How to optimize your store for summer

Now that summer is well underway, it’s time for retailers to turn up the heat. After spending prolonged time indoors during the cold weather, customers are eager to engage in outdoor activities, such as hosting barbecues, throwing parties and tailgating at baseball games – and smart retailers will cash in on consumers mid-summer spending sprees by understanding exactly what customers want.

Rising temperatures in May allowed retailers to start taking advantage of these sales possibilities by offering promotions on unsold spring and early-summer merchandise. As the warm weather persists, customers will ramp up their spending on summer events and gatherings, so it is important for retailers to organize their stores around the events for which this time of year is known.

Focus on customer needs

To truly capitalize on summer sales, retailers should use customer intelligence to match products and offers with customer preferences and shopping behaviors. An obvious example is that barbecue products have wide appeal during the summer months. But while some groups of consumers are looking for deals on mainstream fare like burgers and buns, others are interested in more exotic product options and are willing to pay a premium for preferred items. By using customer intelligence, retailers can do a better job aligning products or deals with market segments and improving the quality of their customer experiences.

With the right approach, it’s possible for retailers to use customer intelligence to meet the granular buying preferences of multiple consumer segments. The caveat is that retailers need to make sure they have the stock and staff they need to offer products geared toward specific types of consumers. Going back to the previous example, retailers that offer barbecue options for vegetarians or other special dietary requirements need to ensure that they have an adequate supply of specialty products as well as the in-store expertise to answer customer questions about unique or premium items.

The bottom line is that customer intelligence can be used as a driver of increased revenue and improved customer experiences for specific types of summer consumers. But unless that intelligence is supported by supply chain reliability and exceptional service, retailers run the risk of delivering substandard experiences and turning off large groups of consumers.

Maintaining sales momentum

Retailers should utilize customer intelligence to continue the momentum gained from the nice weather. Understanding the customer experience at each location will help managers bolster sales by focusing the efforts of staff on the key “moments of truth” during the customer journey. The summer rush presents retailers with fantastic opportunities to lure new customers in while cultivating loyalty among existing customers.

Optimizing a store to gain sales can be achieved using customer experience management (CEM) programs that deliver customer intelligence to retailers. These programs provide several benefits to local managers:

• Program accountability – CEM programs can turn miscellaneous feedback from customers into clear, understandable insights and well-defined actions.
• Local consistency – The best programs guarantee consistency across every location by ensuring that each local manager understands important elements of the brand promise and how they can deliver it.
• Tailored action plans – Today’s programs eliminate time spent reading and interpreting reports by coaching local managers on what to fix and how to execute. By focusing on areas that need improvement, local managers can instead spend their time executing tailored action plans based on the needs of their specific teams and locations.

Providing a great customer experience is essential for businesses year-round, but has unparalleled benefits at peak sale times, like the summer season. Deploying the right tools and strategies to effectively cater to customers’ needs could heavily increase sales and draw new customers in to a brand well past the summer.

Source: http://goo.gl/8YPEcU