How to Improve Experiential Retail On A Budget

Once again, the fickle attentions of the consumer have turned away from the traditional retail experience into what has become known as “experiential retail.” If this new buzzword turns your blood cold, think again, as it can actually have a very positive effect on your business. 

Consumers want more from their favourite shops than a simple transaction in exchange for goods. For better or for worse, this has opened a new way for businesses to interact with their customers and encourage repeat business. 

There are many questions about experiential retail that this blog aims to answer. We’ll be exploring the concept in detail and see how experiential retail is changing the customer experience. 

What is experiential retail? 

The problem with defining experiential retail is that it is a very broad term. It essentially describes adding an interactive or immersive experience to your store. While the overall goal is to bring more people into your business and drive sales, with experiential retail it’s just as important to engage your customers. 

Some experiential retail examples would include special instore events, live performances from musicians or actors, digital experiences such as AR and VR integrations, and community events. Experiential retail can essentially be anything you can think of that would get your business out there in an interesting and engaging way.  

Experiential retail can also refer to customer experience. This is a very simple concept that refers to how a customer feels after interacting with your business. Questions to consider with this side of experiential retail include: 

• Were your customers greeted when they walked in?
• Is your physical store easy to navigate around in? 
• Could your customer easily find the item they were looking for? If not, was a member of staff on hand to help?
• If you run a clothing store, were the dressing rooms clean and tidy?
• Is your brick-and-mortar store a pleasant place to be? 
• Was the transaction to buy their items simple, quick, and easy? 

Always bear these questions in mind when considering the shopping experience in your business. These ideas will also apply to your online shop (if you have one), so they really are important.

Improving experiential retail without a large budget

Improving the experiential retail design essentially means making improvements to your store that benefit the customer. Making improvements will always cost a little money but there’s no reason for them to have to break the bank. There are a few simple and cheap ways you can build a better store experience in your business.

Keep everyone happy 

Customer service is an essential part of the retail experience. Your employees will be more inclined to offer your customer good service if they’re happy in their job. This means that if you make your business a nice place to work, you’ll also make it a nice place to shop. 

Sit down with your employees and see if they have concerns or complaints about how the business is run. Once you have an understanding of what needs to change, make the effort and implement the processes. These changes could be as simple as building better staff rotas with electronic point of sale (EPOS or POS) integrations like Workforce.com.

Build a pleasant environment 

Sometimes, the difference between a successful business and an unsuccessful one can come down to the atmosphere. Improving the atmosphere within a business can be achieved on a low budget. 

Ensure that your shop design is bright and easy to move around in. Unless your store serves a specific subculture, paint the walls a brighter colour and play happy, uplifting music. Your staff should present an air of friendly helpfulness to your customers. 

Engage with your customers 

People are more likely to shop in your business if they feel like they have a personal connection with your store. You can build this relationship by engaging with them using a variety of cheap options. 

Encourage them to leave you ratings and reviews on Google. Ask them to sign up to your mailing list and engage them with surveys. If you have an Epos Now POS system, you can even use helpful integrations like Mailchimp to reach your entire mailing list at the click of a button. 

Encourage customer loyalty 

Loyalty is one of the biggest experiential retail trends. As we mentioned above, consumers are looking for a more personal relationship with the places they shop. Loyalty programmes, such as the ones you can create with Loyalzoo, are a great way to build that relationship. 

Depending on what your shop sells, you can offer different loyalty rewards. For instance, a vape shop could offer a free refill of vape juice, or a clothing store could offer a certain percentage off their next purchase. 

Customers love speedy transactions

In today’s fast-moving world, your business needs to move quickly and efficiently to serve the needs of your customers. With the Epos Now Complete Solution, you can serve customers in seconds and manage every aspect of your business from one device. 

If you’re interested in seeing how Epos Now can help your business, get in touch with our expert team below.