How can I draw more customers to my shop? This might be a question running in your mind ever since the ourbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. This pandemic has forced the population throughout the world to carefully consider their daily eating habits and lifestyle. There’s a developing sense of responsibility amongst customers and local businesses need to be conscious of this moving forward. 

Social distancing, while ideal for public well-being can be hurtful for local shops. Customers choose to skip visiting local shops  post the coronavirus outbreak as they feel safer at home ordering in. Several local shop owners are bothered that the influence of coronavirus will be mysterious and more long-lasting than expected. As an outcome, local sellers are  constantly seeking ways to cheer and encourage their shoppers  to buy from them during the lockdown.

Here are the five ways to encourage customers to buy from local shops.

1.Ensure Customer Safety.

No one knows till when the world will be facing this crisis. Assure your customers by interacting with them. Let them know that you are well prepared to deal with the ongoing crisis. Inform them the measures you’re  taking to maintain social distancing and hygiene levels in your shop. Put up hand sanitizers over your counter and display a do’s and don’ts board to spread awareness. If you are own a local food or meat shop, then wearing disposable clothing can show your commitment towards safety of your customers. There also might be a change in your working hours or working days. This must be effectively communicated to the customer via email, sms or even by putting up a chalk-board mentioning your work timings.  Once a customer sees that you are practicing excellent safety measures, they will definitely buy from you time and again.

2.Know your customers.

You need to understand the demographics of your locality. It is important to assess the ethnicity, religion, lifestyle and age group of your customers. This will help you serve them better. Knowing the customer's needs can help craft products and services that best serve the immediate requirements of various communities. In short, be community wise. If you’re a butcher, you must know which cuts of meat your customers prefer. Having different types of meat mincers  in your shop will help serve your customers better. Some people prefer tender meat and not hard meat, having a meat tenderizer can help you serve them well. All these tools and machinery not only save you time but also cheer up your customers!

3. Add a personal touch

Saying a ‘thank you’, ‘long time no see’ or giving a wide smile to your customers can never harm. Greet your customers by their names, and see the smile they have on their faces. Developing connections with clients and passing outstanding customer service should be the preference and ultimately, more people will hear of your shop through real word-of-mouth.To attract more potential buyers into your shop measns that you need to create an excellent in-store shopping consumer experience for your existing buyers. Have a little tete-a-tete with your customers can brighten up their day. Ask them about their well being. Listen to them well, if they have any complaints. If you’re a butcher, give them recommendations of different recipes they can try out or how they can practice safe cooking and cleaning of meat at such times.

4. Provide discounts!

If you have a local retail shop, it might not be such a bad idea to give away free or discounted products as a part of marketing during these tough times.Just similar to the free giveaways, discounts and deals serve well too. They are a sure shot way to attract more customers to your shop. Flyers about your offers, deals and discounts will help spread the word around.

People usually see discounts and deals as an enormous opportunity to spare their cash at this critical time and experience a product or service for a whole lot less. Refunds and sales usually convince consumers to purchase more goods or services than they initially intended. They like to ‘take the chance’ because the same item may not be so cheap tomorrow. Providing deals and discounts are a great idea to advertise your product lines.

5. Know about your suppliers

Grocers and butchers are a necessary service all over the world, enabling their shops to remain open in times of reduced travel or quarantine situations. Grocers must guarantee they’re building an ecosystem that supports social distancing while providing high quality service. Knowing about your suppliers is equally important as knowing your customers. Guaranteeing the security of the warehouse, delivery, and in-store mechanics is of paramount importance. Customers can have various doubts and questions during these unforeseen times. If you’re a butcher, they can be inquisitive about the size of the farms of your suppliera, their animals and what they are fed. You must be well prepared in advance to tackle such questions and give them satiating answers.

While difficult to foretell, the local shop owners should be ready to navigate through the changes in demand, supplier companies, and inventory management as panic shopping stalls down and buyers start to return to more normal shopping patterns. Will this pandemic have a long-term influence on the way people shop, or how shop owners do sales? The local shops should communicate and strengthen bonds with clients, workers, and associates alike by following the above important tips.

These were just a few ways by which you can encourage customers to go local and buy from your shop. Faster processing time and a good product quality are the default techniques of increasing your customer base. If you’re a butcher, you can use various tools like good quality mincer knives to increase your processing speed.The Brennan Group specializes in providing you with a variety of high quality tools and equipments to optimize your meat processing time and quality! You can find every sort of butcher tools with us ranging from a variety of knives to mincer plates.  You name it and we have it!