After two years in which shops have been open and closed, with many constraints, businesses with doors to the street have woken up after the pandemic with a firm desire to make up for lost time and sales. However, in this time, some things have changed radically.
Starting with the "competition" from e-commerce and, above all, changing consumer habits and needs, recovering or increasing your shop's sales will require you to pay special attention to certain details that will make all the difference.
For those wondering how to increase physical shop salesWe have the answer in the form of a Guide that will help you recover lost money and attract new customers.
How to increase sales in your shop: Point of Sale (POV) Guide
As we've mentioned, two years of the pandemic have led to profound changes in consumer behaviour. Among the many changes, probably the most important is related to payment methodsThe democratisation of the use of contactless upon payment.
It's precisely because of contactless payments and the need for your shop to offer payment methods that allow this is why we started this 7-point guide.
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Invest in contactless payment methods
According to one of the latest reports da REDUNIQ Insights knowledge solution made public in January this year, contactless payments already accounted for 52% of the total transactions made on REDUNIQ's payment network, a figure that contrasts with the 36.1% and 8.5% recorded in the same period of 2020 and 2019, respectively.
These figures not only prove the gradual and consistent increase of weight of contactless payments in portuguese business turnoveras well as a growing Portuguese adherence to new ways of paying based on the use of smartphones or wearables.
Thus, due to this change in a paradigm that is pushing physical money into the backgroundand in order to help Portuguese businesses increase their in-store salesREDUNIQ has not left its credit in the dust in this field, developing payment terminals (TPA) innovators who are helping to transform the payments landscape in Portugal.
This is the case with Android automatic payment terminal – REDUNIQ Smart. In addition to accepting contactless payments by card, chip, MB Way, Google Pay and Apple Pay, this latest-generation TPA comes with a set of built-in management apps that help businesses sell more and allow them to be totally mobile and digital.
By functioning as Contactless TPA and management centre connected to the digital world, this new TPA Android solution REDUNIQ offers a extra flexibility for businesses in managing their resourcessince, for example, with the ZS Mobile app a shopkeeper can register orders on the terminal, invoice (AT certification) or draw up quotes and orders even without an Internet connection, while with the WinRest or ZSRest, a catering business will now be able to display menus, register and confirm customer orders and even integrate its invoicing software into a single Physical TPA.
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Know the product or service you are selling
It's often said that "knowledge is power", and it couldn't be truer if you're trying to figure out how to increase a shop's sales.
Search a thorough knowledge of the product or service you are marketingVisit the factory where the product is made, find out about the materials used and, where possible, try out the product or service.
This way, when a customer visits your shop, they'll be able to enrich the speech by talking about your personal experience and the story behind the product. This will help you not only to "bring" the customer closer to the sale, but also to respond more credibly to any questions they may have.
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Listen to the customer and adopt a positive approach
Talk less and listen more. Listening to customers is an excellent way of getting to know their needs betterYou can adapt the sales pitch and even adjust the product or service to match what the customer really needs.
This "free consultancy service that the client is offering you" must be sprinkled with sympathy and empathy, two fundamental requirements in a good salesperson.
These personal characteristics must be present from the outset, since it is the sales assistant's positive attitude that captivates the customer and closes the sale, even when the customer didn't have this in mind at the start of the process.
Likewise, friendliness, along with satisfaction with the product/service itself, helps to nurture the relationship with the customer, building loyalty.
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Have a well-trained and proactive team
If you have a team working with you, it is important that they are aware of the values your business wants to convey, that they are well trained, that they are proactive and, above all, that they "wear the company shirt", since these are the values that you want to convey. the professionals who represent your brand and make direct contact with customers.
For example, a cashier in a supermarket can suggest extra products or encourage the customer to sign up for the shop's discount club at checkout. As well as guaranteeing more sales, this will add more value to your point of sale.
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Position the purchase as an unmissable opportunity
One of the most effective sales techniques is the so-called "sense of urgency". In practice, this technique consists of attaching special conditions to the product or service for a short period of time.
This promotional approach must take into account a benefit (a discount or an extra offer) that can be perceived by the customer as something appealing and advantageous, otherwise it will be more difficult to make this "trigger" work at the next opportunity.
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Use digital tools
More and more Portuguese are coming into contact with a product or service for the first time via social media, so it's a good idea to get in touch. important that you "wind up" digital marketing. This set of sales techniques will allow you to take advantage of the online context in which customers are currently moving.
Even though the crucial part of the sales process takes place in the shop, the digital tools will help you create a close and trusting relationship with your customers and increase sales. The various techniques you can use include, for example, email marketing, the sales funnel, SEO optimisation and influencer marketing.
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Get to know your customers, analyse sales data and turn this knowledge into action
In addition to marketing itself, the digital tools can be extremely useful for getting to know your customers better and their needs, giving you the opportunity to target your offer more effectively.
Through analysing sales data and visits to your website and social media pagesThis way, your business will know, for example, the age, social class, frequency of purchases, average purchase ticket and favourite products of your customers.
Once compiled and properly analysed, this data will allow you to personalise your POV and the way you communicate with these consumers.
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