Shoe Business 101: Understanding Customer Complaints

No matter how hard you try to make your service excellent, it is still inevitable to receive a customer complaint at least once in a while. Whether it’s expressed in a calm way, or uttered with drama and loud voice, it is still up to the owner or the store manager how it can be resolved.

If you own a wholesale shoes store or retail store, you will be faced with different kinds of complaints - from damaged items, wrong sizes, missing embellishment or customer service gone wrong. While this may sound a little daunting at first, handling it the right way may lead to bigger opportunities to improve your business or even gain loyal customers.

Take the extra mile in understanding your customers and handle complaints the right way. Here are some reminders that can help you in dealing with shoe shoppers in a professional yet friendly way.

• Acknowledge their complaints

Fewer than half of unsatisfied customers will come up to you to voice their complaints. When someone takes their time to address the problem with you, be thankful instead of being complacent about it. When an unsatisfied customer walks out of your store, they are most likely to tell their networks about their experience in your store. But if you’re able to resolve it properly they will not hesitate to sing praises about your business.

• Act quickly

Time is of the essence when facing a complaining customer. Bear in mind that not all customers who come to your wholesale shoe store have the time or the patience to wait for you to act about their complaints. Make responding to your customers a priority to avoid escalating the issue and to save both of your time and energy. A smart move made in a timely manner is still better than a well thought action done a minute too late.

• Be mindful of what you say and How you say it

The words you say, whether you mean it or not, will have a great impact on how your customers perceive your business. This is especially true when other shoe shoppers are just within earshot. After hearing what your customer has to say, it is best practice to sincerely apologize for the incident and negotiate to resolve the issues. Don’t forget to ask if there’s anything else that you can help them with before they step outside of your door.

Get More People Spending at Your Store

Shop owners are looking forward to the holidays not just because it is time for the family to be together, but in terms of practicality, more for their business.  The day after Thanksgiving, popularly known as Black Friday, is one of the days business owners are anticipating and excited about.  This is the day that signals the official start of the shopping period for consumers. After Black Friday, there’s Small Business Saturday, and then consumers will have Cyber Monday for online businesses. Then, everyone is led toward Christmas time, another time for people to buy a lot of products as presents for their loved ones.  Thus, everything should be in place, even the necklace display, days before the anticipated bargain period.

The key for businesses is to be able to do enough marketing and advertising in the days leading to Black Friday.  If you have a business that needs a little pick-up from the slow sales of the previous months, here are things that you can do to shake things up and take advantage of this high purchasing period.

Consider your opening hours

A lot of the big name stores are going to push their opening time just like what they did the past year.  Walmart will be opening its doors at 6 am Thanksgiving and will remain open until 11 pm of Friday. Target on the other hand will open at 8 pm Thanksgiving till 11 pm of Friday. Take not of paydays and try to see if you can arrange for special events that will enable you and your neighboring stores to be open until midnight. Of course, you can entice more people to come to your store even late at night with very tempting dicounts and offers.

Encourage early buyers.

If you want to set yourself apart from the others, you can open until late hours, or you can go early and open ahead of the others. Stores usually open at around 11 or noontime, so you can try opening an hour earlier. Offer special discounts during the first few hours and gradually decrease it. This can work especially when you want to reach your sales target at the earliest possible time. Also, if all goes well, you can close shop early and enjoy the holidays yourself.

Give shoppers a surprise every now and then. 

This can be in the form of discounts in certain items like the ones you put in the necklace display or surprise gifts if they reach a certain amount with their purchases.   This will definitely make shoppers look forward to the next year’s holidays.

This all boils down to taking advantage of the holidays to perk up your business and at the same time, give your customers the satisfaction of more affordable items. Happy holidays!

Get 'Em to Swipe

Black Friday is one of the busiest times of the year for shop keepers as this is the time where huge discounts are given in stores.  However, there are some shoppers who prefer not to join in this madness because of the number of people who flock to stores that even the items in the sale necklace display area get wiped out.  On the other hand, the items they might want may not be available in small businesses that would be giving discounts on Small Business Saturday. This is the opportunity that online sellers should take advantage of.

Because there are some people who do not want to join the deluge flocking to the stores, you, as an online seller, should all the more encourage this group of people to still do some shopping. A lot of online sellers are already doing their own kind of Black Friday madness online. This is also known as Cyber Monday. After Cyber Monday, most stores would already be gearing up for a change of inventory, as winter has arrived and more people will be buying things again as presents for the season. So, how can an online business take advantage of the holidays to get more customers?

• Start tagging friends and your loyal customers.

This should be done days before the sale so that they will be able to prepare themselves and their credit cards or PayPal accounts for shopping. You can start informing them via email or posting a huge sign on your home page. Start an email blast, announce the sale on your website, or inform your likers on your business’ Facebook page. Tweet about your sale on your Twitter account as well so that your followers will be informed.

• Offer incentives to your buyers that shop online during this time.  

Discounts or freebies are a welcome treat to shoppers and you might be even able to get more referrals from your buyers because of this. Aside from the usual discounts that you give, you can give them surprise discounts upon checkout or when they finalize their orders. This will definitely make them feel special and for sure, this will spread to other shoppers as well. Alas, if you take on a free item sale, you can use the items in your inventory that are not doing well or are not moving at all as freebie items. Not only will you be getting rid of items that are not selling well, you could also attract more customers.  

• Join groups that promote sales during this time. 

This will help you spread the word that you are offering special discounts for all items including the necklace display items.

Getting more people to your online store can be a challenge, but during the holiday season, you’d need to step up to the plate and seize the opportunity to get new customers.

Planning to Sell Sunglasses in Your Retail Store? Here Are Some Tips!

If you have extra space in your store that you want to use to earn extra cash, putting up a sunglasses display can be a great idea. As long as it goes well with what you are mainly selling, such as clothing, accessories or sporting gadgets, you can definitely sell some pairs of fashionable sunglasses to spice up your store and increase sales.

During summer, people purchase sunglasses to significantly protect their eyes from harmful UV rays. But during the less sunny season, people buy wholesale sunglasses to wear as a fashion statement, an accessory or simply to hide puffy eyes or unmade face. That is the reason why, although sales may slow down a little during rainy season, sunglasses can still be a great addition to your business. 

photo credit: Merchandising Matters

Here are some ways to effectively sell sunglasses in your store.

• Keep your inventory fresh and updated

Always check for new stocks and items to display in your store to keep customers interested with your products. Get trendy sunglasses but keep classic designs to so you can offer a wide variety of sunglasses to your customers.

• Use an attractive display rack that complements your store

Get a display rack that goes well with the rest of the shelves and display cabinets in your store to keep your unit clean and neat. Paint the sunglasses rack to complement the colors of the walls and other shelves but try to choose solid natural colors to let your sunglasses shine

• Replenish display racks regularly

Every time you successfully sell a pair of sunglasses, make sure to replenish your display with a new one. This will give more options to your customers and will encourage them to make a purchase better.

• Strategically put the sunglasses near other display

Put your sunglasses display near accessories like necklaces, earrings, bangles, or bracelets to give your customers a chance to mix and match their accessories. You can also display it with other sun protection gears like hats, umbrella, or scarf to encourage them to buy more than one item.

• Display cute sunglasses For Kids

Include wholesale junior sunglasses and put it near the ladies’ section in case moms want to buy sunglasses for their kids. Kids’ sunglasses also add a pop of color in your store and a great way to attract moms and dads who want to protect their baby’s eyes at the early age.

Environment and Businesses Hand in Hand

Plastic can be seen everywhere.  It is one of the most common materials seen anywhere these days.  Manufacturers prefer it because of the material’s durability.  It can be used either indoors or outdoors, making it versatile.  It is flexible and can be molded into anything and everything the user would want it to be.

 

image credit: trugroup.com

When the word plastic is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is disposable items.  This is also the reason landfills are being filled up at a fast pace and pollution is becoming vast in what can be described as alarming levels already.  We would not want our planet to be overwhelmed and overcome by plastic. It is a good thing that there has already been a clamor by environmentalists and even ordinary citizens about reducing the use of plastic in everyday circumstances. 

Another positive development about this is that people are more than willing to do their share in saving the planet.  Even fast food joints are looking into ways of reducing their use of plastic materials in their food packaging materials.  Some are going back to using paper, although the material can be unreliable at times, especially when the item that needs to be packed has sauce or other liquid components.   Using a paper box for these kinds of food items would just render the box soggy and useless.  The next best thing is to use wax-lined paper boxes.  This way, the side of the box, which touches the food, is protected and doesn’t become soggy. 

image credit: dailygalaxy.com

Another innovative product that has been developed is recyclable plastic cups.  Yes, scientists have already developed a plastic container that can be considered both recyclable and compostable.  This plastic comes from a polymer called Polylactic Acid or PLA.  This polymer is derived from 100% renewable sources like grains, wheat, beets, and corn.  It is considered a food grade plastic, so it is safe to use for food storage.  Also, unlike other polymers that are derived from chemicals, PLA is non-reactive and has no smell at all, making food stored in it safe from contamination of flavors and smells.

Currently, there are a lot of food businesses and food joints looking into using recyclable plastic containers.  They know the effects of their food packaging on the environment and they want to reduce their contribution to the solid waste problem.  This way, they are not just making money out of their business but also helping the environment recover. These efforts can make their businesses look good too, as it reduces the problems of how they should go about the waste and trash their businesses are producing.

For businesses that are also looking for compostable and recyclable plastic cups, Cup Depot is one merchant, which can provide these environmentally friendly items.  Aside from disposable cups, they also have utensils, napkins, cutlery, and other things necessary for a thriving food business. They have one of the most extensive lines of plastic food containers and drinking cups and lids.  Their prices are also competitive with other online stores that offer similar products. Free shipping can be taken advantage of for businesses situated within the continental United States. This is truly a hassle-free and convenient way to help save the environment.