Sell more in 2022: Top tips for a successful store

In the world of retail, who isn’t looking to boost their sales? Especially as we look towards a post-pandemic future, with new consumer behaviour and ever changing trends. 

But selling more might not be as complicated as you think. It doesn’t always require a big revolutionary idea to increase your profits, it may happen from simply improving some of the basics that you’re already doing.

With a successful sales strategy and a solid plan, you can achieve your business goals. To help you along your way, we spoke to some of our senior staff here at Harrisons Direct, including our managing director, Paul Sanderson. With years of experience working with high achieving retailers, they gave us their top tips for running a successful retail business. 

Whether you’re experiencing a bit of a sales slump and want to turn things around, or your sales are through the roof and you want to keep momentum, these expert-backed tips won’t go amiss when it comes to increasing your sales.

1. Provide an excellent customer experience

This means having friendly staff and helping customers find what they want. Don’t underestimate the value of greeting your customers with a smile – or a smize if you’re wearing a mask (that’s smile with your eyes for anyone that doesn’t know), it sets the tone for their shopping experience.

Brief your staff on the proper way to interact with customers in your store. Make sure they’re friendly and helpful without being pushy, and remember, the customer is always right!

A new and pretty big thing to consider with customer experience in 2022, is coronavirus safety. Enforcing government guidelines on covid safety is one of the best things you can do to instill confidence in your customers and drive traffic to your shop floor. Many customers opt for shopping online or in less busy shops because they’re worried about their health and safety, so enforcing social distancing, masks in store and hand sanitiser on arrival is a good way to encourage them to come inside. If they feel unsafe in your store, they won’t want to come back.

2. The right pricing

To make sales, you need to make sure you have the right price. This is difficult because you might think you’re selling at a fair price, but your customer might think it’s too expensive. Make sure you’re being realistic about how much other shops are selling your product for. If the shop across the street has it for half the price, then it’s time to rethink your price. 

It’s also worth considering that consumer spending is predicted to decrease in 2022, so it’s likely you’ll encounter a lot of customers looking for a bargain. Make sure you use this to your advantage!

3. Have an appealing product display

Work on the presentation and display of your products in store. This is where it counts most. Make sure that all products are out on display and not stored away, they look appealing and are positioned in an appropriate shopping order that matches your layout. Achieving this may require some investment in new storage and extra display units, but it’s necessary.

4. Make sure your store ranks highly in online searches

During the lockdown, online shopping became the most popular way to buy goods, which is a consumer habit that’s stuck. Even when shopping in person, people tend to turn to google to find out information about a shop. So, it goes without saying your online presence is important. 

Whether you’re an ecommerce company or physical store trying to increase awareness, your search engine result rankings need to be high. For example, if you sell toys, you want to appear first in a search for ‘toy shop near me.’ 

If you don’t have a website, you can do this by setting up a business in google (and other search engines), and adding in as many details as possible about your business.

5. Have an online presence through social media

So you have an online presence on search engines, but what about social media? Social media is arguably the best form of marketing for your store. With a good content strategy, relatable voice and appropriate interaction, social media marketing can really boost your sales!

If you don’t have a marketing team, delegate this task to a couple of tech-savvy workers and make sure they’re posting relevant content that shows off what you have to offer.

6. Update your visual elements regularly

Having a store that looks great is key. To continually drive traffic to your store, whether it be physical or online, you need to upgrade your visual elements regularly to stay relevant. 

Window displays, merchandise and POS should be planned ahead of time so that they look great, catch your customers eyes and encourage them to come inside. Marketing is so important to the success of your store and if done right, can really drive your sales.

7. Stay up to date with consumer trends

In this day in age, consumer trends seem to change all the time. Retailers need to evolve right alongside their customers as these changes happen if they want to hold onto their brand relevance.

With the rocky few years we’ve had, consumer spending has fluctuated unpredictably which has been difficult for retailers. But, one positive effect it’s had, is that we’re all much better at reacting to scenarios quickly! This is something that can come in handy when it comes to responding to  changing trends. 

Although the future of retail in 2022 remains uncertain, here are a few trends that we’re confident will be here to stay:

• Environmentally conscious consumers
  
  Eco-conscious consumerism has been brewing for years, but the movement really soared in 2020. Research indicates that 90% of consumers are concerned about sustainability when it comes to the products they buy.
  
  Stocking a range of eco-friendly and vegan products in your store, along with putting the most sustainable practices possible when running your business, will help you appeal to the ever growing group of environmental shoppers. Make sure this is something you’re advertising, or no one will know of your efforts!
  
  
• Loyalty
  
  Loyalty is something all customers value and in a time when consumer behaviour is changing like the wind, customer experience is of the utmost importance.
  
  Brands are having to work harder to build a good relationship with their customers and build loyalty, including offering perks and incentives. A good shopping experience is what will bring your customers back time after time, making loyalty the frontier for growth in sales in 2022.
  
  
• Hybrid retail
  
  In 2022, we expect to see more customers starting their shopping journeys online. Now we’re not saying they will finish there, lots of consumers will still go into shops, but it makes having an online presence even more important.
  
  We’ve seen a lot of small retailers becoming more hybrid in terms of the service they offer their customers. Whether this be through click and collect, deliveries, selling on social media. Strategies that help you reach and appeal to your target audience are a sure-fire way to increase your sales.
  
  
• Social media
  
  Social shopping is one of the fastest growing areas of ecommerce, so if you’re an online business you definitely need to tap into it. At the forefront of this growth is online streaming and micro-influencer videos that mention and link products. This is a trend that any store can hop on to boost their sales.

If you nail all of these, we’re confident you’ll see an increase in your sales in 2022.

Some final words of advice from our experts at Harrisons:

Work as hard as you can to sell as much as you can. Don’t rely on price alone to sell your products. That may get people in your store, but it won’t keep them there to buy something else. That’s where marketing and a fantastic sales team come in handy.

Stock up on popular products to make your store stand out

Looking for wholesale products that will impress your customers? Take a look at what we have to offer. We specialise in the sale of wholesale confectionery, toiletries, GSL medicines, toys, household, gifts, stationery and much more!