How will you stand out against competitors in 2024?

[maxpete]

Hey everyone,

ICYMI: Square recently released the Future of Commerce 2024 report. This report will give you inspiration, tactics, and tools to future-proof your business. Make sure to download your copy here.

As stated in the Future of Commerce 2024 report, in order to compete in today's retail marketplace, retailers are focused on improving their customer relationships through faster and easier communication channels, providing Buy Now, Pay Later options like Afterpay, offering more in-store experiences, and engaging customers through marketing initiatives such as loyalty and rewards programs.

In the report, it is also mentioned that over half (56%) will be taking a closer look at their marketing tactics for Gen Z as the younger generations’ purchasing power continues to grow — a substantial increase from just 43% of retailers who focused on marketing to Gen Z in 2022.

Which of these practices are you looking to improve this year to better compete in today's retail marketplace?

We're looking forward to seeing your replies and be sure to check out the 2024 Future Of Commerce report to view more insights!

[BofBArtStudio]

Our retail business is an in-store experience, and we send out a square marketing newsletter every Tuesday morning, we offer Square loyalty that is highly accepted by our customer base, and we try to provide a variety of ways our guests to pay.  We also have automated campaigns to give discounts to customers who haven't come back for a while, first time customers automatically get a discount coupon, and everybody gets a discount coupon for their birthday automatically.

[maxpete]

@BofBArtStudio appreciate you sharing! This all sounds awesome and great that you're on top of communication to get customers back in to shop and also reward them too. Nicely done 😊

[Hailey]

Let's see your in-store experience! (if you are ok to share of course) 

[maxpete]

Interested in also hearing from @TCSlaguna, @theemercantile & @TeamBSTS!

[DinaLRosenberg]

Competitive Analysis is my JAM! I am always keeping an eye on what's happening with both regional and national retailers in our space. I am literally watching what they are buying, how they are selling it, what their social media is pushing, etc.. it isn't to copy, but to make sure we are aways differentiating. 

Because we are seen as a leader in our space- we are often imitated. In light of that, it's critical that we are constantly pursuing new offerings, products, and events. 

I am obsessed with Multihyphenate Strategies (didn't know what word- great Jeopardy question)- and hope that Square's subscription service will offer what we need to make it work for us (customer accounts with ability to change their address, pause subscription, and change CC in their own). With these changes, it would be an excellent addition to our sales strategy. 

We are already taking advantage of Square marketing (email/text) and Square loyalty.. they are fully integrated into our business. We also offer AfterPay which, even though expensive, has driven our total per transaction up.

[maxpete]

Appreciate you sharing this and so cool to hear how you are performing competitive analysis to stay ahead. Cool to see how you are utilizing subscriptions, marketing, loyalty as well! 

[TCSlaguna]

We have spent the last year building up our email marketing, newsletters, monthly coupon codes, and loyalty program. We have been very pleased with the results from Square marketing. 

Social media is not our strength. I really have no interest in it. I think you have to love what you do for it to be successful, so I think we may hire someone to take over our social media strategy. 

We are planning to focus our attention on enhancing the in-store customer experience. Redesigning the layout of the store, changing QR code product descriptions to paper descriptions (eliminating one step for customers), and offering new services. 

[maxpete]

Great to hear about how Square Marketing has been helpful! Totally hear you on having to hire someone to take over social, especially if it is something that you're not very interested in. 

Exciting about the in-store customer experience enhancements! 

[repopgifts]

Our vision has always been to be "more than a store, it's an experience!" We feature in-store prop replicas that we have built and give the customers a way interacting with our staff that is fun and memorable. We utilize square loyalty but our customers earn XP (experience points) like they would in a video game so they can "Level Up" (earn a reward) it makes it fun and is on brand. We will be stepping up our marketing this year (both via square and other advertising) and upping our social media game with more videos and stories.

[maxpete]

@repopgifts love the gamification of having customers earn points to level up! Please feel free to share your learnings here too, excited to follow along!

[alexandriak]

Our social media. Other consignment stores in our area are still pretty behind on reels and some don't even post consistently. We'll keep using our social media to stay front and center with our customers and potential customers. 

Our deep dives into our numbers and accepted brands. Most stores in our area aren't communicating to their consignors what customers are buying. We're diving deeper into our numbers than ever before so we can tailor what we accept from consignors, and make sure we're offering our customers even more of the brands they're loving. 

Store improvements such as new displays. We're looking at how our customers shop and which displays may be a little tired. We'll be freshening things up to create a better experience for customers and consignors.

[maxpete]

This is such a smart way to stay ahead of the competition while also improving the overall customer experience and finding more ways to reach more customers too. 

[alexandriak]

thank you! I always surprised at how little some of the other stores do, and not just in my industry but in general. 

[Bronze_Palms]

At Bronze Palms, we pride ourselves on going above and beyond for clients in terms of customer service and the service, itself. With all the additions and details we take to provide a 5 star experience for clients, it makes us really hard to compete with. We invest a lot of resources (time and money) to be full service; our prices and clientelle reflect that. 

[maxpete]

Great work with putting so much effort into this!

[Twpchair]

We are a downtown storefront retail furniture store. I have noticed also our customers are getting younger and younger as well. No disrespect to the big box stores but that younger generation is realizing the so called "ikea" type furniture compared to real solid wood furniture is going to last them a lot longer! We have a lot of repeat customers and a good mix of new customers and those are my new younger couples coming in. Our biggest addition was actually adding more and more decor items. We added more lamps, more rugs and pictures. Not everyone needs a new table or couch and sometimes they are just out window shopping type thing but adding those little decor items usually everyone leaves out with something and they add up fast! We are having a great winter for Mid Michigan this year. Our weather has been the warmest on record though so I'm sure that helps. We are located in a area that is surrounded by lakes and our cabins are opening up early and our Michigan snowbirds are coming home sooner. We will promote emails bi-weekly and rewards for returning customers. We also do usually 4 times a year through Facebook a little contest. The most amount of shares and new followers to our Facebook page each one receives 100.00 gift card. That usually adds in 2k-3k new potential customers. Other things we do is every Saturday just offer free coffee and doughnut holes while supplies last. The customer's enjoy it, they spend more time in the store and they will always tell us "you know you just don't get this kind of service or little extras" like big box stores. I think that is awesome to hear and why all of us mom and pops stores, restaurants, flower shop's the list goes on is so important to keep pushing and striving to make sure our doors never close! People really do appreciate small businesses. Thank you ALL and here's to a great 2024! Ps sorry about typos! I broke my glasses today! Ughhhhh!

[maxpete]

Going the extra mile is always worth it! Also, hope you are able to get new glasses soon too!

[doc_choc]

Hi @maxpete customer service and a great product offering are always at the forefront of what we do. Having said this we are always excited to see what new tools Square introduces to help our business, whether its assisting our operations or making our customer journey easier both instore and online

[maxpete]

Customer first focused is the way to be!