Retail Operations
28 February 2022
The UK’s efforts bouncing back from Omicron paint an encouraging picture for retail recovery in 2022.
The loosening of restrictions has seen more consumers heading to the high street which is driving footfall back to stores. Footfall in London’s West End alone was up 10% week-on-week between January and February. Additionally, in January sales rose by 3.6% above pre-pandemic levels – the biggest monthly increase since the lockdown was lifted in Spring 2021!
While these are certainly welcoming signs for the retail sector, retail is clearly still in recovery mode and so it’s vital to focus on conversion, so every shopper that enters your stores counts.
And it’s not just about recovering from the last couple of years – it’s a fact of retail life that footfall can be unreliable, so retailers should always be prepared for bad days. In just one weekend in February 2022, footfall dropped by 32% with the abrupt arrival of Storm Eunice, which dented the expected lift that the February half-term holidays usually gives stores.
So, even though footfall is recovering – there’s lots of catching up to do to make up for the last few years, and ways to be prepared for periods of low footfall.
Combat Low Footfall by Maximising Conversion Rates
In our “Retail Recovery Plan” eBook, we looked at the challenges of managing diminished footfall and restrictions in store capacity – a focus on conversion was a key priority for all store teams. While these problems are thankfully largely in the past, it’s still essential to make the most of every single potential customer that walks through the door – and there are some simple ways to improve conversion rate and maximise sales throughout this recovery.
Ensure your Teams Deliver a Great Store Experience
Your store teams are the key to driving conversion and there are two key areas StorIQ have identified that will help them make the most of every customer:
StorIQ Academy – our new Learning Management System – supports retailers to empower their store teams through this period of recovery. Retail teams can easily create training courses, with engaging content and quizzes for store teams to complete. It is easy to use and works perfectly alongside the StorIQ Enterprise application.
StorIQ have developed the StorIQ Academy to help train, engage and motivate your store team. If you’d like to see how it works and how it can support you engage your store teams, then you can request a demo with the team or contact us at marketing.team@storiq.net.
Free up time for your store teams
One of the best ways to support your store teams to drive conversion is to free up time so they can spend more time with customers.
StorIQ can save time for store teams by digitising processes – think opening and closing checks, or weekly trade updates – and streamlining fragmented communications with head office teams.
If your store teams know exactly what they need to do – through clear communications and an effective training program – and they’re not wasting time searching for information, emailing head office and filing paper checks and guidelines – you can be sure that you’ll give them more time on the shop floor, and more chance of maximising every single contact with every customer who come into your store.
Looking for clear communication to inspire and engage store teams? Click here to see what our platform could do for you!
