3 Tips to Increase Store Sales Across Multiple Channels

Contributed by Lightspeed.

The path to purchase is no longer a straight journey and as a result, retailers must adjust to the various speedbumps, twists, turns and unexpected detours that customers may interact with as they make purchase decisions. Keeping this in mind, it’s important for commerce businesses – whether online, offline or both – to understand the realities of how customers ultimately decide to spend. This is particularly important when you factor in that customers are influenced by many channels, all of which can either lead or distract customers from making a purchase.

As the American Marketing Association explains, “advances in technology can enable companies to discover a lot of information about their customer base, which can then be used to help better determine what items to stock, where customers are primarily purchasing goods, and even what marketing and advertising strategies to choose.” Expanding on this insight, consider the below three tips.

Tip #1: Incorporate Cohesive Branding Across All Consumer Touchpoints

From social media to email marketing to online review destinations such as Yelp and more, the path to purchase introduces a variety of touchpoints for customers to engage with. Factor in that consumers can engage 24|7 with smartphones, tablets, PCs and laptops – ultimately connecting them with brands, businesses, influencers and their immediate network of social media connections – and it’s no surprise how influential online touchpoints have on consumer decisions. This said, online alone is not what influences customers. In-store experiences and word-of-mouth marketing are also influential to customer purchases, as well. Collectively, all of these touchpoints are important for retailers to consider and factor into their branding efforts.

Successful brand management requires retailers to consistently oversee all touchpoints that connect with their customers – especially when it comes to merging online, offline and every touchpoint in between. Making sure contact details, logos, store taglines and all other details that influence consumer behavior are cohesive among all destinations customers may engage with is key. These efforts should be ongoing and completed with intent in order to deliver cohesive branding in marketing, communication, strategy, in-store, online and even HR efforts. As a result, customers will better recognize and remember store branding no matter where they may land in their customer journey – ultimately helping to drive sales while strengthening brand recognition along the way.

Tip #2: Utilize Centralized Reports with Comprehensive Data Availability

From revenue overviews to conversion rates to understanding spending overhead and more, there is no shortage of data to review when it comes to managing retail businesses. Having a one-stop destination to collect this insight is among the best ways merchants can be proactive in strengthening their selling efforts and increasing their revenue. In order to achieve this, retailers should embrace technology since the human touch alone simply cannot collect all the necessary details merchants need to reviewand reactto. Fortunately, cloud-based technology makes it easier than ever for busy retailers to welcome tech into their existing businesses. More specifically, point-of-sale technology enables merchants tostreamline operational responsibilities while delivering more clarity to merchants that can help them make more precise and more savvy business decisions.

Among the advantages of capturing centralized reports through POS includes the ability to:

• Track unit costs, capture inventory data and gain low-stock alerts
• Oversee purchasing decisions using real-time data for more proactive decision making
• Manage customer purchase behavior with an emphasis on strengthening loyalty
• Overlap multiple store locations with one integrated cloud-based solution
• Integrate external business partners into a streamlined system of organized management

For a more comprehensive overview of how centralized reports can benefit retailers, click here.

Tip #3: Implement Marketing Efforts That Emphasis on SEO & Customer Outreach 

Marketing crosses many touchpoints nowadays both in-store and online. Email marketing, social media, loyalty campaigns, customer management systems and traditional advertising are all among the ways marketing influences consumers – yet despite their vast differences, all have the ability to strengthen SEO for retailers. Search engine optimization is a vital factor in strengthening retail visibility and sales, yet too often merchants don’t prioritize this in their marketing efforts. Through strategic SEO, search engines can better identify your unique website and strengthen your SEO ranking as a result. Yet without the right tools in place to make this happen, retailers are left to struggle. Avoid this hurdle and introduce the right technology to help. Explore more here.

Finally, the path to purchase will continue to evolve and customers will reshape how they make purchase decisions based on the changes introduced through technology. This reality may not be preferred by all retailers, but those that embrace it will be more likely to not only survive… but thrivein today’s competitive retail landscape. To ensure your independent retail business withstands road bumps and unexpected twists and turns from customers along the way, embrace technology to help lead you to clarity, sales and profit for your retail business.

Enhance your store operations beginning today by welcoming Lightspeed into your operations. Explore more here!