It is considered to be 7 times easier to get the customer back in your shop than to get a new customer in. So what are you doing to make your customers come back to your outlet?

Here are some simple tips to keep them connected to you and to convert one-time shoppers to repeat buyers:

Make their shopping a pleasant experience.

Work on the ambience of your retail outlet, display the wares in a well organized fashion, have clear directions to the different sections (clear and ample signage), have knowledgeable salespersons, who won’t bother the “just checking out” people but will have clear explanations for the curious customers.

Work on Quick and easy checkout.

Once the buyers are done with their shopping, they want to check out fast. Have enough billing points and use technology tools like bar code scanners for quick billing. Keep ample change at each counter. Have several payment options like credit and debit cards in addition to cash.

Have courteous staff.

Nothing irritates a shopper more than staff with bad manners. All your touch points like sales persons on the counters, billing counter staff and even the security people at the doors should be well trained in customer relations with polite manners (no harm in being strict with politeness). A soft ‘thank you’ from the security person at the exit adds lots of value to a customer’s experience with your store.

Continue the relationship.

Try to maintain contact even after they have left your store. If you have captured their contact information like email or phone number, thank them for the purchase and write to them at a decent frequency.

This needs a fine balance. You don’t want to bother them with too many emails but want to retain your brand in front of them. Develop a workable frequency with some experimentation.

Actively watch what they could not find.

Sometimes people don’t find what they are looking for. Your sales people should intently watch such reactions and help the patrons locate those items if they are in stock. If many people are asking for something and you don’t have that in stock, consider adding these items soon.

Connect on the social networking sites.

You should handout a simple card with your social networking addresses like those for Facebook and Twitter, to all buyers along with the invoice. Actively request them to connect with your brand to get the latest news, offers and promotions. Ask them to post reviews on Google local, Review Centre and other review sites. This will engage them, attract their friends and also develop a simple bond which you can work on solidifying.

These simple tips will enhance your customer’s shopping experience and they will be tempted to come back to your shop or store rather than waste time at the crappy competitor’s store.

Of course, if you want to take the first big step in streamlining your operations, you can consider taking a demo of our flagship FusionRetail software which will make your billing counter work at wonderful speed.