The holiday season is the busiest time of the year for everyone. Customers never seem to stop running around from shop to shop and it can be hard to keep merchandise well stocked throughout the season. But no matter how busy you may get, you always have to make sure you are giving each customer insanely great service and interactions. Give them that personalized experience to keep them coming back to you instead of retail giants such as Amazon and Target. The Merchandiser Group is excited to share some tips for creating customer loyalty this holiday season.
“Listen! Allow your customers to provide their feedback, good or bad, to ensure your team is working to better their service skills when it is needed most,” Bryan Gray Sr., Vice President, Client Solutions at Alorica, says. If a customer is spending money at your business, they want to feel heard. If they are unhappy, or even pleased with a service, this is the time to listen to what they have to say and relay that to your team. If something needs to be done differently, take immediate action and let the customer know you plan on making a change. If they absolutely love a product or the service, thank them and let them know you appreciate their feedback as it helps to grow your business. Listening to customers is the main key between them shopping from you once and coming back again.
Free gift with purchase. 90% of consumers say that a free gift with purchase helps to increase brand loyalty, according to Retail Touch Points. These types of promotions give customers an incentive to shop from you. Especially if you promote a “Free Gift With a $25 Purchase,” it not only helps to increase your sales, but will also help to create customer loyalty. Businesses that offer a free gift with purchase have a clear advantage over those who don’t, according to the article. Be the lead seller at your market and offer incentives such as this.
Go beyond the personalized customer experience. Interactive experiences can help a customer better understand a product and push them to buy it in the end. They may see a product they like, but may not fully understand how it works or the multiple uses it can be good for — this is where you come to the rescue. Beauty store Sephora, as an example, goes beyond the average personalized customer experience and periodically has makeup gurus come into their stores and provide makeup demonstrations as well as different beauty tips for customers to learn about the different products they sell. You don’t need to go all out like Sephora and hire someone, but provide demonstrations and tips of your products for customers so they have a better understanding of how it works. This can help to get the sale you may not have gotten before.
“Customers who receive great service from a business are much more likely to return,” Gray said. “Ensure your employees are providing the best service possible so shoppers will not only return to your store after the holiday season, but possibly spread the word to their friends, promoting possible new business.” As important as it is to give great service to your customers, it’s also important to have fun and get creative with different ways to attract people to your booth. Get out there and WOW your customers this holiday season.