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4 Key Suggestions to Boost Your In-Store Conversions
5 mins read
by Ashley Halsey
You might be doing a great job at attracting shopping traffic…but are you struggling to convert your shoppers into customers?
In terms of your retail business, attracting shoppers is only half the battle because you need to transform their interest into a desire to make a purchase. One of the best ways to start is understanding why shoppers aren’t buying, whether it’s because the line to the cash is long, the displays aren’t great, the staff isn’t helpful, or more. With this in mind, here are some four great tips on how to increase your conversion rates to get more buyers from your shoppers.
Review the Layout and Displays
One of the first places you’ll want to start when handling a low conversion rate is reviewing your window displays and layout of the store. Your window design must be engaging and relevant for your target audience and market so that you can attract clients to your store. Make sure you have wide, easy to navigate aisles so your shoppers can move around freely and rapidly.
In terms of the store layout, you’ll want to set it up in the order that most consumers will choose to shop. That means once they step inside, the first five to fifteen feet of the store must be the decompression zone, when they can take a big look at the store and decide whether to explore further.
"Studies show that 90 percent of shoppers go right when they walk into a store, then move counter clockwise through it, so you want to maximize what is displayed right of the door. This should be where you put high-margin goods.”
- Laura Bolton, a business writer at Writinity and Last Minute Writing
Manage the Checkout Queue
Shoppers will immediately be turned off by your store if they see a long queue that isn’t going quickly. There are some tips and tricks that have been used successfully that you can use to move your queue quickly and boost conversions. First, you’ll want the registers to be at the back of the store, so it’s not the first thing that shoppers notice instead of the products.
Then, instead of having one long line go to many checkouts, have many line ups for each different checkout. That creates the illusion of a shorter line. Finally, you’ll also want to make sure you have a great quality mobile POS system. That allows your employees to complete the checkout for customers anywhere in the store instead of needing a queue. Regardless of your type of retail, customers that have to wait in line will not enjoy the experience and your conversions will go down.
Staff Placement
One of the biggest impacts on conversion rates are your staff scheduling and placement in the store. Store managers will usually schedule staff during hours when more sales are made instead of when there’s high shopper traffic coming through. This is not a good strategy because it leaves your high levels of shoppers underserved by your sales teams during the peak periods.
As Kylie Young, a marketing manager at Draft Beyond and Research Papers UK explains it:
“You want to staff according to historical shopper traffic peaks not sales peaks. You also want to be aware of the staff placement, meaning the focus should be on the service to shoppers instead of routine non-time sensitive things like restocking or pricing.”
Staff Skills Development
Low conversion rates often come down to poor sales techniques. There are a lot of different sales philosophies, but at the root of it, having helpful sales associates who make customers feel valued, listen to them, and recommend products will always boost your conversions. Training your employees to help customers explore the products, discuss concerns, and make recommendations will be a great return on your investment.
Be sure that your staff is familiar with retail traffic conversion and their role in that process. Hold staff meetings to figure out the target goals for individual and store-wide rates for conversion, and use it to foster collaboration and healthy competition. The key is making staff excited about having higher conversion rates. Once they’re excited, you can set up training so they have all the skills and tools needed to encourage shoppers to purchase.
About the author
Ashley Halsey, a professional writer for Lucky Assignments and Gum Essays, is involved in many marketing and sales development projects. She enjoys helping small businesses and entrepreneurs increase conversions and improve their brick and mortar store locations. In her spare time, she travels to many exotic destinations.