Instagram is now the go-to place for people to share photos with friends and family. Moreover, it is a great place for people to post pictures of things they want to sell, and indie retailers are finding it is an invaluable way to reach customers. Hordes of users have turned Instagram into a profitable business opportunity, building new services on top of the existing platform.
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By Ali Mahmoud Whether you operate a retail shop that is large or small, you may need a video surveillance system to help you keep an…
By Gerry Hunt Finding the right deals is half the battle in business, and retailers work with a number of suppliers trying to find the best…
Savvy merchants build customer loyalty by merging the social media experience with their brick-and-mortar operations. Retailers with some of the best performance metrics from Pinterest and other visual platforms abide by the following five best practices that you can adopt for your own brand.
The online marketplace is extremely competitive, and it is vital that you maximize your return on investment (ROI). It can be difficult to spread the word about your business when the market is fragmented, and potential customers have so many buying options. It takes an innovative advertising strategy to succeed, and merchants must differentiate themselves from their competition.
Independent Retailer magazine recently spoke with Rob Caskey, VP of Marketing and Direct Sales for Liquidity Services’ Retail Supply Chain Group, which includes the Liquidation.com and Secondipity.com marketplaces. Caskey oversees all marketing, branding and customer acquisition activities for these marketplaces, as well as leading the direct sales division.
Many business owners are frustrated by social networking sites that have not achieved the results they expected. That usually means they were expecting too much without putting in the required effort. Unfortunately, building a profile and even staying active on a site is not enough to bring people to you. The secret to successful use of social media is making connections and feeding relationships to develop strong bonds. To do this, businesses have to make it about people and not about their products.
Customer service is important to your retail store because first impressions matter…a lot! The employee greeting your customers and answering the phone is the most important person in your store from a customer service standpoint. They are the first contact with your customers, and they must make your customers smile.
Retailers need to look for ways to increase sales and margins, and one good option is opening price-point merchandise. Opening price-point merchandise in a general merchandise/variety store fills a void between in-line programs and promotional merchandise, without jeopardizing sales.
Business success relies on an efficient customer and business workflow. As a storeowner, you must determine which systems have the potential to steer your business to new levels of growth. An EPOS system has become quite common as merchants find that competition is the answer to various challenges.