What is conversion in a stationary store and how to increase it?

A customer who wants to buy a product he needs today does not have to limit himself to one store with the desired assortment. On the contrary: if he can't find the goods in a stationary store, he can easily order them from one of the many online stores. For sellers, this means one thing - the need to compete with companies offering similar goods. This competition is very high today, so it is worth considering how to effectively increase conversion in the stationary store, and thus, compete for higher profits.

What is a conversion in a stationary store?

Before we hint at how to increase conversions in a store, let's start with a brief explanation of the term. The term conversion is used to describe the performance of an action by a potential customer that is desired by the advertiser or, in the case at hand, the owner/vendor in an online store. Most often, we will simply call a conversion in a stationary store (the same is true of e-commerce stores) the purchase of selected products by customers.

At this stage, it's also useful to know what a conversion rate is: it's an indicator that shows what the actual relationship is between the number of conversions and the number of people who could potentially make a conversion. Let's assume that 100 people visited your store yesterday, but only 10 made a purchase. The conclusion is simple: the conversion rate is 10%.

High or low? The answer, unfortunately, is not as simple as you might think. It all depends on what kind of assortment your store offers. Clothing and accessory stores can be expected to achieve higher conversions than electronics stores. Buying electronics tends to be a bigger expense that needs thorough consideration. Besides, a computer or phone is not changed as often as individual items of clothing. To sum up: a satisfactory conversion in an apparel store can have a completely different level than in a cosmetics or grocery store. Thus, the conversion rate largely depends on what products are in demand.

How then to assess whether the conversion rate achieved by the stationary store is satisfactory? Try comparing it to the overall performance of your industry. Then in black and white you will gain information on how you compare with the competition.

How to increase conversion in a stationary store?

Have no idea what an effective increase in sales in a stationary store should look like? Wondering how to improve conversion in your stationary store? If you don't have a problem with the number of visitors, but a lot of traffic doesn't translate into purchase value, it's worth considering how to change this. For stationary stores, a few key factors can be crucial.

MERCHANDISING. Properly used merchandising can have a very positive impact on customers' purchasing decisions. This term is used to describe ensuring the availability of products on store shelves, their proper placement in the store area, clear price descriptions or maintaining brand display standards. In practice, merchandising can include, among other things:

• multifacing - setting the same products in groups, making the assortment appear fuller and more abundant,
• fejsing - moving products lined up on shelves forward, thus eliminating empty spaces that can give the impression of insufficient supply,
• Cross-selling - placing thematically related products next to each other, such as notebooks and computer mice or coffee and milk frother, thus increasing the chance that a customer buying product A will remember that he also needs product B.

Merchandising is so important to the value of the conversion rate that it is definitely worth entrusting it to specialists who will take care of the proper positioning of goods.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. Taking care of customer experience, i.e. the customer experience also has a big impact on the store's sales results. Conversion in a retail store will largely depend on how the shopper evaluates the sales process. As a store owner, you must take care of a clear pricing policy - the customer should have no problem finding information on the cost of individual items. Besides, an important element is a competent staff, ready to advise on the choice of products. Also think through the legitimacy of including samples with purchases. Moreover, your store must be clean and aesthetically decorated.

It is also important that the staff is able to decongest the checkout queues as quickly as possible, and preferably - do not allow them at all. Annoyed by the long wait, the customer may simply give up shopping, or even if this time he decides to complete the transaction and wait in line, there is a good chance that he will not return to your store again, having in mind the recent experience. In many cases, implementing self-service checkouts will be a reasonable solution.

PROMOTIONS AND RABATS. It is obvious that customers want to buy cheaper. Organizing attractive promotions (to promote them, it is worth using the solutions provided by experience marketing) helps to attract consumers' attention and build their loyalty. It is of fundamental importance in the case of regular customers, who, due to a longer relationship, often expect special treatment. It is therefore worth considering the introduction of, for example, a loyalty card entitling to discounts or an attractive loyalty program.

For stationary stores, it is also a good idea to invest in a professional retail audit. Such audits often use the "mystery shopper" technique to assess how the level of customer service is.

SUMMARY: the battle for customers is today the daily bread of stationary stores, regardless of what kind of assortment they offer. Wanting to increase conversion, or, in the simplest terms, sell more, it is worth paying attention to proper merchandising, the shopper experience, especially in terms of the level of customer service, and the attractiveness of discounts and price promotions.