Dont Let Your Customers Leave Your Stores Empty-handed

Shoppers usually walk into the store with some idea of what they need. So why do they often walk out of the store empty-handed? According to recent research published on Retail Touch Points, the are are four main reasons for shoppers leaving the store without buying anything: they couldn’t find the product they needed (67.3%); the store didn’t have the items they wanted (66.3%); the lines were too long (51.3%); and poor customer service (39.1%).

Poor customer service generally means that sales assistants are either not around or unable to help customers make a purchase decision, or they were unable to handle a request or a transaction in a timely fashion.

Tackling Indecision

Whether a customer is looking for a new pair of sneakers or a new shade of lipstick, the decision to buy is based on quality, color, comfort, value for money, and, in many cases, convenience. Customers often leave the store because they are not yet convinced the product fits their needs or offers the right value for money.

Store assistants play a vital role in “closing the gap” until the customer feels confident enough to buy the item. This means helping the customer weigh in and filter through several options until a satisfactory choice is made.

Retail POS solutions like Openbravo Commerce Cloud have a sophisticated, yet intuitive merchandise management, which allows you to give products unlimited and searchable attributes. With real-time inventory visibility and assisted sales capabilities, a mobile POS allows store assistants to help customers compare products and make a decision on the spot, based on the criteria they choose.  Products can be grouped with other products to incentivize more sales on relevant or slower-moving items. Either way, the customer can potentially save time and money.

Cutting Down on Wait Times

Good customer service also depends on what happens after a customer has decided the product is right for them. A mobile POS can be used to locate an item in the store, place an order if the item is unavailable or if the customer wants it delivered, and process a payment on the spot. It can help make the returns process much easier as well, as described in this previous blog post.

This means that during busy times, such as sales events or during the holidays, more mPOS can be deployed to help the checkout queue move faster, or payments and orders can be made on the spot, so that customers avoid the queue altogether. Openbravo Commerce Cloud also includes the ability to integrate some of the latest innovations like self-checkout kiosks and mobile payments.

Saving the Sale for Later  

Perhaps the customer wants to research a few more products, or wait until there is a sale to buy what they want, and so they still walk out without buying. With a mobile POS, store assistants can easily add customers to their loyalty program, giving retailers the chance to encourage customers to come back into stores with personalized offers and discounts, or perhaps even make the purchase online.

Openbravo mobile POS solution can not only help retailers resolve each of these obstacles and save a sale, but also create new opportunities to bring customers back into the store. Want to know more? Take a Product Tour!