New year, new you! The end of the year always makes business owners want to throw out any old strategies and learn new and interesting tactics to lure in more customers. Consumer interests are always changing, and with the way technology continues to develop, it’s about time vendors start thinking about new business planning, and The Merchandiser Group is here to help you get started.
Here are some new business strategies and planning practices for the new year:
Make Yourself Known
This goes above and beyond creating a name for your company and sticking it on your booth, which most vendors already have done. And if you haven’t put up a company name yet, signage can go a long way. On top of letting customers know the name of the business, vendors need to make introductions. One of the biggest ways to get repeat customers is by introducing yourself, striking up a conversation, and creating that personalized customer experience.
Rich Lyons, EVP, Digital Customer Experience Leader at Capgemini, says one of the biggest trends that he believes will improve the customer experience in 2020 is individualization. Rather than looking at segments of thousands of consumers, business owners should focus on the segment of one person (individualizing at scale). This will not only help create that personalized customer experience, but your face will be one to remember to have consumers coming back for more.
Finance Planning
Renting a flea market booth every weekend is a great way to make some extra cash when selling your products. It can help business owners to get their company name out there, earn some cash flow, and move on up to starting an online business or even buying a storefront. But in order to get there, you have to manage your money wisely.
Investing in new products is extremely important. All of the big brands never stop buying and making products so there’s always something new for their customers to try. Even though certain products may sell well, it doesn’t mean that you have to move on from those products, but add something new to the mix to keep buyers coming back for more.
Adding A Second Location
If business is booming, selling at a second location is a great start to making even more revenue. The first step to doing this is hiring someone to run the second booth, whether that be a family member, a close friend or someone completely new. Make sure the person is reputable enough to know all about what you sell, have good customer experience skills, and trustworthy to manage your money.
Technology Is Taking Over
Even though more consumers are still choosing to make purchases in-person rather than online, technology is still the driving force for customer spending. Research from Salesforce and Publicis.Sapient found that 87 percent of shoppers begin product searches on digital channels, and while shopping in-person, 71 percent of consumers say they use their mobile devices. Whether you like it or not, technology has a huge influence on your business.
So instead of being against it, go with the flow and use technology and social media as much as you can to boost your company. Regularly post on social media, promoting new products or gift packages or just simply to interact with your customers. If you haven’t already, let 2020 be the year you implement more technology into your brand awareness.