How to Get Customers Stay Long in Your Retail Store

Not everyone looks to get in and out of a store in as little time as possible. Many customers are happy to take as much time as needed, given that you offer a great deal of value in store.

Thus, retailers need to cook innovative ways to get people to stroll into their shops, but actually stay there. After all, the more consumers are in your location, the better the chances that they`ll make a purchase. As per The Wall Street Journal, retailers, for example, Origins, which has put resources into getting customers to linger in store, have seen sales increase by 20% to 40%.

So how can you encourage customers to remain longer in store and potentially increment sales? The following are ideas and tips you could implement.

1. Make room for interesting experiences

<ter"br>Rather than devoting the entire space in your shop for selling items, consider allocating certain areas for experiences. Maybe you can dedicate a specific part of your store for sampling products. A few Origins stores, for instance, have large sinks where customers can try out cleansers, lotions, and scrubs.

Not a fan of samples? Create an area where customers can hang out or have a lot of fun. Take for example, Forever 21 some of its stores have photo stalls where people can snap pictures between shopping.

In mean time, certain Disney stores have entertainment corners in their locations, where parents and children can lounge around and enjoy Disney movies and shows.

Consider any experiences that your customers would need to have in your store. What might make them need to hang out or stay longer? Discover the response to that and make it happen.

2. Make your store Instagrammable

The rise of photogenic pop up spaces like the Museum of Ice Cream demonstrates that the today’s customers would travel — and stick around — in spots that offer photo opportunities.

Modern customers love sharing their experiences via social media and forward thinking retailers are capitalizing by this by setting up Instagram walls in their stores.

Think about Morning Lavender, a retail location and bistro in Orange County, CA. Morning Lavender has an enormous flower wall in its location that customers love posing in front of.

Check whether you can do something comparable in your space. Make spaces in which customers can hang out and snap photos. Doing as such won`t simply get people to stick around, yet it can extend your social reach too.

3. Offer in-store services or classes

Help customers make use of your products by either assisting or teaching them. Consider cosmetics stores, for example, Mac and Sephora, which provide make up services on site. Customers are satisfied in light of the fact that they get a decent makeover, while the retailers can move products as well as connect and get to know customers better.

In the meantime, the Nike store at South Coast Plaza in California offers run analysis, bra fitting, pants hemming, and also personal shopping.

Another method would be hold classes. Sephora, for instance, holds free cosmetics and healthy skin classes in its stores. The topic ranges from beginners topics (e.g., "Makeup 101," skincare basics and so on.) to more advanced makeup tricks (e.g., contouring, eyelash wings, so forth.). What`s incredible about classes is that in addition to getting people to stick around, they also pave a natural path to make a purchase.

In Sephora`s case, the associates mention that people can purchase the products they use in the class. No one is required to purchase, though. Sephora`s team does a superb job of not putting any pressure on class attendees.

They do make it a point to catch up by means of email. Everybody who signs upwith Sephora class gets a message saying thanks to them for visiting, and the email includes links to the things they`ve tried, if the customer is keen in buying them.

4. Serve food and drink

A few retailers are experimenting with food and drink concepts to get customers to stick around. According to RetailDive, one example of this originates from Kohl`s, which started adding Kohl`s Cafes at its Menomonee Falls and Delafield, Wis. locations. Additionally, Urban Outfitters has partnered up with popular chefs so they can open in-store restaurants that are custom-made to local tastes of various markets.

Do take note of that your food and drink efforts don`t need to be big or fancy. In some cases, simply offering customers a bottle of water can do wonders. Feeling festive? Pop a bottle of champagne to serve in store.

5. Set up in-store charging stations

Looking to get your mobile centric customers to stick around? Try setting up charging stations in your stores. That is the thing that retailers, for example, Whole Foods, Neiman Marcus, and Under Armor are doing.

Business Insider reports that these stores are only a portion of the merchants using mobile charging stations to encourage people to head for their stores and actually stay there. The charging stations come with compartments where people can leave their mobile phones in while going out and about. Shoppers should do this "enter his or her telephone number, pick a security picture, select an available locker, keep your mobile phone, and plug it into the relevant charging chord."

As indicated by the Charge It Spot, one of the suppliers of above mentioned mobile charging stations, retailers that offer in-store charging spots saw a 54% conversion rate for customers completing a purchase while charging their devices.
So far, it appears that the solution is keeping the retailers and customers happy.
6. Strike a harmony between fast and convenient versus unhurried and experiential

You may have to cater two types of customers: the people who are intentional and need to get in and out quickly, and the people who are willing to stick around for beneficial experiences. The key is to find the balance and serve both.

Check out at what grocery chain Lowest Foods is doing. As indicated by the WSJ, the retailer’s “offers self-checkout and express lanes as an online order and delivery option for customers who are in a hurry. For the people who aren`t, 29 of its 94 stores offer options like clipping herbs from an in-store garden, samples at a craft beer bar and a "Chicken Kitchen" that features staff dance performances."

Target accomplishes something comparative at various locations. While the retailer has express lines and offers helpful services like in-store pickup, a large number of its branches have in-store dining and restaurants where customers can simply hang out.

7. Go beyond sales targets when incentivizing associates

While sales targets are extremely important, you may also want to consider metrics, for example, customer engagement. Think about Origins, which started testing new staff compensation plans that "rewards guides for how well they collect customer information from customers and keep in contact with them."

Doing so incentivizes the staff to concentrate on selling products, however to truly connect– and keep in touch– with customers.

If it makes sense for your business, check whether you can receive a similar strategy.

Conclusion:

Retail success isn`t just about attracting in people into your shop — it`s also about getting them to remain and buy. So, have a think about how you can do just that in your retail location. Would it be a good idea for you to offer product samples? Incorporate more services? Be more Instagrammable? Whatever the case, put your ideas to work and see what happens!
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