Point-of-sale marketing

POS marketing is a successful business strategy to boost sales. It can also raise brand awareness and cultivate customer loyalty. Primarily it is done at your point of sale (checkout counter), where your customers make their final purchasing decision. It entails employing various strategies to influence those decisions.

Here is where promoting should be used to get more sales. It is also called Point-of-Sale Marketing,in-store advertising or marketing in stores. It aims to boost sales by increasing the basket size. There are a lot of different kinds of POS marketing, but the most common ones are as follows in-store marketing:

In-store advertising

Signage is a POS showcasing that utilises signs and flags to publicise items. Often this promotes new products, special deals, or seasonal sales.  This, for example, is probably the most successful sign ever.

Displays for merchandise

These are used inside the shop to feature items in an appealing and coordinated manner to draw clients. You will often see them in the corners of supermarkets.

Bundling

Item bundling often is an excellent way of getting something for dead stock.

Impulse purchases

Products close to the checkout counter may encourage customers to buy last-minute items. Generally, they should be low-priced, high-margin and highly demanded products. To find them for your shop, check your top-selling items.

Cross-selling

At the point of sale, cross-selling involves recommending complementary products to customers. This strategy boosts customer loyalty and raises the basket size. Your sales companion reports can help here.

Special discounts

Discounts, coupons, and loyalty programs are all examples of special offers that may entice customers to buy more.

Promoting special offers

Businesses can push special promotions, discounts, or bundle deals. Even better to move seasonal or current items.

Establishing a loyalty scheme

Businesses can increase customer loyalty and customer satisfaction.

Point-of-Sale Marketing Best Practices

A few best practices should be followed when implementing POS marketing. These are some:

Keeping it basic

POS marketing should be straightforward to comprehend as the customers only have a little time here. It is an instant decision, so anything complex will fail because of a lack of time. Your offer should be easy for customers to understand and take advantage of.

Testing and evaluating outcomes

Try testing a few different products to see what works. This will ensure the marketing's most significant effectiveness.

Marketing at the point of sale with technology

POS marketing can be made more effective with the help of technology. For instance, your POS Software can manage loyalty programs and gift cards.

Look for ideas

Walk through large retailers and see what they do. As you go through their shop, ask yourself, why would I put these items here if I were a retail expert?

Conclusion

Point-of-sale marketing is a potent instrument that boosts sales and customer satisfaction.

Executive Summary

> POS marketing is a strategy that influences customer purchasing decisions.
> It is used to increase sales and cultivate customer loyalty.
> Some common types of POS marketing include in-store advertising, cross-selling and upselling, and special promotions.
> Please keep it simple
> Test and measure results
> Use technology.

April is always a problem for retailers as it has a few holidays that confuse the public on whether you are open. So Australian retailers must communicate their operating hours on those days to their customers.

The first one is Good Friday, April 7th, 2023. Tell people with in-store signage now if your business is open on Good Friday. This will help ensure that they don't go elsewhere.

Easter Monday, April 10th, 2023, is another one.

Finally, there is ANZAC Day on April 25th, 2023. If you are open on that day, consider putting a picture prominently in your shop of one of your ancestors in military uniform. It will make a talking point.

Also, consider promoting some goods for these holidays; the lead-in to Easter is generally a good shopping day.

Consider how it hurts if you lose business when you are open and the customer goes elsewhere because they thought you were closed.

As a retailer, you always look for ways to boost sales and attract more customers. With Easter almost here, you have a fantastic opportunity to capitalize on the expected surge in spending.

According to research by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) in collaboration with Roy Morgan, Australians plan to spend more than $1.7 billion on Easter-related items this year, an increase of more than 14.5% compared to Easter 2022. Despite cost-of-living pressures, people are coming out of COVID and are keen to indulge in Easter treats.

How you can prepare for the Easter spending boom:

Stock up on Easter-related items. Australians intend to indulge in Easter treats, so ensure that your store is well-stocked with Easter-related things. Consider stocking up on Easter-themed decorations and gifts to attract more customers.

Put a sign up that you are offering Easter-specific items to entice customers to buy from you. 

Create an Easter-themed display: A great way to attract more customers is to create an eye-catching display in your store. Use Easter-themed decorations to make your store more engaging and interactive.

Need some ideas

See what worked last year in your shop

Go to Register reports.

Now pick "Top N Stock Sales for a Given Period."

In the form, enter from 9 April 2022 to 19 April 2022. As these items worked for you then, they should work for you again this year.

Key points:

> Retailers can increase sales and attract more customers in the Easter spending boom.

> This year, Australians plan to spend more than $1.7 billion on Easter-related goods, a 14.5% increase from Easter 2022.

> Stock up on Easter-related things and consider Easter-themed enrichments and gifts to attract more clients.

> Put a sign up that you are offering Easter-explicit things to captivate clients to buy from you.

> To get more customers into your store, create a display with the Easter theme that stands out.

> For inspiration for this year, look at your shop's top N stock sales during the Easter holiday the year before.

Easter is a great day to shop in retail as its holiday season is short, so sales can be impressive.

Every inch of your store, including the front counter, should be utilised to its full potential as a retailer. Your greeting card sales can increase by being displayed there. So increase sales by having a small stand for greeting cards at the front counter. This makes it easy for people in your shop to add cards to their purchases.

Why have a greeting card stand for the front counter?

The front counter is a region that all clients visit while buying. It is the most profitable and marketable place in the shop. Customers often wait and look around to see what else you offer. A card is a great addon to buy with many goods. By doing this, you are making it simple for your customers to buy your greeting cards.

Which Cards Should Go in this Stand?

It is only a small stand. You may have many cards in another part of the shop, but most have not selected them so you are giving them a second chance to buy a card. To do that you must ensure that the cards you offer are suitable for impulsive purchases. So it would be best if you were careful here what to offer.

Birthday cards account for approximately 60% of all card sales, so they go on the stand. They have many designs ranging from lighthearted, humorous, sentimental and sincere so you can include many types.

About 20% of all sales are of seasonal cards, for example, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Father's Day. Since these cards are only needed at certain times of the year, you must keep replacing them here at the appropriate times.

The remaining categories, such as sympathy, wedding, and thank-you cards, individually they make up less than 5% of sales each. Maybe consider including a few generic all-purpose cards, such as congratulations or thinking of you cards, that can be used for many occasions instead.

How to Install Your Stand Installing a stand for your greeting cards.

This is simple and requires little investment. You'll need a little presentation stand. Card companies can often provide this to you for free or at a nominal cost. If not, you can get one on eBay.

Using the stand.

Now you will need to arrange your cards once you have your stand. The most crucial factor is ensuring customers can see and grab them while standing at the front counter since it is an impulsive sale. Bunch cards by type and ensure that every type is clearly shown. Use signage to emphasise the types on offer. Now make sure your stand is clean and well-kept. Most of my clients sell quality items and should be treated with respect. Restock your cards frequently and cut any that aren't selling well. This will guarantee that your customers will always find your stand appealing and up-to-date.

Using Sales Reports to Improve Your Stand.

It's essential to keep track of your sales and use this data to improve your stand to determine which cards are selling well and which aren't. Use your sales reports. You only want your top-selling cards here. Using this information, you'll be better able to choose which cards to include in your stand. The report that can quickly give you your top sellers. Go to the top N stock report, which you can find in the register reports here.

We then put in a period. As a rule, I suggest running this report monthly for this, so select the last 4 weeks. Now you will have your list of cards nicely ordered by quantity, profit and sales.

Summary

> A greeting card stand at the front counter can help boost profits and impulsive purchases.

> Since birthday cards sell 60% of all cards, they should be on the stand.

Christmas and Valentine's Day cards, as well as other seasonal ones, ought to be included and changed as necessary.

> Make use of a presentation stand. Mark the cards by type so that they are simple to see.

> Remove any cards that aren't selling well

> Keep the stand clean and well-stocked.

> Adjust the stand based on the results of sales reports to determine which cards are selling well and which aren't.

Give it a go!

Gift boxes and wraps can be effective tools for growing your business. They not only sell well and have high margins, but they also offer several other benefits that can help build your shop and bring in new customers.What they do is that they make it simple for customers to buy from you. They can buy a ready-to-use, pre-curated gift box rather than figure out how to present it. Customers who are pressed for time or do not know how to package something will find this a particularly appealing option. Gift boxes have the extra advantage of fostering customer loyalty. You can promote a positive association by providing thoughtful gift boxes of high quality. 

Price points

You need first to review what price points work in your shop. Remember, here you are, looking at a better-than-average spender.

Choose Your Themes

Choosing your themes is the first step in creating a curated gift box. Birthdays, anniversaries, and other celebrations are among the most common. These themes have the advantage of being seasonal. If you don't sell them before Mother's Day, you'll be stuck with them unless you get a sale or a return.

Choose Your Products

Look for items that are popular and trendy and match your theme. If you had a range, that would be ideal. Do not worry if they are too cheesy, corny, trite, or overly romantic. The packaging for these boxes should be extravagant, high-quality, and reminiscent of a gift because they will be given with gifts.

You can also sell some extras, such as

> Some coloured crinkle-cut paper shreds to fill the boxes and cushioning.

> Elegant ribbons

Your computer can print labels, but it is probably better to sell stickers that people can use to label the boxes.

> Greeting Cards

If they buy a box or wrap, they need some greeting cards too.

Show your boxes

You must show your customers that you have them. Please do not place them in the back where nobody can see them. People won't buy them from you if they don't know you have them.

Monitor your sales

Like everything, you need to watch your sales to see how the products go for you in the shop. What does not work needs to go. Your computer can do this.

A summary

Gift boxes have the potential to assist in business expansion. They can draw in new clients. After all, people seek a way to make their gifts different and creative. Organized gift boxes and wraps are an extraordinary method for doing this.

Why not give your customers a selection of such items?

Understand the Customer Mindset to Make Your Products More Giftable

People buy gifts for various reasons, all year round, such as:

Celebrating special occasions: Gifts are a way to celebrate special events like birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and graduations.

Expressing love and affection: People often buy gifts to express love and appreciation towards family, friends, or romantic partners.

Showing appreciation: Gifts can also be used to show gratitude towards someone for their help, support, or hard work.

Strengthening relationships: Giving gifts is a way to strengthen relationships by showing that you care and value the other person.

Cultural and social norms: In some cultures, giving gifts on certain occasions or showing respect to elders or authority figures is customary.

The point is that its all year long.

It is essential to understand that people often look for presents for others rather than themselves. This means that they may have different priorities and preferences when shopping. For example, they may be more interested in finding something unique or sentimental. This industry survey will help you select and promote your giftable products effectively.

Here are some tips for making your products more giftable:

Make sure your giftable products are displayed prominently in your store. Consider using eye-catching displays or signage to draw attention to the products. Highlight any particular features or benefits that make them great gifts.

Use attractive packaging Packaging can make a big difference in making your products more giftable. Examine items for their packaging. Make sure the packaging is high-quality and reflects the style and quality of your brand.

Personalize the experience. Personalization can add an extra touch that makes your products more memorable. Offer a bundle with a card with each sale. This can make your products more unique and increase the chances customers will return to your store for future gift-giving needs.

Offer free gift-wrapping. Gift wrapping can make your products more appealing and increase customers' likelihood of purchasing from you. Ensure the wrapping is high-quality and offers many options for different preferences.

Make a gift stand

It is essential to attract customers to maintain engaging retail displays. One method for doing this is by adding new things to the showcase stand. Customers are encouraged to return to see what's new to create a sense of novelty and excitement.

Yet, developing a practical display stand that piques customers' interest and inspires them to buy takes time.

Consider colour, lighting, positioning, and aesthetics when designing the display stand. These are flagship products. The goal is to create a pleasing display, show off the products in their best light, and make it easy for customers to browse and buy.

Experimenting with various product arrangements will help keep the display interesting and fresh. A simple rearranging of the stand to give it a new look and feel can do it.

Create a dedicated category in your Point of Sale (POS) software for this stand to track sales effectively. This allows you to collect sales information and make informed decisions as you know what is happening so you can adjust your marketing strategies as you see what is working. You can then set up custom reports and alerts within your POS software in real time, allowing you to make adjustments and take action as needed.

Having the same product in many locations might be necessary. Although it may appear counterintuitive, this has been demonstrated to boost sales as it increases the item's visibility to customers who might have yet to see it in the other sections. Sales have been shown to rise as a result.

Summary

Understanding the customer mindset.

Make your products more giftable.

Display your giftable products prominently.

Highlight any particular features or benefits that make them great gifts.

How to Increase Your Small Shop's Sales

As a retailer, you always look for new ways to stay ahead of the competition and increase your sales. The Movers and Shakers and Best Seller pages on Amazon can help achieve this goal. It can show you what is selling now based on Amazon information.

Understanding the Differences Between the Movers and Shakers and Best Seller Pages

Despite their similarities, the Movers and Shakers page and the Best Seller page are two different Amazon rankings.

The Best Seller page shows the products sold the most in the last month.

Here I can see the toys that are taking off now.

This shows you what sold the best in each category over the last month. It can help you spot medium-term market trends as you can see which products consistently perform well.

The Movers and Shakers page displays what increased over the previous 24 hours.

This page is a valuable tool for locating products whose popularity is rising. You can stay ahead of the curve and spot emerging industry trends if you pay close attention to this page. It is extremely good for the holiday season when products rapidly increase in sales.

If the same product is on both pages, this shows what is really hot now!

You can then click on the product to get information about the product. What I do suggest is that you look at the reviews too. It is an excellent way of finding out hidden bombs in the product. If the reviews are overwhelmingly negative, I would not recommend you handle it, no matter how popular it is. Once word gets around how bad it is, you will look bad if you sell it. You will also pick up information from the reviews that you can use to help advise people that come into your shop.

Use both pages to improve your inventory. It can also show you its pricing strategy. This information can help you make better decisions about your merchandise and pricing if you know these differences. I suggest regularly watching these pages as you can make better decisions about which products to sell and how much to charge for them.

Conclusion

Unless you are a large retailer, you need something like this to tell you what is selling now. A sales representative can be helpful, but they are looking at their employer's interest rather than yours.

Regularly monitoring these pages allows you to stay ahead of the competition and spot emerging industry trends.

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Email marketing 

In today's business environment, it is simple to fall prey to the talk of the many advertising platforms. Email marketing is the most effective marketing tool. The inbox provides the most personal connection you can have with your customer. Despite what you may have been told, email marketing continues to lead the way in marketing ROI. We are talking of 3600% ROI on investment.

This is why almost every organisation and, unfortunately, spammers use it. 

You will not get better advertising at this price.

Background

Years ago, MailChimp was a great option when we first looked for an email solution for our clients. It had many features that our customers need at a reasonable price. The free version was all that many of our clients needed. Many could run all their email marketing for nothing using it. Plus benefited from the many advanced features available in this plan; if more was needed, the paid plans were quite reasonable.

I confessed when I heard that a large tech company had acquired MailChimp, I was sure there would be problems. Big companies tend to pay inflated prices for these companies; unlike the founders, there tends to be little love for the product, and they need money to recuperate their costs. 

Did this make a difference here? I do not know. What I do know is the free plan over the years has dropped in offerings, and what you get for each plan is less, and the prices have gone up.

The free plan allowed a business to have 2,000 accounts, which was enough for most small to medium businesses. Now it has only 500 accounts. Even the smallest business would need about 1,500 accounts. That is about $40 a month now, with many functions missing; getting all the functions is about $525 monthly. 

Besides this, here are my added thoughts on MailChimp

> There have been security problems with MailChimp. They have been compromised several times in recent years, raising security concerns. For an SMB, this is a serious problem as our client list security is paramount.

> Over the years, it has gotten more complex, too complicated. This makes it more challenging to use.

> Over the years, I have not been happy with their customer support which is often little more than you have to work it out yourself. 

> They have a monkey as a slogan, and they use it everywhere. It was friendly and humourous years ago. After years, as the quote goes, "a good joke is like a fine champagne, but repeated too often, becomes a flat soda."

Even though some businesses would find MailChimp a good fit, and it is a sound system, we need to weigh the benefits and drawbacks. We are considering other options that might suit our client's requirements better.

So we are looking for an alternative to offer our clients.

Key features required

If you are looking, I suggest that these key features are required for an email marketing software program:

Managing email lists

The capacity to manage your email list, including the ability to import, segment, and clean it.

Creating an email campaign

A user-friendly interface for designing and creating email campaigns, with drag-and-drop editors and customisable templates.

Automation

the capacity to generate automated email sequences using triggers and subscriber behaviour.

Personalisation

The capacity to customise emails based on subscriber information like name, location, and previous purchases

Analytics

Email campaign performance in-depth analytics and reporting, including conversion, open, and click-through rates.

The A/B test

The capacity to test various email components, including subject lines and content, to improve campaign performance.

Deliverability

You need high deliverability rates and compliance with anti-spam laws to ensure your emails reach subscribers' inboxes.

Integrations

the capacity to connect to other tools for sales and marketing, like CRM systems and social media platforms.

Support

Reliable customer support, hopefully including email, phone, and chat support, to help you troubleshoot any issues you may have.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Sustainable Products: A Growing Trend

Since the last federal election, it should be clear that Australia has significant concerns over climate change and other environmental issues.

Today many consumers are seeking out sustainable products; click here.

The key finding for retailers here

>Approximately 50% of Australians actively seek out eco-friendly products.

>The reasons for this include concern about climate change (73%), wanting to feel good about personal choices (57%) and setting an excellent example for others (48%).

Today major retailers often provide a range of options for their product lines. Typically this includes an expensive, eco-friendly, and cheaper alternative. The eco-friendly product line has the benefit of appealing to customers who want sustainability and are willing to pay a premium for environmentally friendly products.

Factors to Consider When Deciding Whether to Sell Eco-Friendly Products as a Small Retailer

Small retailers should consider the following factors when deciding whether to sell eco-friendly products:

Cost

Eco-friendly products overall are more expensive to source and stock than traditional products.

Market Demand

It's vital to assess your clients' demand for eco-friendly products and their willingness to pay for them.

Supplier Reliability

Small retailers should research and vet eco-friendly product suppliers to ensure quality products' reliable and consistent delivery. Generally, there is little use attaching yourself to products you can only get sometimes.

Competition

Small retailers should consider the level of competition in their area for eco-friendly products and assess the potential for market saturation.

Profitability

Eco-friendly products tend to have higher profit margins for retailers.

Tips for Retailers to Sell More Eco-Friendly Products

To increase sales of eco-friendly products, retailers should:

Partner with Eco-Friendly Brands: Partnering with eco-friendly brands can expand a retailer's selection of sustainable products and attract customers who are loyal to those brands.

See if you can get literature from them. Customers of these products like to read.

Educate Staff: Educating staff about eco-friendly products is vital to provide knowledgeable customer service and promoting the benefits of eco-friendly products. In practice, you will find that your team will do this themselves.

Monitor that your product is effective by looking at the numbers!

Put them in a category. Once you have some history, say a month, look for these items through your cash register reports.

Select Top N Stock sales for the month and select by this category

You will get a listing to review with sales information.

Now check stock

Go through these stock items on the list.

> Verify whether they are in a good position.

> Go through the list to ensure enough inventory (SOH). This is a bad situation if you need more stock. You may need to get more supply as soon as possible if you need more stock to meet your requirements. 

Examine these stock items in the shop now

> Are they displayed appropriately?

> Consider whether they should be in two or more locations. In a supermarket, good sellers are often placed in a good seller position on the corners as well as where they are stocked normally. This means the customer has two opportunities to buy this product.

> Hopefully, they will be a bit higher than waist level, as this is where most people look, so be visible to your customers. Remember that women are slightly shorter than men, and women are the big buys for these products..

Conclusion:

Retailers selling eco-friendly products can increase profits by meeting the growing demand for sustainable products while enjoying higher profit margins. Small retailers should consider cost, market demand, supplier reliability, and competition when deciding whether to sell eco-friendly products. By partnering with eco-friendly brands and educating staff

How To Increase Customers In Your Shop

Introduction

In retail, "foot traffic" is used to quantify the number of customers who enter a store daily.

In the retail industry, foot traffic is everything. It is a crucial factor in determining sales. It refers to the number of customers who enter a store each day. The more customers you have, the more chances you have to sell something. To maximise your business, you need to know how to increase it.

We have discussed here how to measure it. Something I urge you to consider.

You can now get sales by time with detailed POS system analysis. Not quite foot traffic but it's a start.

Here we will discuss some ideas on using your POS System to maximise foot traffic in this article.

Importance

The Investopedia it states bluntly here.

"Foot traffic—or customer traffic—is an important metric because higher foot traffic tends to lead to higher sales and revenue numbers."

Everything in a store revolves around foot traffic.

No matter what you do, you won't sell anything if no one is in your shop. More customers mean more sales opportunities in your store.

Here are some ideas to increase it

Use your data in your POS System.

You can identify the most popular products by looking at your sales history. What promotions have worked for you, and what days of the week are the busiest? You can adjust your marketing strategies to increase foot traffic with this information.

Effective Inventory Management Reports

Besides effective inventory management, you can use your POS Software to see what is selling now. Ensure that people walking past your shop in your sign know you have these products. Studies show that in most retail shops, the top ten sellers today will be in the top ten sellers tomorrow.

While doing this, check the trends in Sales. See what people are starting to look for in your shop.

Storefront signage

A shop window can draw customers into your physical retail establishment. Make use of the shop window to highlight promotional offers. Put a simple sign in front of the window that tells people that you handle your popular stock items. This will alert people walking past that you have these products. Do not overestimate the intelligence of people walking past that they know what you handle.

Free online assets

Modern customers often want to know that you can cater to their needs before they arrive; this means you need an online presence.

If you go into Google Maps, ask for your type of shop by going. Here are some examples of what you need

<my shop type> near me

<some popular products in your shop> near me

<my shop name>

I do it all the time. My daughter was hungry a few weeks ago, craving chicken. We had no idea there who had chicken and who was any good. So we used Google, picked the one close with the best reviews, and went there. That shop made a sale from a free service on Google Business.

Everyone now does stuff like this nowadays.

Here is a Google Trend analysis of how often it is done now over time.

Does Google know about you?

If why not, why not? It is a free service by Google and can be set up free in Google Business.

Do you have a Facebook page? If not, why not? Again it is free.

It's critical to ensure your store and the products or services you are online.

Marketing seasons and Promotions

These do sell, which is why majors use them. If it works for them, why not for you?

Several clients told me they did well on Valentine's Day.

It is easy to get hold of relevant ones coming up as the majors advertise them a lot.

Make or Participate in an Event

Making or joining an occasion can be an excellent method for expanding the number of people coming.

Make one for the shop, our birthday sale eg 5 year birthday for the shop.

Suppose you have some technical knowledge. Running classes or workshops works well.

Promotional Deals

Special offers and flash sales bring in people, increasing foot traffic.

Implementing a Loyalty (CRM) Program

You have a free CRM System in your Point-of-Sale System. A loyalty program is one effective strategy for increasing foot traffic. It can encourage customers to return to your store.

Customers in a loyalty program spend more than customers outside your program. It is a fact.

Speed Up the Checkout Processes

Nothing turns people away more than seeing a long queue in today's retail. Utilise your point of sale (POS) software to speed up the checkout process. We can run in our POS system many tills from one computer. That is a cheap way of increasing your tills with little cost.

Conclusion

A retail store's success depends on its foot traffic. You can increase foot traffic and sales by utilising your POS software better at almost no cost.

Take action now to increase foot traffic in your retail store.

Receipt Marketing: A Powerful Tool to Boost Your Business

Receipt marketing is a low-cost, effective marketing technique. It involves adding promotional messages to the point-of-sale (POS) receipts businesses issue after a sale.

This article will discuss receipt advertising. Its features and some methods for utilising receipt promoting to support your business.

Reasons for larger receipts

Small businesses often do small receipts as it is cheaper to print a small receipt than a larger one, but you notice that majors tend to use large receipts. Take a look at a supermarket receipt today. They have done their figures. If you want something to think about this, check out this video.

While small receipts are financially savvy, bigger receipts offer many advantages. 

What Are Its Advantages for business?

Receipt promotion is a low-cost method businesses can use to increase. Simply put, special offers are added to the receipts given to clients after the sale.

Receipt promoting offers businesses a few advantages, including:

> A savvy method for contacting the people that buy from you.
> Receipt messages are a minimal expense item.
> Very flexible on the message, which can urge your customers to return and make extra buys.
> Offering customised offers and advancements to your customers.
> A easy method for building your shop by adding your shop details.

No matter what the size of your business, receipt promoting offers a financially cheap method for drawing customers.

Ideas for utilising receipt messages

Coupons

People are searching for cash savings, so put an exciting offer on the POS receipt. 
> Try to make it engaging.
> Keep the offer straightforward. A modern consumer will not sit down and try to figure out what you are trying to say. A helpful tip here is to ask a kid about ten years old to read it and tell you what you want to say.
> Make it simple 
> Make the offer real. You have an opportunity to sell; the last thing you want is for the customer to think it's ridiculous. I can assure you the customer will remember that.
> Put a cutoff date on the offer. It creates a need for your customers to move soon.
It may end a common legal problem when an offer is valid. 
> Try and make the offer something that drives more sales to the business. Some items have excellent added sales value. 

Marketing season

There are times of the year when people buy unique goods. You can use your receipt to let your customer know you are in this market too.

Customer feedback

You can use the receipt to get customer feedback, but I will discuss this in another post as you need special equipment for this.

Thank you message

Thanking customers can be an easy way to foster business loyalty. Customers may be more likely to buy from your business if you show appreciation.

Consider saying something like this.

"We appreciate your support for our small local business! Your patronage means a lot to us, and we are grateful for customers like you who help keep us going. We look forward to serving you again soon and wish you all the best!"

Creating Your Receipt Advertisements.

Navigate to the main menu and select the Cash Register section.
Choose Register Setup.

After that, select the Receipt option (see the green arrow below) from the menu. 

Now there are many other options available, which we will discuss later.

In this section, you'll see that we've done a lot of work recently.

The first option we'll discuss is adding an image to the receipt's top. You'll often use this feature to put your logo on the top of the receipt. Only some use this function.

The next choice is to include an image at the receipt's bottom. The given illustration is a Valentine's Day advertisement in this instance. This file came from the supplier. 

The last option is the one that is used the most. You can be quickly added advertisements to the receipt here. Use this to promote your range of products, items on sale, and/or marketing seasons that you wish to promote.

An illustration of such an advertisement can be seen on the receipt below. It promotes the store's extensive inventory of inkjet cartridges.

Conclusion

> Receipt showcasing is a minimal expense. A viable showcasing procedure that gives reasons for a customer to come back.
> Bigger receipts offer many benefits that little receipts can't.
> Receipt messages promoting offer advantages, including connecting with clients.
> Thoughts for receipt messages incorporate coupons. Make the offer genuine, put an end date, promote marketing seasons, thank your customers, and get criticism.

Steps To Make Valentine’s Day a Success for You

Introduction 

With less than a week to prepare for Valentine's Day, it is quickly approaching. 

Lastest research estimate here from the Australian Retail Association 

The prediction here is that Australians will spend nearly $500 million. That amounts to approximately $118 average spend by Australians this year which is up. COVID-19 affected people's interest in Valentine's Day last year. This year should be up since there will be no restrictions on this Valentine's Day. 

Google for this year's outlook looks like this.

So by Google, interest currently is slightly lower but comparable to previous years. This makes sense as even in the middle of the most significant pandemic we have all experienced, with its unprecedented shakeup of our economy. Consumers did not cut back their spending on Valentine's Day. 

That is a lot of sales, so if you want your part, you must prepare. Let's get started and find out how businesses can get the most out of this romantic day.

Researching sales data from the previous year.

Now, if you want some ideas, see what does sell in your shop on Valentine's Day and what stock you have. It will take seconds to discover and give you some good ideas. Remember, unlike other marketing holidays, many products on Valentine's Day are still marketable afterwards if you select wisely. 

So in your POS software, look at the Top N stock report, which gives you the top-selling items.

Go to Register Reports marked in green.

Select stock.

Now you will see two reports. Click the one on green first. The purple you should hold in memory as you may need it before placing an order.
 

 
Now select last year's Valentine's day and the top 40 items, which should be plenty. I suggest doing it by quality sold.

You will get a report with top sellers over Valentine's day, plus your current stock holding to see how you stand for Valentine's day.

Also, run his report for 2019. This was the pre-pandemic period, and one expects this year to be a mix of last year and 2019.

We now have a list of the products sold well in your shop. That took less than a minute. Now make sure you have enough stock.

Embracing New Trends 

You need to contact your suppliers to see if they can suggest new products - chocolates, flowers, romantic gifts etc. 

Go beyond romantic gifts. 

People on Valentine's Day today, as well as romantic partners, are purchasing gifts for close friends and pets.

Check that you have gift wraps and cards. Many people need this to add a personal touch to their purchases. 

Create a Valentine's Day-Specific Section in the shop. 

It is creating such a specific section in the shop increases sales dramatically. It doesn't have to be spectacular; it does not have to be big. Put your Valentine's products on the stand.

Put cute messages on signs to decorate the front of your store to attract the attention of passing shoppers. Spread the love. 

Consider offering a gift-wrapping service.

It is a simple, cheap way of differentiating from business and gives you a professional and personalized touch. Employee training in the fundamentals of gift wrapping is not hard, and the added value it can provide can be well worth the effort. Learning to do it is not difficult and only takes a little practice. Once you get going, consider having * free * and * luxury * pricing services. Luxury includes a card, so a toy becomes a beautiful gift wrapped in attractive wrapping paper with a card.

Email and social media campaign

If, as suggested, you have a loyalty program, why not send out a free newsletter through Mailchimp? If your company has a Facebook page, posting a few photos in a post is a great idea.

Conclusion

You can have a significant chance to boost sales and connect with customers on Valentine's Day. 

> Prepare for the holiday by using sales data from the previous year, taking into account changes brought on by the pandemic

>Stocking up on merchandise related to Valentine's Day

> Embracing the new trend of buying gifts for friends and pet 

> Creating a special section in the store

> Offering gift-wrapping services

Please make the most of this romantic holiday.

Do you need a guest Wi-Fi account?

What is a guest Wi-Fi account?

It is a separate account that gives visitors access to your internet without giving them access to your business information. 

Businesses set them up to offer a service to their clients. Typically they pay nothing for it, and it provides:

Marketing Opportunities

A guest Wi-Fi account is used as a marketing tool by providing customers with promotions, advertisements, or other incentives when they log in, plus supplying marketing figures.

Customers stay longer

Customers are encouraged to spend more time on the premises using a guest Wi-Fi account which may increase sales. A man in a woman's dress shop can keep himself engaged while his wife selects a dress, reducing his complaints and demands to leave. In a cafe, a person can stay longer, so consuming more coffee.

More clients

Businesses that offer such a service will attract customers who value this service. 

Friendlier

It makes your business seem friendlier to visitors. Some sites like FaceBook give you extra points on your FaceBook page for offering free Wi-Fi.

Why should you set up a separate guest Wi-Fi account in your Wi-Fi?

If you decide it is worth doing, there are several good reasons to set up a Guest Wi-Fi account:

Security

If someone comes into your store and needs Wi-Fi, you give them an account that offers this, but it does not let them access any of your sensitive data to protect your security.

Convenience

Customers can access the internet on a guest Wi-Fi account without asking for passwords or network information. 

Parental Controls

These can be enforced on a Guest account. You do not want legal problems such as downloading from inappropriate websites children's porn in your business.

Managing Bandwidth

You can ensure that guests use up only a little of your internet by giving them access to your guest network. 

Legal

There are some legal advantages to using a guest Wi-Fi account:

Keep records

It may be simpler to keep track of guests' internet usage and keep records for legal or compliance purposes as you ensure that your guests' internet usage is separate from your business data. 

Computer security

You are protecting your entire network from potential infection by viruses or malware that may be in your guests' devices.

Avoidance of Liability

You may be able to limit your liability if guests use your Wi-Fi for illegal or inappropriate activities. 

Please remember that I am not a lawyer and that nothing I say here should be considered legal advice.

Creating a Guest Wi-Fi Account

Generally, it is a simple process. 

> Typically, you log in to the management interface of your router.

> Create a brand-new network account and give it the name "{Name of your business} -Guest". 

Give the guest account a unique password—usually, no password is set.

Establish your access restrictions.

Restart your router after you've saved your changes.

Now using this account and the password you set up, your guests can connect to the internet via your Guest Wi-Fi Account.

Conclusion

Providing internet access to visitors via a guest Wi-Fi Account is convenient and secure. You increase the safety of your sensitive data while making it easy for guests to use your internet.

Why Children's Products are a Smart move for your store. 

Ages ago, I reported that sales of products geared towards children appeared to be strong. Not only that, but the profit margins are also healthy. Additionally, I noticed that each sale of a children's product leads to more sales. Furthermore, as new lines are released often, there is a steady flow of repeat business. Plus, these products have high demand, are in need all year, and have good profit margins. 

Today marketing children's products to their existing customers are essential for many of my clients to run their successful businesses. 

The expected long-term growth rate of the Australian toys and games market is 2.87% during the forecast period (2020-2026). The increasing demand for toys, games and electronic gadgets among our population drives the toy and games market growth in Australia. 

Can you go wrong with toys like Lego products, Faber-Castell pencils, Mattel, etc., here?

If you carry them, it is crucial to ensure that they know that you have these products by making them easy to find in your store so: 

>Use in-store displays. 

>Have a dedicated area for children's products. 

>Promoting these products through Facebook can be very effective.

>Targeting people such as grandparents who come to your store. 

>As these products have decent margins, you can consider special deals, discounts or promotions. Tailor these to your customers.

If you are not marketing these products to this demographic, consider re-evaluating your business strategy to focus on children's products as marketing children's products could mean taking advantage of a significant opportunity.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this topic, and we will happily share them with others who may benefit from your insights.

How and why to Use Targeted Receipt Marketing to Promote Your Store

Receipts:

A receipt is an essential record that attests to the purchase. Taxation often requires it. Additionally, it grants consumers the right to return or exchange products. Because of this, it is frequently kept and viewed a few times. 

Targeted receipt advertising: What is It?

Besides serving as a record for tax purposes, a customer receipt can include an advertisement for your business. As a result, receipts have evolved into a powerful marketing tool for engaging customers at many retailers over time. When a particular item is sold, they add an advertisement to the receipt suggesting that the person who brought it might want it.

While it is simple and effective, the advertising program works because you deliver your message to the right person who, unlike most other forms of advertising, actually reads your advertisement.

How is targeted receipt advertising carried out?

Using our point-of-sale system, you can add notes specific to the products. The receipt indicates this.  They will see your advertisement while studying the receipt.

Go to your top-selling list. Do not worry; there will not be that many of them, use the A stock I spoke about yesterday.

Now call up these items in stock maintenance. See the arrow here in green, press the box notes and put a message in the box starting with "^"; this will make it print on the receipt when the item is sold.

In this instance, a store receipt advertising will now be added.

If the customer purchases copy paper, they will be told that the store carries a wide selection of ink cartridges. 

It does not matter if your note is not so good. You can always do better in the future if you have something.

Benefits of Targeted Receipt Marketing

For little effort and no cost, targeted receipt marketing can encourage repeat business from customers. When you bring your store to the customer, you give them a chance to upsell and cross-sell.

Best Practices for Targeted Receipt Marketing

The following are some suggestions for your message:

> Personalize the product advertisement as much as you can. 

>Make sure your advertisement is simple to read

> Make it pertinent to the product

> Providing a simple and straightforward call to action

Measure your targeted Receipt Marketing

Always measure and analyze your targeted receipt marketing campaigns. Your software can do this.  Keep tabs on the performance of your advertisements and determine which ones performed well and which did not. Anything that is measured can be made better. Those that do not work can be edited.

In conclusion

Targeted receipt marketing can be a cost-effective and effective strategy for promoting your store and cultivating customer loyalty.

By following these guidelines, you can optimize your targeted receipt marketing campaigns to get the best results for your business.

Particular times of the year have different customers with different needs, one of the big reasons are holidays. You can pick up more sales by being ready with the right stock.

Well, it's time to start detailed planning for 2023.

Click here for a site with an excellent list of holidays in Australia; what I particularly like about it, is if I require an explanation of the holiday, all I need to do is click on holiday, and I get a decent description.

Why do calendars change every year?

Few reasons, mainly because 365 days a year means we move forward one day a year as 365 does not divide into seven evenly. Today the 30 December 2022, will be a Friday, but the 30 December 2023 will be a Saturday. The next big problem is that many holidays are set but the moon, so they follow the lunar calendar. Then there are other reasons, e.g. different calendars, but the result is that many holidays in 2023 will be held differently than in 2022, so you need to remember these days.

Plan for holiday-specific merchandise or products

It's essential to ensure you have the right stock for the particular holiday; for example, on Sunday, 12 November 2023, many Diwali candles will be sold. Some of these are very beautiful. If you have the right products in stock, you can drive sales.

There are a few key things to consider when determining what stock to keep on hand for a holiday:

Know your audience

Think about who your customers are and what they might be interested in buying. If you need more clarification, ask them. See if you can meet the needs of your customers during that holiday.

Conclusion.

Think about what you need to do to prepare for the holidays.

PS Looking for more ideas

Use this page above and check out other countries where people in your area would be interested.

Now we are in the post-Christmas period (Boxing day). Many now need to move Christmas items, such as holiday decorations, that they need to clear out after the holiday season while they still have value.

The market is there; for example, Commonwealth Bank research shows that 42 per cent of Australians plan to shop the Boxing Day sales this year, up from 39 per cent who said they shopped last year.

Australians enjoy shopping for deals and discounts. They see a post-Christmas sale as an excellent opportunity to find bargains on items they may have missed during the holiday season.

Besides, we have to move what are now low-selling items out of the strategic locations to make room for new products. So let's move it to a place where they sell, as that stuff will muck up cash flow, as it will be sitting in the shop for a year now. Then it will be a year old. Besides, the reality is that these items' market value has dropped. As these items are not in high demand now, a post-Christmas sale can be an excellent opportunity to move them, generating extra revenue.

Now while you are looking at clearing out the Christmas stock, why not add the stuff in the shop that is not selling? It is easy. Here is how.

Do you have some slow-moving stock items?

Maybe you can reduce their space to make more room for your profitable products too?

Firstly let us find the items that are the slow movers

Go to Register reports > Stock > Slow moving Stock lines

Now call it up here

As you can see, I have been looking at the stationery department for over twelve months for anything I have sold for less than $100 and am now stocking something.

Now out pops a report, in this case, of 81 pages of detailed information on all the items that match this condition. In this case, we have almost $80,000 worth of worthless stock.

Now check them out, pull out what you do not want to keep and put them in your Boxing Day sales area.

A post-Christmas sale can be an excellent way for retailers to generate revenue and improve their cash flow.

Adding marketing notes to receipts in your POS Software is something businesses can consider in their marketing strategy. Using this, you can make receipts more engaging and memorable for customers, potentially leading to repeat business or positive word-of-mouth. Today people tend to get receipts only when they ask for them, so they tend to review and keep these receipts as they are legal documents, proof of purchase, and a record for taxation. This makes it ideal as an advertisement for your shop.

Exciting notes on receipts, besides personalized messages, fun facts, promotions or discounts for future visits, and other engaging content, are notes specific to the goods sold. You add information that people who buy a certain product will find useful. While studying it later, they will see your banner on the receipt.

If you are interested in doing this, go to your top-selling items reports, it rarely takes many to get over 50% of your sales. 

Now call up the items in stock maintenance, see the arrow here in green, press the box notes and put in a note in the box starting with "^"; this will make it print on the receipt when the item is sold.

In this case, the retailer has added an advertisement.

For adding a note on say 15 items you will be surprised at how much effect it can have on your business. 

This is another example of using our Software to increase sales and improve your operations.

The deadline for standard deliveries with most carriers has passed for Christmas, December 25 in much of Australia. If you want to ship something by then, you must use express.

Here are Australia Post deadlines. Even with express post, getting to New Zealand on time is questionable.

So many of my clients have placed signs in their shops for when items are eligible for Christmas Day delivery. It has proven to be a good way of generating last-minute sales. 

Try it out.

A Loyalty Punch program is our market the second most popular loyalty program. Worldwide this loyalty program is the most popular marketing. It is used by the smallest to the largest businesses worldwide. So a review here is warranted.

Commonly, customers get loyalty cards. The store marks these cards after every purchase by the customer, and after earning enough marks, the customer receives a reward. A typical example is a customer entitled to a free coffee after purchasing ten coffees in a cafe. To make it work, you need a flagship product. I have seen books, pet food, gift cards, purchases over an amount, etc., used instead of coffee.

The program discounts loyal customers while encouraging them to interact more with your shop. This makes it more likely that they will spend more in it. This increase sales overall. At the same time, one-off customers pay full price, so protecting the shop from unnecessary discounting.

The flagship product should ideally be:

) A product high in demand
) Have an excellent companion sale
) Decent profit as you are giving away a margin.

We recommend that you make a program with a reward after 12 marks.

* When the person first comes into the shop and buys something, they get one mark free for joining the program. They then get a mark for their first purchase. So they are starting with two marks. This gives them the feeling that they are getting closer to their reward, as now they are 17% (2 marks out of 12) through it.

* This is important as you need to give your customer a feeling that the reward is achievable.

* Each purchase gets them another mark.

* Once the card is filled, they get their reward. Then they get a new card with one mark credited for rejoining the program. They get another mark for the free offer they redeemed. This overcomes customer feeling that the reward is unachievable as now they are at 17% again.

* Have an expiry rule, so customers must collect the required total within a year. The unused reward marks can be a long-term problem.

The cost of such a program is 10% assuming it is used; if it is not, it costs nothing.

Finally, we recommend you issue a card to the customer and keep track of it on your POS Software which is provided free because:

) Manual punch cards are easy to cheat, and there is no tracking to prove it is being cheated.
) You can market to these people if you have their email accounts. This is said to be worth 2%.

Overall let us run through the advantages of such a program.

- It is quick to set up as it is in your software now.
- Simple to administer
- This scheme has a proven track record.
- The rewards to the customer are tangible, concrete, visible, and measurable
- It works over time, so a customer is incentivised to return.
- The reward directly supports the shop
- It is considered monetary, encouraging people to spend more in the shop. They come and buy something. They often will buy more.
- The value to the customer is more than the shop as the goods purchased with the discount voucher have a margin.
- The customer sees the reward as valuable and practical rewards as it's what they already buy.
- You get a loyalty program mailing list to market to your clients. Using something like Mailchimp, which is free. You can drive more business to your shop.

Give it a try.