Shopping has taken an entirely new form in recent years. Shoppers these days don’t even need to get up and drive to the store to shop for clothes: you can lie down in bed and buy online. Shopping in this modern age is more aggressive, the competition more fierce, and the customers more discerning.
Wholesalers stand to gain more in the way of sales and customers with these modern shopping trends. By doing certain things to attract modern shoppers to your store, you can make more sales and get more exposure for your brand.
How To Attract Modern Shoppers
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Know what is important to shoppers
It may be a mistake to assume that modern shoppers are completely influenced by what they see online. Know how they think, and you will be able to generate sales. Technology, clothing, shoes, and other accessories are big sellers with modern shoppers. They might be willing to spend a lot of money on these items, but there are other items that modern shoppers aren’t willing to go over budget for. Knowing what is important to the customer will be beneficial to your wholesale business.
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Move your business online
An online presence helps businesses. Get a website, have a strong presence on social media, and you will get more customers. Your business should be easy to find on the web. Your website should contain relevant articles, testimonials and reviews for visitors to see and be informed. With a large percentage of people on their computers and hand held devices doing a myriad of things on the Internet, your business needs to have an online presence to be able to attract modern shoppers.
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Promotions and discounts are important
Promotions and discounts are a great way to get in more shoppers and customers. Stores like Walmart are flourishing because of their low-price offers, and they are still very profitable! Offering deals on products or services will get customers in the door, and if you offer good quality products then that can encourage them to go back.
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Sell home made products
A good number of customers are drawn to home made products. This is why sites like Etsy are thriving. Selling products that are not produced in a factory has a sense of personal touch which is very appealing to modern shoppers. Having a product that only a certain number of people own can be a good selling point and a motivating factor to sell home made products.
Attracting modern shoppers is different from taking them in and making them stay. Embracing the modern shopper is a process that is learned and improved in continuously, because the competition is there too, trying to get more customers and increase their sales.
Three Main Ways By Which You Can Embrace The Modern Shopper
#1 – Focus on Retaining Customers just as much as on Acquiring Customers
Embracing the modern shopper starts with attracting them, making a sale and keeping them. Happy customers are loyal customers, and it is much harder to get new customers than to keep existing customers. Measure the success of your wholesale business by how many customers you have been able to retain, rather than the customers you have acquired.
Customer retention also means an increase in profits, and to retain customers, you need to give them an experience that they won’t forget. Fast and helpful customer service, smooth website navigation, informative emails and periodic newsletters, personalised messages and tips… all these create a great experience for modern shoppers, making them stay and increasing your sales and profits.
#2 – Improve on Speed and Accuracy
Amazon has changed the face of fast delivery forever, making it fast and easy for customers. You need to step up your delivery game if you are going to compete with that.
Your ordering, payment, and delivery processes are all supposed to be smooth sailing for the customers. Modern shoppers do not appreciate waiting and inefficient systems. Customers also want to be able to pay with whatever method is convenient for them. If you do not have the options they want, chances are you will lose their patronage.
Modern shoppers like the ordering process to be smooth and fast, without any interruptions in the form of prompts asking them to sign up for something or to sign in before they can continue. The ability to track their order through their emails is also a welcome feature. Keeping customers updated about the whereabouts of their package is important.
Modern shoppers like fast delivery, but they also appreciate free delivery. If you can give your customers deals such as free delivery for certain items purchased, that will definitely boost your customer retention and your customer acquisition.
#3 – Convince them to stay, even after the sale
After-sale support is as important as pre-sale support. Most customers come back to you as a wholesaler because of the lovely experience they had. This is in addition to the product or service they purchased from you. Ignoring your customers after the sale will push them away. Staying in touch with relevant emails and newsletters and personalised messages will convince them to stay.
As a wholesaler, you can proffer advice to your customers on how to use the products or services they have purchased for maximum benefit, and aid them in how to convince their customers to buy the products from them, the retailers.
Modern shoppers have a lot of options to choose from, with the great rise in e-commerce and social media advertising. Adapting your wholesale business to embrace this new crop of shoppers will be of great benefit to your brand. It can help increase sales and customers. You should always remember that the customer needs come first always. The changes you make to embrace them will reflect positively on your wholesale business.
