Own business is the best solution for those who are tired of working for an “uncle” or “aunt”. However, this or that enterprise is not yet a guarantee of a comfortable old age and financial prosperity. It is important to conduct your business correctly and try to avoid the most common mistakes that can lead to not the most favorable consequences.
To promote a grocery store, it is not enough just a good location of the enterprise and low prices. An important role is played by competitors and potential buyers, whose needs to be taken into account in the first place.
Considering the fact that the grocery store already exists in a certain area, the choice of the optimal location no longer has the right to exist. This means that it is necessary to build on already existing features enterprise, that is, to make sure that the location of the store plays into the hands of its owner.
Competitors
Grocery stores are a type of enterprise that is characterized by quite a lot of competition.
In order to be successful in this area of business, it is necessary to take into account competitive enterprises and use strengths your business.
For example, arrange sales and lure customers with low prices, conduct advertising campaigns and announce discounts.
Working hours
Grocery store opening hours play an important role. Is there a convenience store nearby? If not, why not extend the time of your own? This will increase the number of buyers and.
Of course, you will have to tinker with obtaining permission to trade at night, but the possibility of implementation alcoholic products will become a key factor that will increase the profitability of the enterprise.
Suppliers
How it works? Let's take, for example, the real cost of 1 kg of oranges - 50 rubles. We lower the price and announce it to the buyers. We calculate the amount of the estimated loss and redistribute it to other goods.
The most correct and true policy, which is guided by experienced entrepreneurs who have achieved success in their business, is to sell a lot, not expensively. That is why novice businessmen need to learn how to increase profits with a large turnover of products, and not try to make capital by selling bread at the price of meat.
It is enough to go to the shops of competitors and set the price for a particular product at least one ruble lower than in similar stores. This will allow you to increase and acquire an expanded client base.
Service
This is a separate topic in the conversation about the correct conduct of business. No matter how good a grocery store is, no matter how low prices are in it - all this does not matter if an angry and untidy aunt sits behind the counter or cash desk, spitting seeds and being rude to customers.
It is the attitude of the staff towards the client that plays a fundamental role in the successful development of any commercial enterprise. The buyer must receive an answer to any question posed regarding the operation of a particular grocery store. It is unlikely that the same old woman who asked about the composition of the sausage product and did not receive an answer would want to go to this store again. But a woman who came for a liver for a cat, seeing a pleasant attitude towards herself and due attention, will certainly want to return to this grocery store.
A courteous attitude towards customers is the key to a favorable impression of customers about the outlet.
The most common mistakes new entrepreneurs make
Surely, many have repeatedly tried to reproduce in reality all the indicated ones, but have not been able to achieve the desired result. In order to make sure that your actions are correct, you should pay attention to a few more points, the implementation of which is necessary for the successful development of a grocery store:
- A grocery store sign should be stylish, bright, creative and eye-catching, not a dusty reflection of the Soviet era.
- The cost of some products must be lower than those of competitors. This really works for the benefit of the grocery store.
- The assortment list leaves much to be desired. It's in Soviet times sausage was of the highest and first grade, that is, only two names. Now the buyer has the opportunity to choose the best for himself and his family. This is what you need to use, constantly expanding the assortment list of the store. No need to be afraid of experiments - you can try to sell exclusive varieties of coffee or spirits, try to sell sausages uncommon type. By the way, not every grocery store has meat products from rabbit or beef - why not take advantage of this absence and fill this gap?
- No exclusive product. You need to make sure that in the city only in your store you can buy this or that product. Can be held advertising campaign, arrange a tasting of an exclusive sauce from a well-known manufacturer for the weekend - subsequently, customers will know that this particular store offers a wide range of all kinds of dressings for dishes.
- Low prices and appropriate quality of food products. Sometimes you should not fall for the cunning tricks of unscrupulous suppliers and buy low-quality products from them at a low price. It is better to take quality, not quantity.
- Lazy and illiterate sellers, who, among other things, are also not clean at hand. Here the conclusion suggests itself - no one will go to the store again, where the sellers are rude or deceive.
The current times are characterized by a large number of retail chains that place their retail facilities literally at every turn. Oddly enough, but the average buyer still lacks an individual approach and communication with the seller. That is why we have every chance to win back our niche from large enterprises and win over the buyer.
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Any organization connected with trade, be it a small shop or large enterprise, which not only sells, but also manufactures goods, have always been concerned about one issue: how to increase sales.
It was the activity of the sales department that was the main measure of the company's success: sales are growing - everything is fine, falling - so you need to look for sources to increase their volume.
And only when things were going really badly did the emphasis shift: the goal was not to increase sales, but to retain existing customers.
Of course, the main reason why it is so important to keep sales volumes high is profit. With a decrease in the number of customers or with a decrease in their purchasing power, the profit of everyone, from sellers to the owner of the enterprise, will fall.
Both large companies and small companies often make a common mistake: when sales fall, management starts blaming the departments responsible for them or the sellers themselves for everything. This is wrong, because no matter how qualified and pleasant the seller or manager is in communication, The buyer will not purchase the product if:
- the store has a meager assortment - he simply will not find what he needs;
- there are interruptions in deliveries - now there are enough stores, so you can buy the required product elsewhere, and not wait until it appears at your place;
- V trading floor dirty or have an unpleasant odor;
- the product is not advertised, etc.
What are they based on modern ways increase sales volume? Sales can be increased if:
- Increase the number of clients.
- Increase the average check of each client.
"If you don't take care of your customer, someone else will take care of him"
Konstantin Kushner
Depending on the problems you have, start acting either in one or in several directions. If you use even at least some of the methods described below, this will already significantly affect the growth of your sales.
How to start working to increase sales in your business?
Start with what sags the most for you. Not enough clients? Work on the first indicator. Do they buy a little? Apply sales promotion techniques. Small purchase amount? Increase the average check, the number of purchases. Accordingly, in order to work on any indicator, it is necessary to know their initial values, i.e. measure.
When you understand what makes up sales, it becomes much easier to influence your revenue through various techniques for managing each of the components of the formula. Here are 15 ways to do so.
1. Potential clients
The easiest way that you can increase the number of potential customers is to increase the number of advertising messages and addresses that come from you.
- How many promotional emails do you send per week?
- How many contacts do you have in your mailing list?
- How many flyers do you distribute?
- How many people are in your social group?
- How many customers do your sales managers say after a completed transaction: “Thank you so much for your purchase! To which of your friends would you recommend us?
- By the way, if you bring 2 clients to our company, you will receive a discount on your next purchase.” And yet, if you have sales via the Internet, for example, an online store - when sending your product to a client, you can put advertising material there with an offer to purchase the next product / service and a discount for a limited time.
2. Potential customers who left an application
To increase this indicator, you need to know the conversion rate of your ad.
- How many people visited the site and how many of them left an application / bought?
- How many flyers did you distribute and how many referrals/calls did you receive?
Conversion and site traffic (how many people visited the site and how many left the application) can be analyzed using free service Yandex. Metrics.
But in any case, you should have a rule that every client who called or came to your company should be asked: “How did he find out about you?”. This will give more accurate readings.
If you don't have sales pages yet, you need to make them. The selling page is your 24/7 sales manager. A selling page is a site made up of just one page, aimed at selling just one product / service. If the page is done well, then you can count on a conversion of 5% or more. In addition to conversion, you need to understand that advertising should be based only on surveys.
It is far from a fact that what customers in Rostov peck at will be relevant in Chelyabinsk.
An example from practice, in Cherepovets, in the title of an advertising article, focus on the city-forming enterprise - Severstal. "For what?" - you ask. We answer: Severstal is an enterprise that employs most of the city's population.
An example of such a headline: “The shocking truth about the management of Severstal! Yesterday we learned that the entire management of Severstal buys products only in the Scarlet Sails store. There has long been a discount on consumer goods for all employees of Severstal!
And we can guarantee that the response to such articles by the residents of Cherepovets will be very high, definitely higher than just the title "Come to Scarlet Sails - we have discounts." However, the same headline will no longer work in Chisinau.
3. Customers who agreed to buy
To increase this indicator, you need to work properly with the sales department. You can go in two ways - increase the quantity or increase the quality.
Quantity is how many calls your sales team makes to customers. Quality is how many of those calls lead to sales.
If you want to increase both, then implement scripts right now. Write scripts at least for the standard objections of customers: expensive, not interesting, I’ll think about it.
This will allow your managers to move from the question: “what to say to the client?” to the question “where else to get clients?” to whom it can be said. Also, the quantity can be increased by hiring additional sellers.
Yes, and if sales managers are on a salary, transfer them to salary + percentage%.
And, in any case, do not make the ceiling from above! Sometimes good sellers understand that they will not be able to become leaders in the company, because all the vacancies at the top are already filled. Then the only reason for them to sell a lot will be money.
4. Gross income
This indicator can also be separately increased in two ways: Increase the value and / or increase cross-sells (sales in the appendage). If the first is obvious, then the second needs to be worked on.
You need to find answers to two questions:
- What else can you sell right now to a client who has decided to buy from you?
- Why is it profitable for the client to buy, and for the manager it is profitable to sell it right now?
Example: One owner of a network of luxury footwear stores pays a percentage to the manager only if the client bought two or more pairs of shoes at once. At the same time, the client, buying the second pair at once, receives good discount or branded shoe care cream.
Another owner of a car dealership works in the same way. The manager who sold the car receives a good percentage only from the amount of additional equipment purchased by the client: floor mats, sound system, anti-theft alarm, etc.
Remarkably, the same owner also opened a car service and tire fitting.
Returning to points 1 and 2, this owner has arranged with insurance companies, and now their field representatives are located right in the showroom at separate tables and offer auto insurance policies to customers. In exchange for this, along with each policy that is issued at the head offices of these insurance companies, customers are given an advertisement for his car service and tire fitting.
5. Net profit
The last link in this chain is the increase in net profit.
Net income is gross income minus costs. See how you can reduce costs - "squeeze" suppliers for discounts, refuse
some unnecessary positions in the company, or vice versa, to have a full-time accountant with a salary of 20,000 rubles. instead of outsourcing for 50,000 rubles. Done? Great!
Now look at how and where you can increase the speed of particles in your company and reduce time costs. To the smallest detail:
- How long does it take for a customer who calls your company with a desire to buy to receive their product in their hands?
- Can this time be reduced by at least an hour?
- How long do your employees smoke?
- How long does it take for an item to be in stock after ordering?
If you plan income by months, then you must understand that every wasted minute of your employees works against YOU. It is you, not your salaried accountant, who is missing out on net income. The accountant will get his salary anyway.
6. Add value to the product
If your company is engaged in the production of any product, then one of the decisions that positively affects sales is to increase the value of the product. In many cases, to increase sales, you can change appearance product, such as its packaging. And, as a result, the value of the goods in the eyes of buyers will change.
For example, the company was engaged in the production of cheap clothes that were sold in the markets and in cheap shops. As a result of the analysis, it turned out that the main competitor of this company was China. The goods that the company produced were perceived by consumers as Chinese, and the price of the products was slightly higher.
It is clear that clothes made in Russia cannot compete with Chinese ones in price. Even the fact that the quality of the products was higher did not help in this situation, since the nondescript appearance of the goods, together with the relatively high price, reduced the interest of buyers.
An analysis of the product and its perception by customers was carried out. This led to a risky decision: they changed the packaging to a better and more modern one.
What was done:
- Changed the logo, fonts, design. Made it bright, stylish, attractive.
- We chose a different material. Instead of cheap plastic bags, high-quality cardboard packaging was used.
- The packaging contains as much information as possible about the product.
As a result, the goods in the perception of buyers "fell" out of their usual price category. Thanks to the packaging, it began to be perceived by customers as more expensive and of higher quality. At the same time, at first the price was not raised at all, and the real cost increased quite a bit.
Thus, the product "left" in the perception of buyers from the filled Chinese goods niches, and the real price has not increased much, since the cost carton packaging in terms of a unit of goods was quite small. Of course, we had to tinker with the introduction of new packaging; in production, any changes are associated with certain difficulties. But this is a different story. But thanks to the new packaging, the goods moved from one value category to another in the perception of buyers, which became a real "springboard" to increase sales.
7. Quality work with the order
For some reason, many companies still neglect to work with the buyer's order. Of course, certain actions are being taken. The manager accepts the order, processes it, issues an invoice, then the shipment is made, etc. At the same time, most of the small and medium-sized businesses, and I remind you that I work with these segments, do not work on order.
The sales departments of companies are somewhat reminiscent of stalls: what is available is what they sell. And if the requested product is not on the balance, the manager does not even offer to issue the desired item “on order”. Most often this happens because the system does not have necessary tools, and the manager simply does not know how to place such an order.
It would seem that the solution lies on the surface. Do not refuse buyers! Offer not only analogues, but also the design of the desired product "on order". Those. your customer orders whatever he needs. And the manager accepts the order and notifies the buyer about the delivery time, taking into account the time of receipt of the missing items on the balances. All companies that have implemented this system have received a noticeable increase in sales.
In this case, we are not talking about online stores that operate without a warehouse at all, i.e. only on order, regardless of whether they inform their customers about this fact or not. And we are talking about companies that have their own warehouse, but at the same time they can order goods from a supplier. What is the problem with implementing such a scheme of work? It lies in the fact that companies do not know how to technically implement it. An example of how such a scheme was implemented in a person involved in wholesale ceramic tiles.
All products are divided into two groups:
- The first is the goods in our own warehouse, i.e. those goods that you yourself ordered from your main supplier.
- The second one is “foreign” goods, i.e. those that can be quickly ordered from another supplier or competitor. This attribute “Alien” was filled in the product card to designate goods ordered from competitors. Also, the supplier (competitor) from whom this product is purchased was indicated in the product card.
In this company, which trades in imported goods with a long delivery time (from the moment of ordering to receipt at the warehouse takes about two months or more), a special system was developed when, when receiving a buyer’s order, if there is no goods in the warehouse, and before the next delivery another month, the manager can find out if there is this product from a competitor and order it. The manager includes this product (Foreign product) in the customer's order with the designation Under the order (To supply), and when the customer's order is posted in the system, the order/orders to the supplier/suppliers are automatically created (data on suppliers are taken from the product card). As a result, the client receives all the assortment he needs and continues to actively work with your company. He will not go to a competitor in search of the position he needs, because you have everything he needs.
This approach significantly increases the volume of sales, while in many cases the profit increases slightly, because you buy goods in small quantities, perhaps even from competitors, and therefore sell some items at almost no markup. What is the point? You get customer loyalty. Your customer does not leave, fills out an application from you, buys other goods along with an unprofitable “foreign” position. And you will notice an increase in profits from such a scheme of work at the end of the month, quarter or any other reporting period. By increasing customer loyalty, sales and profits will increase markedly.
8. Sale of related (additional) services
Many companies sell only goods without any additional services. But often it is the service that contributes to the fact that buyers make a choice in your favor.
For example, among my clients was a company specializing in the sale of cable products. At some point in time, they decided to introduce an additional service - cable laying. Those. in addition to the delivery available to all, they began to offer cutting the cable on the spot, as well as its installation at the customer. As a result, not only profit increased due to payment additional service, but also the volume of sales of goods.
What is the reason for this increase in sales? Some customers of such products consider it a big plus to be able to order everything in one place: both goods and services. They do not want to waste time looking for performers and cannot install (lay) the cable they need on their own. Those. in this case, customers argue as private buyers: “if I bought a sofa, then I need to assemble it right away, albeit for an additional fee.”
For some reason, many companies neglect this opportunity to increase customer loyalty, the attractiveness of products for new customers, as well as profit margins. In fact, selling services is a great way to increase sales. Don't forget about him.
9. Soften the terms of cooperation
Many companies work with their clients on very strict terms. Especially often those who have been working on the market for a long time, often since the 90s, work with imported goods, with products that have no analogues on the market, and so on. For example, I had a client who was selling imported professional cosmetics for beauty salons. Given that one bank of funds can cost from 17 euros and more, at the same time, in order for the dealer to receive a 5% discount, it was necessary to complete the volume of purchases of 2,500 euros, and in order to receive a 20% discount - 7,500 euros. In addition, dealers took on the obligation to buy and distribute magazines that no one wanted. There were other requirements, often uncomfortable and unfriendly to customers.
10. Sell more expensive product
Usually the buyer chooses from several different cost units of the product. At the same time, the price will not always be the decisive argument for making a decision. Let's say a person will not always buy the cheapest jeans out of three options.
At the moment when the buyer has almost chosen, offer him a similar product, but from a more expensive segment. Perhaps the buyer did not notice it on the shelf. Explain why your option is better (higher quality, better fit, fashion brand and so on.). If you have shown a benefit from the purchase, 30-50% of customers will agree with you.
11. Sell kits
Create kits using the principle "together with this thing they often buy." This works both in offline trading and in online stores. The buyer is trying on trousers - offer him a suitable shirt, jacket, sweater. Don't say "take something else" but offer a specific model, a specific product. Together with the second purchase discount, this works even better.
12. Run promotions
Promotions like "4 things for the price of 3" are a powerful motivator to increase the purchase amount, even if you personally are skeptical about them. Of course, such promotions make sense only when you are primarily interested in selling goods and clearing shelves. If your product can lie down, will not deteriorate and will not go out of fashion - you do not have to arrange a total liquidation.
13. Increase customer time in store
Time is one of the important factors influencing the purchase. You can increase it, say, by influencing the companions of your customers. In the shop women's clothing make a recreation area for your husband and a play area for children - and you will immediately notice how the average check has increased.
If you rent a room, for example, in a luxury mall, then the allocation and equipment of a recreation area for you may not be low-budget at all, always consider the costs.
14. Use "cardboard sellers" and "talking" price tags
Cardboard sellers - signs on which you place important features product. It can be a mini-selling text, specifications, an indication of the audience or purpose of the product. In a clothing store, you can write, for example, what type of figure is suitable for a particular outfit. In the shop household appliances- for which house, what intensity of work, and so on. “Talking” price tags are a variant of the “cardboard seller” on the scale of one price tag.
It is especially important to use this technique when working with a male audience. Women are more willing to communicate with sales assistants, while it is more convenient for men to read information.
When placing large "cardboard sellers", remember that people will be reading them on the go, so choose your location, text and image scale thoughtfully. In the online store, the function of the “cardboard seller” is performed by product descriptions, remember their importance!
15. Let's test and try your product
Often people do not buy something that is unfamiliar to them, because of doubts: is the quality good, and will I like it, and will it fit, and will I be able to use it. For some products, there is a statutory right of the buyer to return. But you can go further: give an extended money back guarantee.
Some products cannot be returned, but you can let visitors try them out. For example, recently I had a consultation with the owner of a needlework store. She did not sell well tools for making jewelry. She set up a table in the store where anyone could try them in action - and she increased sales not only of the tools themselves, but also of consumables.
It has become the norm for online stores to have many payment methods in their arsenal, including electronic money. But offline there are still outlets where only cash is accepted. Add payment on credit, payment in installments to different payment methods - there will be more purchases.
Of course, these are not all ways to increase the average check in retail store. Each business and each occasion may have its own recipes.
What are the ways to increase sales in the store? A key issue in many consultations. We all think that there is a miracle tool called "Huge Sales" that works immediately after its application and immediately increases the store's revenue. At the moment, this tool is not available to us, so let's try to deal with the increase in sales from the point of view of common sense. In order for the store to sell more, we, in my opinion, can only do two things:
1. Sell to more people, that is, increase the flow
2. Sell for a large amount, that is, increase the average check
Let's take a look at each direction in turn.
Increase the number of buyers and the frequency of purchases
If we follow the path of increasing the number of purchases, then we will begin to work as a store marketer. How to make more pure purchases than in the previous reporting period?
We can attract more people to the store. According to retail statistics, at least 1 out of 10 who have entered will definitely buy it. In many stores, this statistic is higher. So, if not 10 people come to me a day, but 50, then the number of purchases I will have is not 1, but 5.
To increase store traffic, I can use various tricks:
- Place "stops" (advertising materials designed to stop a person and direct him to the store) on the shopping "trail" next to the stores. Surely you have an understanding of where people most often go near your store. That's where the "stop" should be placed. This promotional material is designed to make a person remember the existence of the store and enter it.
- Provide promotional advertising. We can talk about our store through the right channel: glossy magazines, guides, radio, TV, local advertising, the Internet, and so on.
- I especially recommend using cross-events, that is, joint with someone promotions. The key idea of the joint event is to attract a new flow of customers to the store from their partners. For example, a stationery store is running a cross-promotion with a nearby office center, distributing discount coupons on the territory of the OC. Additional people come to the store, attracted from the partner center. Or, for example, a clothing store hosts an event with a popular jewelry store aimed at exchanging flow. In a clothing store, upon purchase, they give out a bonus and a catalog for jewelry, in jewelry they give out an invitation - a flyer for clothes. These events allow you to capture a targeted, and more loyal target audience and at minimal cost.
- Place advertising media on the "border" of the store coverage. Each store has its audience reach, that is, where people are willing to go or go to your store. For example, for a grocery mini-shop, the coverage area will be several neighboring houses, since no one will run for bread and matches at a distance of 15-20 minutes. For big store outerwear selling exclusive brands, this distance will be no more than the area in which the store is located. Thus, you can draw a circle - the area of your store. Moreover, within this circle, 1-2 zones can be distinguished by warmth - the frequency of the appearance of people from these zones. The smallest circle is the warmest zone, usually people living nearby, in neighboring houses with a shop. These are people who are very comfortable visiting you along the way. The next circle is the average warmth, this is your work coverage, on average it is several stops / ways to the store. This is the bulk of the buyers. It is on the border of this circle that you need to place advertising in order to gradually expand the coverage of the territory.
We can also take the path of increasing the quantity, that is, the frequency of purchases by current customers. There are two key areas of work in this block:
a) Increasing the frequency of purchases by your audience
b) Increasing store conversion
To increase the frequency of purchases by your audience, we will work with the customer base of the store.
Any client base the store is divided into buyers who buy our goods as often as possible; main mass and "ballast".
The first type is active and loyal customers. Our store is "first on the list" when the need arises. This means that when the buyer needs to buy, for example, shoes, he will go first to our store, and then, if he doesn’t pick it up, to all the others. These are the most beloved clients. The share of such buyers is 20-30-40% of the total audience.
The second share - the bulk, buys from us from time to time, and can "change" the store depending on the assortment, price offer and convenience of purchase. For example, if a customer needs to buy shoes, then he first goes to another store where there is a sale or he has a special love for the assortment, and then he comes to us.
The third part is people who buy from us rarely, by chance. These are visitors, or not our target audience.
To increase the frequency of purchases by the bulk of buyers, we can use a loyalty program and one-time promotions. A loyalty program is a system of activities aimed at retaining and encouraging customers. For what? Because retaining customers is CHEAPER than attracting new ones. There is another pattern - 20% of buyers bring 80% of profits. These customers can be encouraged to come more often and buy more.
Our program should solve several problems:
- stimulation of constant customer requests;
- increase in the frequency and amount of purchases;
- formation information base about clients;
- formation of a positive image of the company in the eyes of the client;
- Attraction of new clients.
I recommend using the mechanisms of cumulative discounts or bonuses, with the possibility of paying for purchases with accumulated bonuses, with several levels of participation and the possibility of targeted promotion. For example, program X, where there are 3 levels of bonus cards (7-12-25% of the purchase to the account), with the ability to pay up to 50% of the purchase with bonuses, and the possibility of receiving additional bonuses for specific actions, for example, buying more than 3 positions.
The second way to increase the number of purchases is to increase the conversion of the store.
Conversion is the ratio of those who bought to those who came, that is, the number of checks to the number of visitors to the store. There is a common sense that the conversion should aim for 100%, but even a figure of 50% will be quite acceptable for many stores.
It is important to understand why the conversion may be low? Most often, there are two reasons: poor merchandising and inefficient work of sellers.
Merchandising errors are incomprehensible or inaccessible display of goods. When the buyer cannot understand the logic of product placement, find the desired position on their own, try / try on / feel the product. Or the merchandising of the store is too inexpressive, there are no accents and flow brakes. Shoppers walk through the store without stopping to choose. Calculation correction is a simple matter, we will not dwell on it. It is easy to check this reason - go out into the hall and try to choose something yourself, without the help of sellers; Better yet, ask someone who doesn't buy from you to make their own selection. And then ask for feedback - What is convenient? What is not?
The inefficiency of sellers is either in the inability to start a dialogue with the flow of buyers - and the flow leaves without buying; or in the inability to bring the sale to the checkout - in closing the deal and working with objections - and the flow leaves without buying. Here you can only help by training sellers, preferably on the trading floor with real buyers and writing them cheat sheets (that is, work standards) with prescribed phrases. From experience I can say that the main reason for such behavior among sellers is the unwillingness to be intrusive, we read the fear that they will send; therefore, this disease is “treated” only by obtaining a new positive experience. Therefore - in the hall!
Sell for a large amount
But you can solve the problem of increasing sales in a fundamentally different way. You can leave the customer flow at the current level and work on increasing the amount of purchases. The check amount can be increased either by selling more pieces or by selling more expensive items in the line.
The easiest way is to increase the number of purchased goods. They work for this task in merchandising: duplication hot commodity at additional points of sale, placement of small items in the checkout area, creation of layouts in sets.
The main role in expanding the check is with sellers, because it is they who offer to purchase something else. In order for sellers to expand the check, they must be taught this (this is one of the most problematic blocks of sales technology) and rewarded for the desired behavior. In the teaching technique, speech cheat sheets come to the fore - what and how to offer? Motivated by internal competitions and promotions (see June newsletters)
Also, sellers are quite capable of offering and selling, first of all, the most prestigious (expensive) product in the line of analogues. This does not mean that you should “push” a person with a product that is not his needs. This means that when the buyer's request is clarified, then usually 2-4-6 trade items with similar characteristics are suitable for him. And these positions can be arranged by price, from higher to lower. So the seller should start showing/telling from a more expensive position, moving down. Or start with a cheap one, and offer a more expensive second position. Everything usually rests on the seller's ability to coherently and beautifully explain the difference in price, the so-called added value of the goods. Added value goods are additional benefits for which the buyer is willing to overpay. They need to be found and commented on. It will also require work with staff, for example, mini-trainings on the presentation of expensive goods in the morning.
So let's sum it up:
- To increase sales, we sell to more people and increase the average purchase amount.
- Our tools for this are: external marketing activities, store merchandising and staff performance improvement.
- The way to get started is to analyze the operation of your store and understand its very weakness, the “hole” into which potential sales flow. Small stream? Low percentage of loyal customers? Low purchase frequency? Small store reach? Low conversion? Low average check? Inefficient placement of goods in the hall?
By comparing all the data, you can form an action plan to increase the level of store sales.
The profitability of a grocery store depends on many factors, primarily on sales volumes, the quality of work of your employees, location outlet etc. How to increase revenue in a grocery store - for this there are effective tools that take into account these and other factors.
How to increase revenue in the grocery store
How efficiently this or that business works, in our case, a grocery store, shows its profitability, profitability. The amount of profit depends on revenue and costs.
There are two ways to increase revenue:
- Increase the price of the products you sell.
- Start selling more in quantitative terms.
Both options can lead to increased revenue. However, in reality, the first option is practically unrealizable. Any store, regardless of specialization, is forced to exist surrounded by competitors. Therefore, increasing revenue by increasing the price, most likely, will not work.
It is possible to increase revenue in a grocery store by raising prices only if the elasticity of demand for the products sold is extremely low or even close to zero, that is, this demand practically does not change - no matter how you raise the price, they will still buy in the same volume .
This can happen, for example, if there is only one store and it is located in a remote area, where residents are literally forced to buy products at the prices offered.
Under the current conditions of tough competitive environment a more realistic way to raise revenue is to increase sales in the physical sense - in pieces, etc. There are effective ways and tools for this.
For example, the Business.Ru program will allow you to control sales, get detailed analytics of the assortment and the history of the movement of goods in just a few clicks!
How to increase sales in the grocery store: 15 ways
1. Reduce the price.
It was said above that by increasing the price it is unlikely that it will be possible to increase the volume of revenue and sales. However, you can increase sales, on the contrary, by lowering prices.
If you slightly reduce the price of popular products, it is quite possible that people will not come to your competitors to buy these particular products, but to you.
The apparent decrease in cash flow due to lower prices will be offset by volumes. That is, more low prices in quantitative terms, they will buy more, respectively, the total amount of your revenue will increase.
Price cuts may not be permanent, often not necessary. Sometimes it is enough to hold promotions for a temporary price reduction, for example, to carry out sales of certain products at reduced prices, sales according to the “3 units of goods for the price of 2” scheme, etc.
The increase in revenue in this case will be temporary - for the duration of the promotion. But at the same time, visitors and customers may develop a habit of coming to your store.
One of the varieties of promotions is a seasonal price reduction, which also leads to an increase in revenue. For example, the sale of winter clothes and shoes in the spring at a discount, the sale of last year's clothing collections in clothing stores, the sale of vegetables and fruits in the fall at low prices, etc.
2 . Move to a more accessible place - Another one effective method increase sales in the store. More people - more purchases, which means more revenue. But under conditions of high competition between stores to find a place with greater traffic is not easy.
The entrepreneur needs to constantly monitor where such places may appear, which shopping malls are built where there is good traffic.
3. Convenient navigation in the store.
The more comfortable it is to move around in the store, the more often customers enter it, the more sale and revenue.
4. Always available vendors who are competent and can advise the buyer on products in a timely manner.
5. Current price tags, informative and original.
6. Correctly filled shelves- This is already a job related to merchandising.
7. Possibility of delivery under certain conditions. For example, free shipping home if the purchase amount reaches a certain level.
8. Possibility to pay for purchases by non-cash method(with the help of bank plastic cards).
9. Installing popular bank ATMs in the store and electronic payment systems.
10. Leasing out free space in the store or sublease for various kinds of kiosks, for example, for the sale of magazines and newspapers, flowers, or for repair shops for shoes, locks, etc.
11. If the store area and other free resources allow, organization in the store of a children's room or playground for children.
12. Expansion of the range, resale. A customer will visit your store more often if he buys in your store what he usually buys in several stores.
For example, a person will become your regular customer if with daily bread and milk he can buy, for example, confectionery, toothpaste, etc.
13. Discount cards. This is also a way to increase customer loyalty, make them your regular customers and increase your revenue.
Instead of discount cards may be storage cards. This is when some bonuses are accumulated on the buyer's card, the volume and amount of which depend on each purchase. The buyer can use these bonuses to pay for future purchases.
A variety of accumulative cards are cards that have the so-called "cash back", in English it means "cash back". This is the same as bonuses, only money is returned to the card from each purchase.
For example, on a card with a cash back of 10%, when buying in the amount of 1500 rubles, the buyer will return 150 rubles. The buyer can use this returned money for further purchases.
Discount cards, cards with bonuses or cash back, as well as other discount events, lead to the fact that customers come to you more often, buy from you more often, recommend your store to their surroundings. As a result, your revenue grows.
In the Business.Ru grocery store automation service, you can fully implement the loyalty system, set up discount and accumulation cards, as well as cards with a validity period. These and other features are combined with a clear interface that allows you to perform complex operations in a couple of clicks!
14. Coalition.
This is when you team up with other stores and do one promotion together. Therefore, it is “more interesting” for the buyer to come shopping in one of the stores of your common coalition. Examples of coalition events are bonus cards of retail chains (“Moneybox” and others).
15. Reviews.
In modern information society any negative that can happen in your store will immediately end up in in social networks. This will have a negative impact on traffic and store revenue.
Therefore, the entrepreneur needs to work with customer reviews. This work should be carried out in two directions: firstly, to prevent negative feedback, and secondly, to stimulate positive feedback. This will also increase your sales.
Many of the above ways to increase revenue apply to more specific tasks, for example, increasing the conversion of store visitors into customers or increasing customer loyalty.
There is nothing surprising in this: both the increase in conversion and the increase in loyalty are aimed at solving one common task - increasing the store's revenue, increasing the efficiency of its work.
The above methods of increasing revenue must be applied when the most relevant conditions have been created for each of these methods, for example, seasonal discounts.
The entrepreneur must also constantly monitor his financial condition to find out which ways to increase revenue and in which cases are most effective. Most likely, the entrepreneur will need to apply these methods in combination, and some tools to increase revenue need to be applied on a continuous basis.
Comprehensive trade automation at a minimum cost
We take a regular computer, connect any fiscal registrar and install the Business Ru Kassa application. As a result, we get an economical analogue of a POS-terminal as in a large store with all its functions. We enter goods with prices in the Business.Ru cloud service and start working. For everything about everything - a maximum of 1 hour and 15-20 thousand rubles. for the fiscal registrar.
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