Marlenes Blog

 Just like you, I am a customer.  I buy products all the time—in stores, on line, and on the telephone.  Most of the time I am pleased with the caliber of the customer service that I receive, but occasionally I wonder, “Why does this happen?  Don’t they know that an unhappy customer probably won’t return?”

Here are two examples of poor customer service that I have experienced:

I bought a creamy dip for chips in my local supermarket.  After eating some of it later, I became sick with food poisoning.  Food poisoning is a very painful and dangerous malady, and I didn’t want someone else to experience this, so I immediately called the store and asked for Customer Service.  A “snarky” person took my call and asked me, “Well, what do you want me to do about it?  Do you want a refund?”

I tried to calmly explain to her that the product needed to be removed from the shelves before someone else got sick.  She replied, “Oh”.  Then she hung up on me.  No compassion, no understanding, just “Oh” was all I got from her.

The other thing that really annoys me (and this happens in many stores) is a checkout lane issue.  When the transaction is nearly complete, the clerk will “shove” the bills, change, receipt, and long store coupons at me, with the coins on top.  This often results in the coins falling off, causing me to have to retrieve them while the clerk glares at me and others in line are impatiently waiting.

It would take only a moment to hand the coins to me first and let me put them away before the other items are presented to me.

Good customer service is a critical factor for your retail business.  Without it, your customers will start dwindling away, and you may never know why!  Be alert to what’s happening in your store and ask for customer feedback to make sure your customers are happy, returning customers!

Marlene

Despite an unforeseen number of adverse circumstances, holiday retail sales for 2015 eked out a 3% increase to $626.1 billion, according to Kathy Grannis Allen for National Retail Federation.

December retail sales, excluding automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants, decreased 0.2 percent, seasonally adjusted from November, and increased 3.1 percent unadjusted on a year-over-year basis, according to the NRF.

 An extreme deflationary retail environment, country-wide unforeseen weather conditions, inventory challenges, advances in consumer technology, and deep discounts that began early and carried into January presented difficult challenges to most retailers.  Regardless, the retail industry rallied, customers responded, and sales still grew.

In looking forward, recent job gains and a healthier housing market, lifting income and earnings, are expected to provide support for spending in various retail sectors.

Marlene

While Black Friday is a time for big volume sales for department and big box stores, independent retailers usually experience their greatest sales volume during the last few weeks before Christmas. WhizBang! suggests seven great ideas for boosting your sales during this time period.  Here they are:

Stack it high; watch it fly!  Big stacks sell faster.  They imply abundance and the generosity of the season, and also give subtle signals that “this must be a great product because lots of people are buying it”.

Sort and sign stocking stuffers. Group them by price or by type of recipient, like “Stocking Stuffers under $10 or “Stocking Stuffers for Sports Fans”.  This makes it easy for buyers to find those last minute little things that could otherwise be forgotten.

Pre-wrap best sellers.  Pre-wrapping makes it easy for tired shoppers to grab-and-go.  It helps you, too, by saving time during busy times when you should be selling!

Plan for mid-day stocking.  Assign people and times in advance to prevent running out of something on the floor that you have in the stockroom.  Periodic re-stocking on your busiest days will keep those products available when they are most needed.

Make last-minute re-orders on best sellers.  When you are running low on your best sellers, call your vendor to see if they can ship more to you right away.  If they can’t, don’t order.  You don’t want lots of Christmas merchandise arriving after Christmas!

Manage your markdowns.  Identify your slow-moving items and mark them down NOW rather than waiting until after the holidays.  It’s more profitable to sell at 25% off now than 50% off in January.

Stay healthy!  You need to be at your best for these fun, but challenging, days ahead.  Drink lots of water.  Take some immune system boosters from your local health food store.  Wash your hands frequently.  Keep instant sanitizer at the cash register.  And get lots of sleep so you can be “on your toes” for this exciting time.

Using these seven tips will help boost your sales, but will also help you keep the “Happy” in Happy Holidays!

Marlene

Year-end Inventory

It’s not too soon to start thinking about year-end inventory; we’re in the middle of December, already!  The thought of this project makes most retailers groan, but with a little advance preparation, the task can be much less difficult.

Dave Carlson, CEO of Shopventory, a leading provider of inventory management and optimization solutions for medium to small business, provides seven steps for making your year-end inventory as smooth as possible.

Assess your current status – what do you think you have in stock and how much money do you think is tied up in this?  You will want to compare this to the final results of your inventory count when it’s completed.

Prepare – Let staff know when the inventory is to be done, and whether it will be during business hours or not.  Print out count sheets with columns that are appropriate for your business.

Do the count – Divide store floor into sections and assign counters to each section, preferably two, so that they can compare each other’s count for accuracy.  No cell phones should be allowed on the floor. Tell counters to check for products that may be above, below, or behind a shelf or even in the back.  Alert counters that random checks will be done by a management person.

Make it as fun as possible – Counting is tiring, so bring in snacks and drinks for breaks, and allow time for employees to have short breaks to check phone messages.

Assign a troubleshooter – Discrepancies happen, so have a troubleshooter available to help with finding the missing product.  This allows counters to keep focused on the task of counting.

Manage your overstock – Count overstock/bulk stock/back stock areas a day or two before actual floor count, mark boxes as counted, and don’t return them to floor until count is completed.

Reconcile – Enter adjusted counts in your Inventory Management System when you are sure they are good, carefully noting why changes are being made, and showing who is making the changes.

So there it is!  Following these steps will simplify the process, provide better results, and take some of the dread out of a very critical operation.

Counterpoint has well-developed Inventory and Physical Count Programs.  Find out more by contacting us at 800/425-672-4806 or you can email us.  We have answers to your questions!

Marlene.

High Tech Tools

Competing with big chain stores on prices is a constant challenge for small businesses.  New technology, however, is helping those small businesses improve their sales by finding unique ways to customize and personalize the sales experience for their customers.

Recognizing that customers often can’t carry big packages, for example, a retailer can use an app called Dolly to arrange for merchandise to be picked up and quickly delivered from the store to the customer’s home.

Another app called Belly helps create an emotional connection between the store and the shopper by allowing the customer to accumulate rewards points at thousands of small businesses.

Selling on an online marketplace that specializes in just one type of merchandise is another way that a small business can cater to the individual needs of its customers.  Everything they may need is in just one place, so the odds are better for a sale.

A computer program called Reflektion acts as a personal shopper for the customer. Once the customer lands on the retailer’s website and clicks on a product, the software finds the customer’s location and starts suggesting more merchandise that might be of interest.  This increases the possibility of a sale.

Personal texting, although more labor-intensive, is another tactic used by a small retailer’s sales staff to increase sales.  Even if the customer doesn’t buy immediately, there’s a likelihood that this will happen when the next birthday or anniversary rolls around.

Are you taking advantage of new technology to stay connected with your customers?  Have you check out NCR’s CustomerConnect?  Today would be a good time to call (or email) CCS at 800/425-672-4806 to get answers to your questions!

Marlene