What Retailers Are Doing To Enhance Their Position In The Market-Place

Staying ahead of the game is vital for today's retailers and one way in which some retailers are staying ahead of the game is by specifically training in-store staff with product and service knowledge, giving them every opportunity to up or cross-sell to customers.

Another area that retailers are exploring and investing resource in is big data and analytics for customer loyalty offerings. More and more retailers are now using big data and technology to learn more about their retail customers in-store. From preferred payment methods to regular product purchasing. Big data not only benefits the retailer but provides a personalised service to the customer.

Some of the most productive ways in which retailers can learn from their customers is by utilising key data, trends and patterns from discount offerings, in-store activity (achieved with the use of traffic counters and sales data through their integrated POS systems.

KFP knows as well as any retailer that modern POS systems capable of capturing valuable data in real-time is the key for measuring store performance against KPI’s. If more retailers would use data to analyse store performance then they could spot busy trends and make better-informed decisions regarding staffing, stock availability and resourcing.

Investing in staff training is another way in which retailers can increase store performance and one of the most effective ways in which you can improve your service in-store. With your shop assistants being the main point of contact, for each and every customer who walks into the store, it’s vital that they not only know where products are around the store but that they know how to help various different customers, this is vital in apparel retail.

Retailers who operate a successful retail business, are the ones who value their sales staff in-store and recognise that they should train them thoroughly. Reviewing the retail competition is important for each and every store to see what your competitors are doing and studying retail market trends.

Whether it's a direct competitor within your retail sector or another retailer on the high street, studying your competition will ensure you compare service and store success.

Analysing competitors product offering, brand positioning, customer service experiences, in-store displays, online shopping opportunities, special events, dress code, store packaging, visual displays and overall consumer impressions are just a few of the things smart retailers look for when it comes to checking out their competition.

Often, this type of routine analysis allows retailers to recognise new industry trends, missed opportunities, new strategies to compete for sales and other ways to stay afloat in the competitive retail marketplace. Note - what they don't do is ignore their competition. Consistently analysing the constantly changing retail environment is key.

As a leading retail IT provider, we are 100% focused on the retail industry. We support some of the world's leading retail brands with in-store IT services from new store openings to Epos rollouts across Europe.

Are you a retailer looking for an IT support partner with a proven track record?