When you come to work every day, do you think about the impression your store makes on customers?
Those impressions can start long before they walk through the door. Whether it’s the parking lot your customers pull in to, or the business Facebook page they check before getting into the car, customers have many interactions with your store.
If you’re looking for ways to make your convenience store stand out from the competition, you need to make the most of every one. From the front door to the restroom in back, no contact points should be overlooked.
Auditing all your store’s customer contact points can take a long time. But focusing on just a few critical ones can make a big difference in how your store is perceived. Here are several ways to quickly improve your customers’ experiences. See if they don’t help improve your sales.
Have multiple store entrances.
Some c-store owners are reluctant to have more than one way in and out of their store, believing that any more than that could be a security risk. But multiple entrances are often more inviting to customers, allowing them to head right to the areas with the products they’re most interested in.
For example, if you have a food service area, having an entrance dedicated to it means that hungry customers won’t have to walk through the aisles of cleaning supplies or over-the-counter medications to find what they’re looking to eat. It saves them time. And that makes them happy.
Offer your customers a quicker, more enjoyable shopping experience, and they’re more likely to return.
Send customer traffic past your higher margin items.
As a c-store owner, you know where your highest margin products are. From cold drinks to snacks and hot foods, it pays to ensure that customers are routed past these profitable impulse items.
That’s why we encourage store owners to stock 5-hour ENERGY® on the front counter, where almost every customer stops on their way out. Few products have the household recognition, margins and demand of 5-hour ENERGY.
Your store should be laid out so it’s easy for customers to find the items you want them to buy. Use signs and promotions to draw traffic to the items you want to sell more of. If needed, move slower-selling, lower margin products away from your most popular items. If a customer really needs a low-margin product, they’ll find it.
Make your store an enjoyable place to shop.
Almost everyone has been to a c-store that’s cluttered and confusing, with aisles that are tough to navigate and merchandise that appears to be placed without much thought. Don’t let your store be one of them.
Customers appreciate stores that are well-lit and well laid out, with tidy shelves and organized aisles. They’re more pleasant to shop at and make customers more likely to linger. And the longer they stay, the more likely they are to spend money.
Another way to make your store an inviting environment: play music in the background. Stores have long piped in music to keep customers shopping. Subscription streaming services can help you create a playlist tailored to your customers’ listening habits. And unlike playing a local radio station in your store, with a subscription service you can insert commercials that only advertise your store’s weekly specials – not your competition’s.
Just don’t have the volume so high that the music becomes a distraction. Keep it loud enough that shoppers notice it, but low enough that it doesn’t annoy them.
Spruce up your point-of-sale.
If your front counter is cluttered, and customers must search to find the items you sell there, you’re losing sales opportunities. Overhaul your main register and counter to make it appealing and easy for you and your customers to find what they’re looking for.
It should only take a moment for customers to spot the items they want. If it takes longer than that, you risk them losing interest – and losing the sale. Don’t let that happen. Keep your points of sale clean and clear.
And remember that the front counter is an ideal spot for a clean, organized 5-hour ENERGY sales rack. Keep the candy, gum and other merchandise elsewhere and ensure that the most popular 5-hour ENERGY flavors are within customers’ reach.
