No one wins when a business’s retail management is poor.
Customers get confused and even upset when they can’t find what they’re looking for or get the help they need. Staff is frustrated when they don’t know how to help a customer or resolve a conflict. When both parties are irritated, the business looks incompetent — both in-store and online.
So how can you provide the best retail experience for new and returning customers?
In this post, we’ll explain the importance of retail management, what it entails, and what it’ll look like in the future of retail.
Retail management refers to the governance of a retail business’s daily operations. The primary goal for retail companies is to improve the customer experience.
The physical store, website, inventory, employees, and marketing all fall under the umbrella of retail management. Every piece needs to be on point and work together to create an enjoyable shopping experience for customers.
Here’s a look at the role that retail management has on customers, employees, and businesses.
On customers
Shopping is more than the mere obtaining of goods — it’s experiential. The level of enjoyment a customer experiences while shopping impacts their behavior. 94% of customers say that their experience influences their purchasing decisions.
Customers are more likely to return if they have a pleasant experience with a brand. They’re also more likely to remain loyal if their order arrives in good condition and when expected.
Just one negative customer experience can cost you a customer’s loyalty, especially if the issue remains unresolved or mismanaged. 89% of consumers have switched from one brand to a competitor because of a negative customer experience.
On employees
Employees are a business’s lifeblood, ambassadors, and the living manifestation of the brand. As such, employee experience significantly influences the customer experience. 77% of companies are focusing on this concept to retain employees.
People stick with a company 41% longer when it hires internally than when it doesn’t. Today’s customer service representative, stocker, or cashier may be tomorrow’s sales manager, CEO, or franchise owner. Good retail managers recognize and nurture leadership skills in their staff.
Well-managed retail companies value employees as members of a team. They foster a sense of purpose and make staff members feel like contributors. They ensure the work adds to employees’ well-being rather than subtracting from it.
As a result, employees become confident, passionate, and energized. The workforce becomes more knowledgeable, skilled, and experienced. Leaders emerge. Quality of life improves while burnout and turnover decrease.
On businesses
Good retail management streamlines operations, reduces costs, and improves efficiency. It’s how you shape your in-store and online presence to dazzle, attract, and impress consumers.
Happy customers remain loyal to your brand and enthusiastically tell others about it. 77% of customers who have had a positive experience with a brand will recommend it to someone they know, and 72% will refer at least six people.
Positive word-of-mouth advertising and return customers help build your industry reputation. Your business becomes well-known for delivering an excellent customer experience and quality products.
Brands that focus on customer experience are 60% more profitable and see an 80% increase in revenue. This increased revenue creates growth opportunities, such as expansion, diversification, innovation, and evolution.
Retail management encompasses four main areas: the shopping experience, customer service, employee management, and overall business operations.
Leave a good impression on customers from the moment they visit to the moment their purchase is in their hands (and beyond).
Design and layout
Physical retail stores convey their brands’ essence, tell their stories, and evoke a particular tone. They do this by leveraging the following design elements:
53% of customers prefer to buy online rather than in-store.
Web-based brands with no physical store use incredible digital design and thoughtful site organization to engage visitors. Businesses with both mediums ensure the store’s vibe and the brand’s identity translate to the website as much as possible.
The following factors are also crucial for retail websites and affect customer engagement:
Inventory management
The following variables are critical to inventory management:
Product availability, quality, and pricing on your website should sync with what’s in store in real time. 55% of consumers browse online and then check the item’s in-store availability. Quality influences 58% of consumers to switch brands, while availability influences 46% to switch.
Omnichannel shopping and fulfillment
Consumers prefer and expect options. 54% are likely to buy an item in-store after looking at it online, while 53% are likely to buy an item online after seeing it in-store. 78% of consumers have used more than one channel to purchase a product.
Customers want as much flexibility in receiving their purchase as they do in making it, and 52% select where to shop based on a store’s delivery options. In response, 53% of retail brands invest in omnichannel tools like Shopify and Delivery Solutions.
Returns
The desire for choices extends to returns as well. 47% of consumers are much more likely to purchase a product online if they can return it in-store. Tools like Delivery Solutions can ease the returns experience for you and your customers.
Previous customer service experiences influence brand loyalty for 94% of consumers. 82% have made referrals based on top-notch customer service.
Customers rely on your team throughout all stages of their shopping experience, including:
They value the ability to get assistance at any time through any channel.
For example, shoppers on Backcountry can contact the company on their preferred channel:
Conflict resolution is an essential skill for customer service agents. It’s easier (and cheaper) to retain an existing customer than to gain a new one. How a retail business addresses customer complaints can also affect its reputation since a customer who has complained may share their experience online.
So a business should always strive to flip negative experiences into positive ones to keep returning customers. 80% of consumers will forgive a company for an issue if they respond with excellent customer service.
Delivery Solutions helps customer service teams with post-purchase communications and last-mile delivery issues.
A happy, engaged, empathetic, and well-trained staff goes a long way in improving the customer experience.
Staffing
Training
Thorough and ongoing training prepares employees to address nearly any issue, even as the business grows and evolves.
Retail managers and staff should also feel comfortable and confident adapting to new tech. These advancements streamline operations, improve customer experience, and make life easier for everyone.
39% of retail companies plan to improve and update their current tech, including their virtual sales and customer service tech. 52% are investing in tools to help their staff facilitate virtual sales, and 40% plan to invest in training to use this tech.
Employee experience
Retail management extends beyond the shop itself to more foundational elements of operations.
Competitor monitoring
Advertising/marketing
Accounting/finance
Supply chain logistics
68% of consumers have purchased some new technology or service over the past two years. Industry leaders expect the use of these technologies to increase moving forward.
With the dawning of Web3 and the metaverse, the next frontier of the internet, retail companies should start considering the implications on the future of the retail industry.
Last year, 77% of gamers participated in non-gaming activities within the virtual world — a 17% increase from the previous year. A fraction of virtual reality (VR) users are even browsing and shopping there. 32% have bought something while shopping in VR, and 19% have purchased luxury goods.
Emerging possibilities for virtual retail experiences include:
Current omnichannel fulfillment options now extend to include metaverse purchases. One example of shopping through a virtual platform is Metaverse Fashion Week. It takes place in Decentraland and uses Boson Protocol for transactions.
Retail management implications of the metaverse include:
Since this technology is still developing, brands need to manage their expectations as they plan. People are still testing the waters and deciding how they feel about the metaverse. Carefully gauge the response to this technology as a whole and the specific virtual worlds within it.
Meanwhile, augmented reality (AR) is taking off. AR enables you to view what a virtual, scaled version of a real-life product looks like in your physical environment.
Consumers get to try before they buy without the added cost to the business of sending out merchandise that gets sent back used. According to conversion stats from Vertebrae’s clients, AR helps reduce the number of returns and increase customer satisfaction.
And the number of mobile AR user devices worldwide is expected to increase substantially from year to year. Hundreds of brands, including IKEA, Glasses.com, and Sephora, are already reaping the benefits of this technology.
Retail management with AR includes:
The primary goal of retail management is customer satisfaction. Ensuring a positive experience from the first encounter through purchase fulfillment will help grow your retail business.
Technologies that help streamline all the aspects of retail management make this much more manageable. Delivery Solutions can help you optimize a few of these areas.
Schedule a demo and learn how Delivery Solutions can help improve your retail management.
Delivery Solutions orchestrates fulfillment experiences for enterprise retailers, supplying flexible optionality for consumers and priming merchants for innovation at scale.