Category: Contributed Posts

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. One of the keys to succeeding at business is maximizing your conveniences. The following contributed post is entitled, Making Conveniences, Convenient – A Simple Business Guide.

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Convenience is the name of the game when connecting to modern consumers. If you can easily offer your services, products or events, you’re more likely to generate interest. The best part is, you need only consider your own patterns as a consumer to understand how to best pivot your own brand.

For example, many chip and PIN payment providers, and now increasingly online stores, will accept Apple and Google pay for easy payments. This way, no customer ever has to take out their card and input their information to onboard with your software, they just have to give a couple of personal details and an email address.

That said, sometimes, it’s worth considering how convenient your conveniences themselves are to use. For example, the first time anyone walked into a Subway, they had to conform to the ordering process, understanding its step-by-step approach, in order to onboard with that convenience and ultimately appreciate it. Many other companies copied that package and moved with it.

So, let’s consider how to make conveniences, convenient, without diluting your brand. Let’s start, below:

Utilize Apps & Software Integrations

It’s important to utilize apps and software integrations to the extent that you can, not only within your internal systems, but as part of how you present yourself to your audience. Of course, this is only the case if such software can be suitably applied to how you deliver value. For instance, an excellent hospitality app can take the tired effort out of the ordering process, reduce mistakes, and also improve customer turnover throughout the day, potentially improving profits. This way, you can add convenience without detracting from the overall experience, and empowering your customer.

Setting Customer Preferences

When a customer or client can set their preferences with your brand, they’re more likely to return to it. That might sound obvious, but the time it may take to filter out products or services, you don’t want can be tiring enough for a customer to just stay with you. From offering modularity in terms of the packages they subscribe to (scaling up where appropriate), to remembering ordering information or simple preferences like color or filter type, this lessons the conversion time between lead and purchase most efficiently.

Security Seamlessness

It’s essential to ensure security and verification is convenient and helpful, not restrictive and tiresome. Of course, many of us are frustrated when our bank blocks a transaction until you reply to the “was this you?” text with an affirmative, but at least that process is simple and easy, and allows you to try again, safe that your money wouldn’t have been stolen in the event of a card theft. Voice activation to verify customer accounts, integration with smartphone security measures like Face ID, and even two-factor-authentications can make a big difference here. With a little care and consideration, you may help reduce fraud while also showing how confident your business is.

With this advice, you’re certain to make conveniences, convenient, not only offering ease-of-use because it sounds good, but truly making good on and thinking through those systems.

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. As with any business sector, retail has it’s own caveats and nuances. There are also mistakes to be avoided. The following contributed post is entitled, Top Mistakes That Retail Businesses Make (& How To Avoid Them).

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With the advent of the internet and eCommerce, setting up a successful retail business can be something of a challenge. You must pursue vigorous product testing to ensure your products are worthy of customer investment. For instance, using hardness testers could be all it takes to ensure your metal products are of high quality and durable.

Not investing in sufficient security

One of the most significant problems that retail business owners come across is that they fail to invest in sufficient physical security for their premises. Unfortunately, this means that there are a variety of things in their business that are at risk.

The first of these is their inventory which is vulnerable to theft, or vandalism. The second is their staff which could be placed at risk during a break-in or feel less safe at work, which in turn could negatively impact their morale (see the section below for more on this).

Lastly, the reputation of their business is at stake, especially if they are subject to multiple and repeated break-ins as customers may begin to doubt their safety when visiting.

The remedy to this physical security problem is to invest in items such as an advanced alarm system, CCTV camera, and sturdy doors and locks. Some stores even ensure that their premises are monitored by security teams around the clock, so if there is any suspicious activity they will be alerted immediately.

Ignoring inventory management

Another major problem in retail is when owners and managers discount the importance of inventory management. Indeed inventory management is crucial to success for several reasons. The first of these is that without proper inventory management, you can’t offer your customer the best possible experience. Secondly, poor inventory management can cost your business a great deal of money in wasted time and effort, because your staff are out the back searching for items that are not in the correct place instead of assisting customers.

Fortunately, there are several ways you can improve inventory management in your retail business. These include using the latest software to manage your inventory as an expert in the field Jasdeep Singh CT advises. Indeed, by using the best inventory management software you can not only improve your customer’s experience but ensure your retail business stays as agile as possible, changing with the current trends, and optimizing your profits.

Not valuing staff morale

A major issue with retail businesses is when they do not value their staff morale. The issue here is that unhappy staff will usually provide a subpar experience for any customers they serve and this can have a profound impact on how much they buy.

With this in mind, doing the right things to keep the morale in your business high is essential. However, this does not mean forced smiles and fake motivation sessions. Instead look at things that can make a meaningful difference to your staff including dental and medical care, flexi-time, and paid holidays, as this will help you create an authentic positive atmosphere, as well as help with recruitment and retention, and limit burnout.