How Your Grocery Store Can Improve Sales

You want your business to flourish and your sales to grow, but your sales have been stagnant. Developing a successful marketing strategy is no simple task—it takes research and creativity. However, there are many ways to go about increasing your revenue. Here is how your grocery store can improve sales beginning today.

Research Your Consumer

This may have been something you did when you first opened your business or are doing now as you start out with your venture. However, the fact is that your clientele will slightly shift over time. The best place to start with researching your local consumers is to observe the type of customer who frequents your grocery store. Note demographic items like age, race, and gender. Cross-reference your average sale amount for each purchase and the various extremes on both ends to understand what socio-economic groups you are catering to. Do people usually spend a lot or a little at your store? All of these factors can influence which items you promote day-to-day.

Also, try researching the local area. Go online and look up the demographics of your neighborhood. See if the people who are frequenting your store are in the majority or minority of people living in your area. Taking this into account will help you plan a marketing strategy tailored to the needs of those around your grocery store.

Analyze Your Sales

As mentioned before, look into your records to find helpful information about your business. When pouring over your sales reports, note your best-selling items, your best-selling high-priced items, and your best-selling low-priced items. Seeing what people are buying a lot of and what kind of items people are purchasing will help you see the needs your store meets for your customers. For example, if your grocery store has a large frozen food section and you notice a lot of sales from that section of the store, consider running promotional advertisements for frozen food products you sell. You could also consider running more promotions or sales in that aisle so high-traffic areas have a higher density of promotional information.

Think Like the Customer

One of the easiest ways to shift your marketing perspective and increase sales is to think like the customer. Walk in their shoes through your store. This will allow you to understand how a consumer navigates the aisles you have laid out for them. Notice things like signage, display tables, and decorations. Consumers are often most drawn to an item you display or promote because of its configuration, color, and placement. Think critically about how you display your products and where you display them. Is your display eye-catching and enticing? Would you notice promotional products if you were walking through the store intent on only buying the items on your grocery list?

Re-Organize Your Storefront

Do the aisles flow from one to another easily? Is there accurate and visible signage to help customers locate items? The layout of your grocery store is important. Your customer’s experience in your store is largely dictated by how easily they can find the items they are searching for and how quickly they can navigate through your aisles. If you have narrow aisles or frequent blockages, consider rearranging the way your aisles are spaced.

Walkthrough flow is not the only important part of storefront organization. Look to the aisles themselves and consider how the products are presented. Are the products brought fully to the front with ample supply behind the first item? Do the prices align with their corresponding item? Consider ordering new price tag holders for shelves like the ones we sell here at The Global Display Solution to better organize your storefront.

Run Promotions Consistently

You may have done promotions for a long time but only sporadically. Or, you may have been consistently running promotions but sparsely advertising them. The key to a successful promotional campaign is visibility and consistency. If your customers always feel like they are going to find deals at your store, they will come back to see what you have to offer. Also, think about having a weekly email that customers can sign up for which includes new coupons and sales. In this way, you are giving your customers yet another reason to come back that will surely improve your sales.

Train Your Staff

For many of the employees in your grocery store, you may have given them an initial training to learn how to do their job. Over time, they have become more efficient and effective at helping you operate your store. But there are many things you could be doing to help further train your staff and keep them engaged at work. When you launch new promotions, make sure to tell your staff and cashiers about the deals available to customers. This will help them bring up your promotions with people in your store them more easily and more often. Also, try training your employees on customer experience. If your customers have a positive, productive, and supportive experience at your grocery store, chances are they will think favorably about coming back.

Get Out in the Community

Not only will community engagement increase your brand recognition, but it will also improve your public perception. If people see your grocery store being involved in local schools, committees, and community improvement projects, they will feel more drawn to enter your store. Try researching local organizations or partnerships you can join. Many communities organize charitable events with donor support. Think about being one of those donors and get your logo co-branded on the event signage. As a grocery store, you are a purveyor of food products—among other things—so try supporting local food banks or donating perishable items to homeless shelters. People who see your store making an effort to help improve their community are more likely to support you in return.

These ideas for how your grocery store can improve sales are helpful, but they are only useful if you implement them consistently over time. You can try one of them or try them all. Each aspect of these marketing strategies ultimately relies on your understanding of your customers and reaching them where they are at. Building customer loyalty and increasing your revenue starts with a business that is driven to serve their consumers well.