What makes a consumer choose one product over another? How can we influence their purchasing decisions? Find out which tactics work best for influencing your customer's behavior. In this blog, we will unravel the strategies that will lead retailers to stand out.
This 2024, the consumer is the main character! The key? Two essential pillars that support sustaining customer satisfaction, ensuring healthy profit margins, and a satisfied customer are personalization and omnichannel marketing—which maximizes the customer experience through integrated communication channels. The U.S. retail market is at a defining stage, preceded by innovative trends that promise to transform customer behaviors.
Retailers are well aware that their customers are the ones who set purchasing trends, which undoubtedly makes them the center of attention. They expect better products, but more than anything, they want individualized service and more benefits from their loyalty programs.
This is the outcome of a genuine relationship between the business and its clients.
Today, understanding consumer preferences, their behavior patterns, and what motivates their purchase has become the main focus of successful companies. Retailers should concentrate on supplying high-quality products, influencing consumer decisions, and delivering exceptional customer service.
What’s consumer behavior?
💡 These are the actions and purchasing patterns of people to satisfy their needs when acquiring products and/or services.
Types of consumers
Nowadays, businesses must take into account the different types of consumers to satisfy their needs as efficiently as possible. Although they might have different behaviors, in the end, the retailer's only objective is to achieve the sale, based on a positive influence of decisions made and the motivations projected on the consumer to make a purchase.
Below we define these customers and what strategies to use:
Traditional consumers: purchases are oriented to physical stores.
For these customers, a product interaction experience, observing, asking questions, receiving personalized customer service from sales staff, and personalized recommendations are key.
Digital consumers: Their shopping preferences are oriented to acquiring products and/or services via the Internet. They have a desire to purchasing products but they have the opportunity to access several stores and buy products and check prices from home, at any time.
The most important thing for this consumer is that the websites, online customer service, and communication channels of the companies are reliable with their data.
Mixed consumers: They tend to buy where the product is most profitable.
Their consumption habits vary according to calendar dates and products offered. These customers can be targeted with great online offers and in-store discounts.
There's no doubt that retailers study the consumer to sell more and implement strategies that target consumer behavior to build loyalty.
How? There are multiple ways, including loyalty programs, strategies focused on communication channels and specialized and personalized attention.
Loyalty programs: This marketing strategy aims to reward the purchase behavior of your customers, which generates consumer loyalty and company or brand loyalty, in addition to driving business growth and increasing revenue, since customers value loyalty programs for the added value of receiving incentives and rewards for their purchases.
Omnichannel strategy: Integrate communication and sales channels. Through this strategy, customer service is a priority and is related to building a shopping experience and excellent customer service with an equal brand experience, regardless of the communication channel you choose.
The main keys to having successful communication and customer service channels.
Personalized communications: Keep customers loyal through optimal customer service. Call them by their given name. Define strategies in which they feel unique, for example: on their birthday, send them a loyalty card or a message with a discount voucher. Keep in mind that the company's brand voice should be reflected in the same way in all communications.
Technology infrastructures: Retailers must begin to create structures and strategies that allow customers to shop in-store physically as well as online, to cover a wider audience.
Hassle-free returns: It should be possible for customers to return items without having to comply with excessive demands. In addition, customers should be able to track store inventory in real-time, across all platforms.
Artificial Intelligence: The use of this technology in companies has become a great tool to optimize your processes and take them to an advanced level. Make a study of which are the ones that contribute most to the growth of businesses.
Post-sales customer service: Offering customer service following a sale, gives you the possibility of retaining your customers. Don't forget to habilitate channels where consumers can express their opinions. This information is valuable to improve your product and/or service.
Payment methods: Have a multifunctional payment system in which the company receives all types of payments: cash, debit cards, credit cards, and other state/government aid cards. Also, make sure it offers secure and fast payment equipment and terminals, and if it is via the web, provide the appropriate technology and confidence for electronic payments.
💡 You may also be interested in: Tips for better customer service.
Universum helps you to know more about your customers
Knowing your customer's shopping behavior is very easy with Universum's POS sales reports and, in addition to its equipment being able to adapt to any business, one of the bigger highlights is that it accepts all forms of payment, including cash, debit, and credit cards, EBT cards, WIC cards, and OTC Program Cards. This allows you to target your promotions to a certain industry and determine which payment methods are your client's preference.
If you would like to learn more about our benefits and services, feel free to contact a sales agent at 888-507-6614 or visit our website: www.universumsolution.com.
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