You’ll also want to keep in mind when other holidays are events are occurring, because you probably won’t want to compete with an already-established event on the same date. Some stores have their grand openings 1-2 weeks after their doors open to make sure they’ve worked out any kinks and issues in the store.

2. Create Awareness and Excitement

Start telling your friends, family, community, social networks, neighbors, and anyone else you can think of about your new store and its grand opening. And then convince them to spread the word to their respective networks. Be sure to tell everyone about all of the great things your store will offer, and any fun activities, discounts, samples, or prizes you plan on having on your big day.

3. Build Relationships

Grand openings are a perfect opportunity and reason to build relationships and partner with local businesses, community groups, local politicians, and the press. Building partnerships with other stores in your area is a great way to attract new and more customers – plus you and your partner will both benefit!

4. Promote Your Event

After creating awareness about your grand opening by spreading the word throughout your networks, you’ll want to market and advertise for the big event. You could do some promotions by advertising online, on the radio, in the newspaper, posting flyers, or mailing postcards. You could also do things like sidewalk chalk advertising or email marketing campaigns to save some money.

5. Prepare for the Day-Of & Execute!

Do something big and crazy! Organize a flash mob, hire live entertainment, have a ribbon-cutting ceremony, provide food and beverages, make it a party! No matter what you decide to do, take lots of pictures and share them on social media platforms to encourage others to pop into your store and see what all the buzz is about. Good luck! So your customers are what keep your store in business- the more you have, the more profitable you will be. A question that likely crosses your mind often is, “what can I do to get more customers to come into my store?” Well, obviously that is the purpose of marketing, but there is more you can do! A great way to attract new customers is to use your current customers as advocates. So, this brings us to the next question. Are you creating an experience that your customers want share with their friends? We have some suggestions for ways to get your customers talking! Everyone yearns to belong to some sort of community. Use this as an opportunity to create a community of your own that your customers feel like that can be a part of. You can start by creating a welcoming and comfortable customer experience. Some suggestions are to serve beer in your store, have a day where customers can bring their pets in, have monthly workshops related to your store’s theme (ex. running tips for specialty run stores), have an app for your store, etc. Your store can also host events like a girl’s night out, fun runs, trunk shows, and happy hours. Give customers reasons to come into your store other than to buy something. By creating relationships and offering experiences for them, you will have more loyal customers who will want to talk to their friends about your store and invite them to your events. One of our clients, Athletic Annex, does a great job of creating a sense of community for their customers. They offer training programs for the local races, host different running events, like stroller runs where moms can meet, get a workout it, and socialize with other Indy moms. Consider hosting events like these, and offer discounts to anyone who participates! Word of mouth will spread quickly and you will expand your customer base. In 2016, prioritize creating a customer experience that will make your customers advocate for your store and create new business. There are many fun ways to get your community together, and as a result, into your store!   The shopping hype from Thanksgiving to Christmas is undeniable in the retail world. It’s like an intoxicating rush of constant business that some retailers aren’t able to mimic the rest of the year. Even after schools are back in session and shopping seems to dwindle, there’s still plenty of opportunity to keep customers coming back to your store. So how do you keep the wave of shoppers rushing into your store after the holiday season has passed? Check out some of our tips for keeping customers excited about shopping at your store!
  1. Continue promotions into the New Year.
Sales and promotions are always no-brainers when you’re trying to beat out your competition and get shoppers in your store during the holiday season. But what about after all the holiday decorations disappear into storage? What tactics are you using to continue the hype around shopping in your store? Bank holidays are an excellent example of times when retailers can still have huge shopping days. Days like Martin Luther King Jr. Day and President’s Day often see lots of people off of school and work, meaning they are out and about. Consider having special promotions on these days to get foot traffic back in your store and keep customers engaged. Shoppers may be exchanging or returning items, or may have found themselves with some extra cash and gift cards from the holiday season. Give them a reason to spend that money in your store with a simple promotion!
  1. Thank your customers.
Did your customers come in and buy a product for themselves or for someone else before the holiday season was over? Send them a thank you reward that they can use after the New Year. Consider shooting out a thank you email to anyone who purchased from you in November and December. In the email, include a special coupon, percentage off, or another incentive that they can only use in January. Large companies do promotions like this all the time, and customers almost always come back to use their bonus on another product they had their eyes on. Even if Christmas is over, it’s never too late to send your customers a thank you. Trust us, they’ll never complain about receiving a coupon!
  1. Hype up new products.
Chances are, you might be stocking a few new products for the New Year. Make sure you sufficiently market them to your clients before they hit your shelves. You’re an expert at knowing your clients, so you already know they’ll want whatever new items you’re bringing in. Send out email promotions and make sure to start talking about the new products that will be coming soon to clients who are in your stores now. Jump on the ‘new year, new you’ bandwagon and hype up your new products as a way to get back on track after the holiday season. Whether you’re selling shoes, clothes, or workout gear, it makes people feel good to buy new products. So why shouldn’t they buy yours? These are just a few ideas for keeping customers coming in your door even after the merriment of the holiday season has passed. Stay tuned for monthly updates on retail holidays you can take advantage of to get customers through your store’s door! Understanding and analyzing data is an essential part of making your business successful. That is why we are here to tell you the data points you need to be tracking on a regular basis. This knowledge facilitates effective goal-setting tactics and provides you with the proper benchmarks upon which to base future progress. Collecting and measuring data, and assembling it into an easily accessible, digestible format, will help guide your decision-making strategy to become a profitable retailer. Without the data, you don’t have the insight necessary to know how your business is really doing. Best and Worst Sellers Best and worst sellers refer to the quantity sold of a product. Using data to track which items are your best sellers is a way to measure success of certain products. Knowing which items are your top selling products will help you know what you need to order more of. Tracking your worst sellers will indicate the merchandise you might want to consider liquidating. This allows you to manage inventory as accurately as possible, ensuring that you do not have an improper amount of assets tied up in inventory, as well as making sure that you do not miss opportunities for sales by being poorly stocked. Salesperson Analysis and Peak Sales Times Salesperson analysis provides key information about your employees, indicating who has the most and fewest sales, both overall and per hour. Tracking your peak sales times will help you staff your employees accordingly. Take advantage of your salesperson analysis and schedule your top employees during the peak sales hours. Conversely, make sure you are not wasting money on employees by overstaffing during slower periods. Use this information to your advantage and be a smarter retailer. Customer Data Being able to collect customer data at the point of sale is crucial for your business. By collecting purchase history, demographics, customer birthdays, etc. you can create segmented marketing campaigns, target specific customers, and personalize your customer experience. By building relationships with your customers, they will be more likely to come into your store. You can also take advantage of your data to identify your most reliable customers. Offer incentives and loyalty programs to motivate them to come back in. These data points will give you an idea of how different aspects of your business are performing. Without the data, it is difficult to accurately know your success. The more insight you have, the better equipped you are to make informed decisions so that you can be a profitable retailer. Check out our slideshare or guide to learn more about using your data. Your employees are key players in helping your business succeed. You must make sure that you have enough staff during the holidays to attend to the increased traffic in your stores. As we mentioned in our last holiday post, customer service is essential in creating a positive shopping experience for your customers and leaving a lasting impression. Your staff must step it up during the holidays to meet your customer’s needs. It is important to make sure you are not understaffed. This will probably mean that you have to hire additional employees to meet the seasonal demand. All of your stores should be prepared for the bustle of the holidays, be patient with the customers, and willing to go the extra mile. All of your employees, seasonal and permanent, need to receive the same training. Having standardized procedures across all of your stores will help with smooth transitions and processes. Having those in place before the holidays will ensure that operations will run seamlessly. This also goes back to providing a consistent shopping experience for shoppers. All employees should treat their customers with positivity and friendliness! The holidays can be exhausting, so create incentives to keep your employees motivated during peak sales times. Introduce a bonus program before the holidays so that employees know that their work will be appreciated and rewarded. If your customers aren’t receiving the treatment and attention they expect from your salespeople, your stores might make a bad name for themselves. Word of mouth travels quickly, so make sure all of your employees represent your business well and don’t ruin your reputation. With Small Business Saturday right around the corner, you’ll want to make sure your store is prepared for the influx of customers! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our other blogs to help you get ready for SBS: What to Do Now to Prepare, Rallying the Neighborhood, and Marketing for the Event. If your store has some other great ideas for SBS, share them with us @RICSSoftware!

This blog post will focus on some last minute reminders to make sure you’re ready for the big day!

Use social media to bring shoppers into your store: You’ll want to make sure you are posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. about SBS and how you are preparing for it. If you have any special offers, let your followers know about them! Take photos of some of your best items and share them on your pages. Use hashtags like #ShopSmall, #ShopLocal, #SmallBizSat, and #SmallBizHoliday to make sure your posts are seen by as many people as possible. Make it a party: Create excitement for your small business by doing something different to draw attention to it – serve coffee or hot chocolate throughout the day, provide cookies or some other fun treat, hire a musician to play at your store, go wild with your decorations, or create a contest for a drawing. Make sure your store goes above and beyond for this special day! Continue the conversation: Ask your customers and loyal fans for feedback after the event is over. What did they like? What could you have done better? Be sure to thank all of your customers for visiting your store because this day wouldn’t have been successful without them. You could also share some photos on your store’s Facebook page to show how much fun and successful SBS was at your store! Does your website have a blog? You should write a blog post to re-cap SBS and share some photos! Best of luck to you and your store for this year’s Small Business Saturday! We hope that you found this blog series helpful and you feel as prepared as possible for SBS on November 26th. Stay tuned for our next blog series to learn how multi-store owners can prepare for the holidays! Let’s be honest, finding the perfect gift for someone isn’t always easy. The easiest thing to give someone is a gift card, but most people think that gift cards or gift certificates are not very thoughtful and a cop-out. However, a recent study done by American Express found that 2/3 of affluent women actually want gift cards, but less than 1/5 of those women are actually receiving them. That is because gift cards seem impersonal, and the gift giver feels a sense of guilt for picking the easy route.

So why are gift cards making a comeback?

Shoppers want the power to choose. Gift cards are perfect because the recipient can choose the gift that they want and can avoid the hassle of returning something they didn’t love. Gift cards are convenient. Not only are they convenient for the buyer, the recipient can easily use them too. They can visit the store whenever they choose and can also find the location that is most convenient for them. You can personalize gift cards. Many retailers have created digital gift cards so you can include a personalized note, choose a certain design, or even include photos or videos on your gift card. This makes buyers feel less guilty about giving someone a gift card. You can also make it personal by buying a gift card to the recipient’s favorite store. As a retailer, you’ll want to make sure you have gift cards (both physical and digital) available to your shoppers. Find out more at Retail Minded.     So you’re really starting to consider tactics to start bringing in more customers, and in turn, more revenue, this holiday season. But you’re not the only one. Retailers across the country are gearing up for a big holiday season just like you, which means your competitors are trying the same tricks to bring customers (even your loyal customers) into their store. So how do you stand out and ensure your customers find their way back into your store this holiday season? Check out these tips on how you can outshine your competitors this holiday season.

  1. Make Deals Worth a Trip to Your Store

If you can get customers in your store, you have a better chance of selling them add-ons to their existing purchase. Create different promotions for online and in-store purchases. Put certain products on sale online, while offering a percentage off an entire purchase if customers purchase in-store. Make customers feel like they’re really getting added value out of coming in to your store. Not only do you get the chance to upsell, but you also have a chance to really connect with your customer base and show them a personalized shopping experience.

  1. Personalize Your Marketing

No customer is ever impressed by generalized mass marketing. Instead, what strikes customers the most is when stores know them and make deals and promotions specific to them as a customer. Take advantage of in store purchases by collection customer data while you’re ringing them out. If you know information about your customer, the items they usually purchase, and the frequency of their purchases, you can target them with coupons and promotions around that data. If customers are willing to talk to you about why they are buying certain products, you have even more information to personalize their future experience in the store.

  1. Leave a Big Impression

If you can get people in your store with personalized marketing, you probably have already left a big impression on them. But that may not be enough. Make sure you tap into the customer data you already have to be personable and helpful to enhance your customer’s in-store experience. Give an extra 5% off to customers in-store to show your appreciation for them coming in. Even a small percentage off will impress customers. For online customers, include a hand written note thanking them for their purchase. Personalization and gratitude go a long way for leaving a lasting impression and building customer loyalty. The holiday season is quickly approaching and retailers everywhere are looking for any way to get a leg up on their competition. To stand out this year, make sure you make your customer experience memorable and special so they’ll keep coming back for more! For additional tips for the holiday shopping season, check out this blog post. Calling all retailers: have you heard about heat-mapping? It is the practice of identifying the hot selling spots in your store. Not only is it a great way to know what areas in your store are drawing your customers’ attention, but it’s also a great tactic for moving low-performing inventory out of your store quickly. It sounds like a good idea in theory, but you might be wondering what the best ways to heat map are. Here are some ideas to help you out! 1. Start by mapping out where you’ve historically kept certain products and brands 2. After you have a good understanding of what walls and racks house certain inventory, identify your best and worst selling items 3. Identify 2-3 ‘hot spots’ that sell inventory best 4. Try switching out inventory every two weeks to see if you can move older inventory out before marking it down Keep an eye on if your hot spots change depending on where you put certain merchandise. Another tip to help you take advantage of heat-mapping is to send your sales people over to the spots in your store that your customers are more likely to congregate. You can also place your more popular items in less traveled areas of your store to increase the traffic to those spots. Heat-mapping can offer insight about customer behavior in your store which you can take advantage of to be a more profitable retailer. Check out other ways to increase your cash flow and download our guide.