Let’s keep the momentum going with the 4th, 5th & 6th strategies to help you market your retail business during COVID. If you haven’t yet read the first 3 strategies, check them out by reading part 1 to this series.
4. Don’t keep discounts to yourself.
When your retail space offers discounts, sales, or special deals, don’t assume that your potential customers will constantly be checking your website or retail location. Instead, remember these additional ways to announce big discounts via email.
- Entice first time buyers on your website. Offer first time buyers a special coupon code when they sign up for emails. A 10 or 15% off code is a great way to build your email list and create new customers, then have the potential of creating long-time customers.
- Follow up with discounts. Once a customer has made a purchase, set up a system to automatically email them with a discount for a given time period. Customers are much more likely to use discounts when there is an expiration date.
- Send out regular discounts. Staying top of mind to your customer base ensures more sales. Regularly email your list with discounts to reward their loyalty by offering an incentive to shop.
Your to do task:
If you haven’t already, start an email newsletter list. Then, create opportunities for one or all of the above for customer discounts.
5. Use the power of Word of Mouth with product reviews.
No matter what type of product you offer, incorporating product reviews in your online store will help engage potential customers in a way you can’t as the store owner: by using real customers.
Existing happy customers are amongst your best resources for gaining new business. Think about it: word of mouth is still one of the most profitable marketing sources, and this is the next best thing…WOM from strangers. After all, they’ve used and experienced your product and then told their (unbiased) story about it.
Your to do task:
Acquire as many reviews from happy customers as possible. If possible, avoid having them off-site (on Google My Business, Facebook, or something similar) as they’ll give you more benefit as a retail store on your website. That means you’ll need the infrastructure on your site to allow customers to create star ratings and write reviews on a product-by-product basis.
6. Anticipate customers’ needs.
There’s no better shopping experience than when the retail store anticipates your needs. Here are a few ideas to implement online so your customers feel their needs are being not only met, but exceeded!
- Say thank you. While it may seem like a no brainer, a digital shopping experience obviously doesn’t have the same personal touch as shopping in-store. To help with this, your online store should automatically send customers a receipt or order summary and shipping information, along with a simple “thank you for your order” to let them know you appreciate the business.
- Follow up. Just like discount emails, make sure you regularly follow up with customers based on their purchases. There are plenty of Ecommerce email solutions that will help with follow up based on prior customer purchases.
- Similar products. Similar to following up, you have the opportunity to showcase similar products within your online storefront. Upselling or cross-selling on your products pages may help potential customers see products they may not have, or entice them to level up to a higher priced or quality product.
- Shopping cart reminders. The statistics on the number of abandoned shopping carts are staggering (the average rate is 70%!) when you think about the potential lost revenue. Alleviate your shopping cart abandonment rates by reminding potential customers to finish checking out. Suggest all users login to make purchases so your system can track – then contact via email – potential customers who have abandoned their cart. A simple “Did you forget something?” email can do wonders.
Your to do task:
Determine which of the tips from above apply to your retail store and which you can start implementing immediately. (Hint: Saying thank you is easy and worthwhile.)
Ready for Part 3? Don’t worry – we won’t keep you waiting, continue reading here!
