Cost of living crisis is in the headlines so much lately. It is being screamed by media outlets as if the headline itself is a traffic lure. These stories and economic challenges in the community make for complex settings retailers must deal with.
Retailers can either watch and talk about a situation or actively lean into it.
Here are 5 ways your POS systems can help your retail business thrive in a cost of living crisis.
Have appealing prices. While this may sound like a lazy answer, it is a good answer that any small business retailer can play into. Think about price as a perception of value of something. Often in retail, that something is a product. If you bundle more products into a new single product the perception can change. Be thoughtful in your bundling. delivery what customers will want and will buy. Price the bundle at not far off the sum of each of the items. The physical bundle itself, carefully curated by you, is the value pitch. Use your software to manage the bundles.
Offer dollar rewards, not points. The value of points in loyalty programs is diminished because of how major corporations have plenyed with them, manipulated them over the years. Money, on the other hand , has an understood value. By rewarding loyalty with dollars off a future purchase will enhance customer perception of value from your shop. Use your software to offer dollars off for loyalty.
Be in stock rather than out of stock. Basket data show that the top 10% of items in local independent retail businesses are out of stock 20% and more of the time. Identifying potential out of stocks in advance and buying inventory so you are not out of stock is a guaranteed way to increase revenue and profit. Use your POS software to easily and consistently identify possible out of stocks based on you current sales trends.
Dead stock sinks businesses – declutter. Look at what’s not selling, what is costing you money just keeping it on the shelf, what is taking space you could use for more successful products. Get rid of this dead stock and replace it with products that will sell. Do this regularly, using parameters appropriate to your type of business. Make decisions based on the evidence and not emption. Your POS system can show you the inventory items that are dead.
Reduce your labour costs. While retail is a people business, too often retail businesses are paying people to do things that can be automated. Look at how you order inventory, how your price it, the time it takes to load inventory data into your systems and the time your people spend writing promotional information about new products. Much of the labour described here can be eliminated. Use your POS system’s AI tools to do this.
How your business copes in times of a cost of living crisis is up to you. Being a bystander watching what’s going on achieves little for the business and those dependant on it for income. Leaning in and embracing the opportunities for the benefit of the business helps everyone.
While the right POS system delivering these opportunities and benefits depends on your specific needs, Tower Systems was built to solve these exact challenges for Australian and New Zealand local small business specialty retailers. To see how we can help you…, request a free, no-obligation demo today.
Call 1300 662 957 in Australia or 0800 444 367 in New Zealand. Or, email sales@towersystems.com.au.
Recent Comments