To a good many younger shoppers, the grocery shop looks dated and unappealing, and nowhere near as convenient as walking into a convenience store, a department store or a large shopping centre that stocks almost every kind of product going. The result is that many modern grocery shops have watched their sales fall away steadily, and with an economy in which consumers are far less willing to spend than they once were, a good number have closed their doors for good.
If you own a grocery shop facing exactly this and you want to turn it from an also-ran into the shop everyone wants to drop into, the answer is to upgrade the traditional grocery shop into an upgraded one, a shop that not only survives but sells more. So what does a shop owner actually need to change? Today we have six tricks for lifting grocery shop sales and standing up to the new convenience stores in 2023.
1. Make the most of online marketing
Whether your grocery shop has been trading since your parents' day or you are only just starting out, never overlook online marketing. This kind of marketing is not only for modern products or big brands: it suits grocery shops selling everyday consumer goods just as well. Shop owners can make a start easily by opening a Facebook Fanpage or a LINE Official Account to get the shop known, introduce products and announce promotions to drive sales, and by pinning the shop on Google Maps. That alone helps new customers discover you and lifts your grocery shop's sales.
2. Sign up to a delivery app
Another technology that has driven up sales for restaurants and modern grocery shops over the past few years is the delivery app. Services such as Grab, LINE MAN and Robinhood act as the middleman, collecting what the customer wants from your shop and taking it to their front door. The fuller your range, the better the chance customers choose your shop through the app, and they may well become regulars in person later on.
3. Draw customers in with products they cannot find elsewhere
Beyond using technology to drive sales, one thing a grocery shop owner must not forget is the products themselves. As well as carrying everyday goods across plenty of categories and brands, try stocking something new and different, or something suited to the customers in your area, such as organic products, handmade goods or whatever happens to be trending. Combine that with promoting the shop on social networks and you have another route to more sales.
4. Keep the shop clean, bright and inviting
Plenty of stock counts for little if the shop itself is uninviting; that alone is enough for customers to pass you by. Owners should therefore take the layout seriously: paint the walls a bright colour such as white or cream, fit enough lighting to keep the shop well lit, keep the shelves tidy, clean the shop regularly and, most importantly, face up and restock the shelves consistently so customers can shop easily. All of this shapes the impression customers take away, and can turn them into regulars without much effort at all.
5. Offer extra services as an option for customers
The main reason so many people today turn their backs on the grocery shop and head to a department store is that the shopping centre has everything they need in one place: shops, restaurants, a bank, a barber and other services besides. You can borrow that strategy to upgrade your own grocery shop. Adding services such as a coin laundry, an ATM or a drinking water machine will lift your grocery shop's sales from the people who come in to use them.
6. Use a POS system to run the grocery shop
The last trick for upgrading a grocery shop into a modern one and growing its sales is to adopt a shop management or POS (Point of Sale) system, which lets you run the shop like a professional: sales, stock, best sellers, customers' purchase histories, and a membership scheme to widen your base of regulars. It also accepts a range of payment methods, cash and QR code alike, giving customers a fresh impression of a more convenient service and leading to sustained growth in grocery shop sales.
Want to put a system in place and upgrade your shop into a modern grocery shop, one that impresses customers and leads to steady growth in sales? Choose the retail POS system from Qashier, the smart assistant that makes running a grocery shop easier than it has ever been, cutting out steps in the day-to-day work, organising stock and analysing customer data effectively. For more information, reach us on LINE Official: @qashier.th or call 02-544-0267