Brick and mortar stores are still incredibly popular in 2024. With over 1 million ‘private retail establishments’ still active in the market, it’s clear the competition isn’t going anywhere any time soon. That’s why you need to focus on driving your management skills to the highest level.
The better a physical store is managed, the happier its visiting customers are, and the further your reputation will spread through word of mouth. When someone has a good experience with you, they’re going to mention you to their friends, who are also very likely to live in the area.
Hire Plenty of Staff
It might seem like an unnecessary expense right now, but hire plenty of staff – business emergencies are much more frequent than any of us would like to believe! Think about all the times you’ve been called in on a day off in the past; now you’re the owner, phoning around could quickly become your reality.
Address this possibility early on. Say you want to hire to fill a team of three – make sure there’s a fourth alternate waiting in the wings, just in case someone calls in sick or finds themselves a new job at very little notice. You then have backup to call for if a shift needs covering or you need to fill gaps in the schedule while you go through the hiring process once again.
Bring the Checkout to Them
If the staff at the till are busy, with the line steadily building and traffic backing up round the store, you’re going to need to bring the checkout to your customers where they are. That means you’ll need to invest in a mobile POS. Thankfully there are plenty of mobile payment solutions available here; all you need to do now is subscribe to the one that works for your kind of company.
Investing in a mobile solution can do wonders for the customer experience. When you’re able to move the checkout, you keep crowd flow on the straight and narrow, and remove the frustration from trying to navigate a store that’s already segmented into aisles. You also have the chance to curate more personal interactions, put a smile on a customer’s face, and give them a positive memory to remember you by.
Network with Suppliers
Becoming friends with the vendors you rely on to fill the stock room can carve out a whole host of benefits for you in the market. You get the first pick of their produce, you’re the first to know about disruptions in the supply chain, and you get the best deals that no other client has any access to.
Long story short, the more you get to know your suppliers, the more discounts they’ll be willing to throw your way. That can save you thousands per year, which is very nice for a small business’ budget.
If you’ve got a brick and mortar store on the mortgage deed, manage it well with tips and tricks like these.