Running a store is hard enough at any given time of year – retail requires rigorous managerial presences to guarantee that the floor is stocked and ready to go with the most popular products. There’s no need to stress, so long as retailers keep a thing or two in mind during the busiest times for shopping, namely the holiday season.
You Should Embrace The Rushes
Christmas is the most dreaded, but nevertheless exciting, time of year for business owners working in retail. Indeed, after Black Friday, things can get quite messy at malls across North America, with many people scuttling to and fro, in search of the perfect gifts for their loved ones.
Because the rush of shoppers is potentially unending on any given day, it’s vital that your store be prepared for hectic scenarios in which long waits form. There’s little room for error when everyone is at wit’s end, so you need to know that your necessities are in check. And yet, what this means is a successful business is in the making.
Make Sure Cashing Out Is Simple
Lineups and frustrations increase when cash registers are slow. If you’ve ever been to a store or restaurant where the “network is down” or “the debit machine is slow today,” you know just how trying that can be. It’s important to avoid this kind of situation at all costs, otherwise customers will be less inclined to return.
More specifically, ensure that your store has a fresh set of POS (Point of Sales) terminal machines and software. Without integral components like this at your side, cashing folks out will be a hassle. Card reading errors, network interruptions, and interface freezing are all problems that can only be avoided by maintaining a cleanly, organized, and up to date check-out.
By opting for a wireless debit or credit terminal, for instance, you free up a great deal of space and make it more convenient for customers to move around and organically form lineups. Moreover, the extra space means you can have additional spaces for displaying your merchandise – having extra items for sale near the cash register is always ideal, insofar as it encourages more purchases.
It’s Important to Try Online Alternatives
Having an online counterpart to your brick-and-mortar shop can be one of the most rewarding aspects of the web. Entrepreneurs who expect high sales frequencies ought to make the most of the digital age. Not only can this take a bit of pressure off of your retail employees, you can expect to make more sales this way, simply due to the convenience of a webstore.
Indeed, it’s simple for customers to use something like a debit or credit card to pay online. Hybrid debit/credit cards are becoming increasingly popular with each passing year – not only do these have a sixteen-digit number, but they also resemble credits insofar as they contain a CVV (Card Verification Value).
This means that customers without credit cards, properly speaking, are able to make purchases and employ the privileges of people with higher credit scores. This is all to say that retailers ought to consider the benefits of online stores, which couple security and convenience with the openness of different payment options.
Training Is Key
Insofar as the rush is endless, it’s important to be prepared, for there is little room for error when a line is continuously building before your cashier’s eyes, for example. Preparation is, of course, necessary, but you need to go above and beyond the bare necessities of employee and managerial procedures. For instance, MALAQY GROUP is a renowned merchant processing service provider; they offer only the best hardware and software for retailers, and just about anywhere transactions occur.
Teaching your employees how to feel and act during a rush isn’t as effective as providing them with the tools and know-how to handle high-stress incidents. The only way for a manager to authentically train an employee is to throw them into a scenario with which they must deal, despite how many customers are involved. For example, employees must know the ins and outs of all software being used to make sales – everything from inventory searches to debit processing procedures are fair game for memorization.
Nevertheless, by offering equipment, like a brand-new POS device, you can improve the dynamic of just about any storefront. By revolutionizing a store’s infrastructure, you can easily add new training policies that will advance employees as the nature of retail changes.
Not only is being tech-savvy a transferable skill for you and your employees to enjoy, it will boost the overall efficiency of store operations. Whether you install an iPad POS, a mobile POS, or a more general tablet with Bluetooth capabilities, you’re offering a whole lot more than a trendy device – ultimately, what’s at stake is peace of mind.
Strategically updating one’s point of sales systems is an excellent way to not only improve sales, but also to demonstrate to your clientele precisely how efficiently and comfortably a shopping experience can be, even in the midst of a stressful holiday season.
