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Intangible success factors for your retail business

The retail landscape is changing dramatically and more shoppers are using smartphones, tablets, and iPads to search for products, engage in-store, and shop online. Consumers prefer to shop at stores that offer the most convenient and best shopping experience. Many retailers spend a lot of time focusing on tangible factors such as inventory, printing, packing, and shipping. These are crucial to managing back-end operations; however, intangible factors are also important to the success of your business.

The following are important intangible factors you should account for in your retail business.

 

1. Accessibility

For an online retail business, it’s important that your store appears in search results whenever an online shopper searches for a product or service relevant to your business. Implementing SEO tactics or hiring an expert will give you an advantage.

For an offline retail business, ensure that your store location is easily accessible (for instance facing the main road) so that shoppers can find and frequently visit your store. Consider your target audience when selecting your store’s location. Also ensure that your store is neat, well-organized, and maintained, keeping in mind sales per square foot and sales per employee.

 

2. Competition

For an online retail business, account for your competition. How competitive is the product or service you offer? If you sell on Amazon, which lists similar products from competitors, it could be difficult to stand out. Consider whether you should lower your price to be more competitive, or whether you can add value to the products you sell.

For an offline retail business, accounting for the businesses near your store will determine your success. Another store selling the same products or services will determine your customer base as well as profits. For instance, if you have a clothing store in the same area as an electronic showroom, there’s little competition. However, two clothing stores located on the same block could create a rivalry or could bring more clothes shoppers to the area in general.

 

3. Customer loyalty

For online retail businesses, retaining existing customers is the easiest and most cost-effective way to attract potential customers. Spending hundreds of dollars to attract a new customer base may not bring in the return on investment you’re looking for, but adopting a strategy to keep loyal customers will help you increase your sales.

For offline retail business, repeat customers will be effective value drivers for your business. Implement a customer loyalty program that offers existing customers a good experience. In turn, they are more likely to refer other customers to you, creating a good value within the community and industry at large.

 

4. Customer support/experience

The most important factor to keep your retail business going is customer experience. The more you keep customers happy, the more they will shop from your site. For an online retail business, offer 24/7 customer support. Another way to boost customer experience is to track, analyze, and target existing customers and consider customer retention strategies that will encourage them to visit your site whenever they feel like shopping online.

For an offline retail business, employing experienced sales representatives and offering an engaging shopping experience is crucial. You want every person who passes by your store to come in to shop, and you want them to tell others about their positive shopping experience. To make this possible, you need to offer the best customer support to every visitor who steps in your store, whether or not they make a purchase.

 

5. Employee relations

Treat your employees the same way they should treat your customers.

For an online retail business, look into ratings and reviews before hiring a courier. A delivery person may not work directly for your business, but the customer service they provide when delivering your products reflects on your company. If you receive any customer complaints, inform your courier service directly to avoid any future incidents.

For an offline retail business, hire the right employees and provide training so they will be knowledgeable about your store and provide a good customer experience for everyone.

 

Boost your retail business with DEAR Systems

Intangible factors. such as accessibility, competition, customer loyalty, customer support and employee relations, can determine the success of your business. Managing intangible factors is easier with enterprise class automation capabilities. DEAR System has best-in-class retail management features that help you with sales automation and inventory management, as well as internal processes. Scale, diversify, and improve your bottom line with our dedicated ecommerce ERP suite today. Get in touch with DEAR Systems to give your retail business a much needed boost.

 

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