Background: Increasing sales is the goal of every retailer, be it offline or online. Roshan Dsouza shares some practical tips to boost your sales and illustrates with three relatable scenarios.

Whether your sales are stagnating, growing or declining people are still spending—marriages are on their way, cinema halls are full, and people are able to spend on an evening meal where they need to.

The trends of selling to a customer are changing and businesses that are quick to adapt to the new trends are able to keep the cash registers ringing.

So, how can we get more people to your store?

The trends of selling to a customer are changing and businesses that are quick to adapt to the new trends are able to keep the cash registers ringing. The need to understand the customer and the methods to attract them to your outlet is of prime understanding.

Let’s examine this with some examples:

Scenario 1

You have an outlet that sells clothes for women. In the past six months your sales have been stagnating and not moving towards a positive trend. The outlet has been in place for more than six years and has a created a brand for itself, yet there is no traction. What is the cause?

There are various mediums of sales that have grown in the last six years, from online to offline; there is no stopping the sales process. Buyers will buy when they have a need for it.

You are an offline outlet not focusing on online sales because you treasure the need for the customers to build a lasting relationship. The trend on the other hand says that customers like the ease of doing business more than the need to build relationships, why are you not going online? How will it affect your brand and target audience?

Also read: Wondering if you should build your own e-commerce website or not?

Scenario 2

You are an offline and online retailer selling children or men’s wear. The outlet has just opened two years ago but the sales in the past six months have been dipping. The offline sales are minimal, and the online sales are also not catching up as it was in the last year. With the YOY (year on year) comparison, you were doing better in the first year than the second year. The sales are dipping; we would like to blame the economy for it. What happened? You tried to get the online and offline sales rise; you followed the rules but yet there is trouble in the cash register.

Scenario 3

You are a retail outlet selling food and beverage; you have registered on the online mediums and are having a good time. In the past month, there has been a slowdown in the sales and the number of items ordered are not repeating itself. Again, all rules were followed, all trends adhered to and yet there is no increase in sales.

In the examples shared above there is something common in all of it which is generally missed by business houses. They assume that the sales happen because they make the decisions, the trend has changed now.

Customer is king

Believe this as a rule, because the business houses that believe in the customer, mould themselves accordingly from the word go. There is no history or pride in changing your marketing ways.

The best way to attract a customer is to target their innate needs that would get them to buy a product. Instead of daily wears, keep occasion-based wears for the customer to choose from, instead of selling food products without improvisation, see the better choices that are being bought in the market and adhere to the trends.

Also read: Customer is the king and the kingmaker

Research

Unfortunately, businesses don't always focus enough on research. They are always in the mode of action without adequate data and preparation. This limits their understanding of the market and with their tight pockets they are not able to generate a perennial sales trend.

The other side of the research is to understand the market with their working and also get real time feedback from the customer on their product, service or sales process. The direct feedback could help the business understand their workings and also help them in their growth.

Also read: Market research: The key to building a great startup

Social Media

Whether you like it or not, the online mechanism of sales is not going to increase just because you have registered on an e-commerce site to sell your products. Customers need to know you are online and you have to work to get your products on the shelf and the customers to know that the products are there to buy.

There is a sell-off where you may be promoting the e-commerce site but more importantly you will be creating a space for your brand to be recognised and grow organically online to increase your sales.

These are just some insights, but to gain more insights to the sales process get in touch with us to get a better understanding on how to turn around your company fortunes and get a growth even when the market is reeling under pressure. Each idea given is unique to the customer and the clients they are targeting, and we do not take more than one client from an industry. So, rush today to get the best advice and implementation support.

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