How to Grow Your Wireless Store with Limited Retail Space
Customers want great experiences at every touchpoint so businesses need to go above and beyond.
There has been a fundamental shift in retail; when it comes to bricks and mortar, gone are the days of transaction-focused operations. Shoppers are now flocking online to research and order products. To remain competitive during this change, retailers must now consider utilizing all retail channels to make sure they are keeping the customer experience streamlined.
As a small business owner with a retail store, competing with the ever growing number of online retailers and large chains may feel like an uphill battle. The good news is that the physical store still plays an incredibly important role in many customers’ shopping journeys - whether it begins or ends online - 75% of customers prefer to shop in-store.
While you may not want to make the jump and become an entirely online store, you can still stay on top of your competition. Here are some tips and tricks on how to grow your online wireless business with limited retail space.
1. Optimize your display equipment.
It is important to make an impression by capturing and maintaining your customer’s attention with your sales content. You can achieve this by having up to date displays that show the latest promotions, pricing, and product details. Both Digital Signage and Endless Aisle products pull from a database which ensures real-time information is always shown in store. Updating the latest sales promotions can be done quickly, and can be remotely pushed to your signage. This keeps your stores fresh and takes the responsibility of signage changes off your sales reps - they no longer have to pull down old posters and window decals or change the USB stick in each display screen.
2. Having a winning product mix.
With limited floor space, it is important to ensure you choose the right products to display in-store. Running reports to analyze your product sales can help you identify the most popular items as well as those with the highest margins. By introducing technologies like Dropship - connecting your inventory to other vendors who then ship products directly to your customers’ homes - you’re able to try selling new products without stocking them in-store. If the product performs well and is frequently ordered, you may choose to stock it in-store, replacing a less-frequently purchased item.
3. Customer facing screens at the counter
Nobody likes to be bored; if found in this situation, many of us admittedly pull out our phones to keep ourselves entertained. Unfortunately, during wireless phone activations, customers can often be on the phone with a sales representative for 30 minutes or more, without being able to use their smartphones. Positioning customer facing screens at the counter that are displaying products using Endless Aisle allows customers to browse additional products to purchase that go with their new wireless device and is a refreshing alternative to boring phone call activations. Additionally, this technology can also generate increased revenue as customers may make impulse purchases: choosing that new phone case or car charger that they’ve been thinking about. Once their phone activation is complete, any additional products that are chosen on the Endless Aisle screen get added to their invoice. Customers are then directed to an in-store sales associate where everything, the activation, phone, and accessories, are paid for in a single transaction.
4. Invest in your staff
Sales reps can have a very direct impact on your store sales as well as on customer satisfaction, and introducing new technologies into your retail environment can pose challenges for these associates. Getting your staff to see the value in these changes and supporting them when they use the new technology is a must - effective training and motivation is key. Provide them with background knowledge on your organization and the products that they will be selling. Endless Aisle can support your associates by handing them product information and specifications to lean on when selling products that are new to them so they can feel confident in their knowledge and provide effective upselling.
Curious how this works in the real world? Check out our latest case study on how Endless Aisle led to exponential growth for a 370 - location wireless retailer.
Shutterstock / Serge Bertasius Photography