In this article we discuss some setbacks of retail physical shops that are probably hindering the growth and increase in customers. These setbacks are very much detested by customers and it puts them off if they encounter these at the retail shops.
Labelling
First of all, navigating a big retail shop without labelling or bad labelling is frustrating. It is a waste of time, confusing and paints the shop managers as very unorganized. I would likely not return to that particular shop again. Most customers are always in a hurry. They may not have the luxury to be looking around your shop, or turning their necks just to find what they want. It is your duty as retailer to label your shop. For instance; grocery to the left, electronics to the front with arrows indicating the direction to move to. With labels as a guide, customers will easily identify their items.
Price tags
If every customer has to move from a shelf to ask you the price of an item, then I must say, you have a lot of talking to do every day in your shop. You might not be worried or perturbed by this but have you thought about the customer? How are they able to buy the items if there are no price tags? The questions they would be asking themselves are, what if this item is expensive? What if I can’t afford to add this to my basket? What if I am not able to pay for all these at the counter? Dear retailer, price tags are a necessity for the customer. In fact, it is their sole right so answer all their questions by putting price tags on items on the shelves. Price tags can be easily created with sticky papers or digitized price tags.
Shelf arrangement
I cannot conclude this article and not talk about the disorganized way some retailers arrange their products on their shelves. Shelving products is to present items to customers to entice them to buy. But unfortunately some retailers’ shelving skills is a turn off for customers. In organizing your shelf, color, shape, sizes and product content should play a major role. Don’t just place products anyhow on the shelf because you are in a hurry or because you don’t place much importance on shelving.
No delivery policy
Some physical shop owners assume that delivery is just for online shopping but on the contrary some customers also think delivery is not affiliated with just online shopping but shopping in general. So a customer can walk into a shop, buy items and request for delivery. Sadly, shop owners will say “we don’t do delivery here”, “when you buy from us, you find your own way of taking it home”. However, I think it is time physical shop owners adopt offering delivery services especially for customers with a huge number of items because some physical shops are doing it and in my opinion it is a good way to retain customers.
Filthy surroundings
I saved this for last because it is a very sensitive topic. Customers are highly turned off from dirty looking shops. Whether you have the best goods or not especially if it is anything food, then you are losing more customers than you know. Invest into a cleaner shop and it’s surroundings by hiring a cleaning service if possible or personally ensure that you are serving your customers in the cleanest environment.
