With the high level of competition in the
CPG industry, especially due to the entrance of American stores in our
neighbourhoods, customer experience needs to be high to encourage both store
and brand loyalty. When a customer leaves your store, there should be two
things on your mind – their current purchases, and whether or not they will
return.
Staffing – If there are staffing issues and
a customer has to wait in line longer than they feel they should have to, they
remember. If they spend more time than they feel they would like walking around
looking for an employee for assistance, they remember. If there are staffing
issues, customers won’t be driven to return. Make sure that you always have
enough staff on the floor to handle ebbs and flows in traffic, and to assist
customers when required.
Cleanliness – The store needs to be clean and
tidy, this is a given. If it isn’t, customers notice, and in the CPG industry
that is never a good thing. Make sure that displaced products are put back in
the right place in a timely manner, and that floors are clear of debris. Also
try to avoid larger than necessary displays that take up too much room and make
the store difficult to navigate.
Location – Are your products located in the
optimal area, where customers assume they would be, or do they constantly have
to ask your employees or search the store for what they want? If your store
layout in unappealing, confusing or hard to navigate, customers are not going
to enjoy their time in your location – this never bodes well for brand loyalty.
Products in stock – If a customer enters
the store with a list of specific items, but can’t locate some of them on the
shelf, they may just leave without them and purchase them somewhere else. Most
customers will not ask if a product is in stock, and so ensuring that shelves
are well filled (rather than the stockroom overflowing), is a great way to
prompt loyalty.
This is important for brands as well, as
even if a customer is loyal to a store, if your product is not on the shelf
they are likely just going to choose the next best thing. Your product isn’t
going to sell from the stockroom, so you have to be sure that a retailer’s
staff is aware of when shelves are growing empty.
Products priced right – By this we don’t
mean on sale, although that never hurts, but instead that your products are
priced correctly. This is especially important when you are having a sale –
otherwise there is no extra motivation to purchase that product.
Is it time for an image upgrade? Think
about how a merchandising company can help you with all of these areas and stop
stressing so much about the competition.
For more information on how to bring
customer experience levels up and increase brand loyalty please contact
Storesupport today by calling 1-877-421-5081.