Seeing It From The Shopper’s Point Of View: Six Common Retail Tactics That Drive Customers Crazy
The thing is, more customers than ever before are familiar with them, and more importantly, irritated by them.
The challenge for modest retailers is to constantly boost their earnings at the same time steering clear of irritating their customers. That said, it is well worth reviewing the retail tactics customers find most annoying. Listed here are six of them:
#1 – The Time-Honored Upsell/Cross-sell
Retailers frequently train their staff to offer shoppers additional products at the checkout register. Occasionally, the tactic is a cross-sell (e.g. “Would you like fries with that?”). Sometimes, it’s as an upsell (e.g. “Would you care to super-size that?”). Consumers tend to detest both tactics. Many of them sympathize with the employees, who are trained and required to employ them. The shoppers’ irritation is typically aimed towards the merchant.
#2 – Products With The Wrong Prices
At most retail stores, merchandise with the incorrect costs affixed indicate a harmless error. The store’s personnel might have misapplied the incorrect price by accident, or are merely behind in their work. Occasionally, however, a shop may deliberately apply the wrong price with the hope that customers may fail to notice; this is obviously a poor approach. It erodes the trust shoppers have in the shop.
#3 – Monitoring “Savings”
The intention of this strategy is crystal clear: By informing the customer how much cash he or she saved on their purchase, the merchant hopes to encourage them to return. In some cases, the employee at the cash register is required to inform the customer. Other times, the savings are printed on the receipt.
The problem is, many shoppers are actually aware of their savings when they arrive at the checkout lane. Telling them the sum they ended up saving is needless.
#4 – Frequent Changes To Item Locations
This tactic is dangerous. The store will periodically – and sometimes, frequently – change the places of numerous goods. The purpose is to force shoppers to look for the products in the desire they will stumble across other merchandise that they choose to add to their baskets.
The good reason this approach is dangerous is because customers may become irritated to the level that they abandon the retailer. And this only hurts the retailer’s sales and profits.
#5 – Making Shoppers Trek To The Back Of The Store For The Most-Needed Items
This can be a typical tactic used in food markets. The products that shoppers consider to be essential are placed in the back of the shop. Here, the aim is to force customers to walk past items on their way to pick up the “necessities.” In doing so, the merchant hopes to compel them to buy additional merchandise.
This tactic is likely to continue for the foreseeable future since it has proven to be so successful. But it is worth noting since it irritates many customers.
#6 – Poor Placement Of Merchandising Displays
This consists of large end caps in addition to little stickers and signs. The displays inform the shopper that he or she can take advantage of a sale that’s active for a specific item. The customer grabs the item near the display, and takes it to the checkout counter to buy it. There, he or she is told the product they have delivered to the cashier is really not on sale; the shopper picked up the wrong item.
This usually happens innocently as shelves grow to be congested with items; but from time to time, merchants do this for the very same reasons they “unintentionally” use the incorrect prices. They hope to trick the shopper. This can be, naturally, a bad retail tactic.
Improving your retail business’s revenue and profit can be an ongoing obstacle. To that end, some of the strategies explained above are effective; but realize that using them is usually a balancing act given that they can bother your shoppers and jeopardize your relationship with them. Follow the steps listed above to avoid a business liquidation.
