Promotions are effective methods for increasing sales, elevating customer satisfaction, and encouraging lasting brand loyalty.
However, deploying effective sales promotions is easier said than done. Many overdone promotional strategies can be a major turn-off for customers today. So how can you attract new customers and keep current ones interested without scaring them off before they get a chance to see your business’ worth?
The answer lies in creating a customer-focused promotional sales strategy. It’s not about quick, shallow tactics anymore. It’s about offering something new of value in order to increase sales and customer loyalty. Read on to learn what our recommendations are for how to increase your retail sales promo style.
Top Retail Promotional Sales Tactics That Work
Retail sales promotions can make or break your business. No two are built alike, and not every promotional tactic is right for every business. Between developing a seasonal calendar, employee involvement, loyalty programs, advertising and venue variation, social and email marketing, there are many options to choose from. We’ve whittled it down for you with these top retail promotions that actually work based on industry research.
RELATED: Top 5 Sales Promotions Ideas for Small Businesses
Maintain an Adaptive Seasonal Promotional Calendar
Pay attention to current events, trends, major holidays, and buying shifts. Adjust your marketing strategy as needed based on market trends and reports compiled from your retail POS software system. Whatever you do, keep it dynamic, not static. Do your homework, develop a seasonal promotional calendar strategy, and you’ll see sales results.
Tailor Your Promos for Your Intended Customer Base
Get to know your industry, target audience, operating area, customer personas, as well as your own business goals. Promos will fall flat without background research information about who you’re trying to promote to.
Collect feedback from customers and conduct surveys to know what real customers think about what you already offer, as well as potential campaigns. Let that information shape what promos you offer and watch your market dominance grow as a result.
Reward Customer Loyalty
What does it take to keep new customers coming back for more? Well, the answers lie with high-value customer loyalty promotion programs. Just a five percent increase in customer retention can help boost your business’ overall profitability by more than 75 percent.
Your number one priority should be developing an enticing, substantial customer loyalty program. 85 percent of consumers are more likely to stick to a business that offers a loyalty program, according to a Nielsen survey, so make it count.
Find out which rewards program benefits or perks your base wants and make sure you’re delivering. You can offer discounts on new products, sneak peeks, post-purchase email inbox coupons, birthday perks, partner programs, or punch cards.
Change Your Location to Surprise Your Customers
If you’re mostly brick and mortar, shift some focus to online promotions, social media, or hosting an event like a pop-up shop. Be visible in online and real-life space if applicable. Try different kinds of advertising like flyers, signage, or branded merchandise to spread awareness of your brand. Finally, try to use influencer marketing to your advantage if it aligns with your business goals and image.
Offer Additional Value and Free Resources
Host events, workshops, or classes to get your name out there. Even if a sale doesn’t come from these events, people experiencing your brand upfront and personal may entice them to come back. Offer a free guide, a demonstration of your offer’s features, a sample, or a related tool before asking for sales.
Use Email Marketing to Your Advantage
If you don’t already have email marketing and remarketing campaigns set up for your retail business, do it now! Make sure new and loyal customers are regularly seeing you in their inboxes. Promotional, cart reminders, and coupon code emails are effective remarketing tools that will keep your customers happy and loyal. With an ROI of 4400 percent, personalized email marketing tangibly increases repeat buyers and builds strong, loyal customer bases.
Power Your Sales Promotions With POS Nation
In order to manage your sales promotions effectively, we recommend investing in a comprehensive, top-of-the-line retail POS system. POS Nation offers an all-in-one, scalable retail-capable system purpose-built to grow your business and customer base.
Our software powers more than 10,000 small businesses nationwide with easy-to-use retail POS features, including inventory management, pain-free employee management, customer loyalty, and sales tracking.
Using a high-quality business tool like POS Nation makes it easy to improve checkout rates and create happy, longer-lasting customers. Read more about your options in our retail POS system buyers’ guide. Whatever you choose, be sure your customer-management integrated POS software makes it simple and easy to manage a high-value customer loyalty program.
