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How do you blow your customers away with your c-store experience so they rave about you to their friends and keep coming back?
Yes. You can do it.
You don’t have to just throw up the white flag and give in to your competitors.
Here’s what consumers want when they go inside your c-store:
1. Speed
The 2016 Nielsen Global Retail-Growth Strategies Survey found 47% of customers want to go in and out of a c-store quickly. So that’s what “convenience” means to them.
Consumers will spend about 2 minutes in-store.
So it’s important you have what they want readily accessible, as well as additional items they may want to supplement their purchase with.
2. In-Store Analytics
It’s hard to tell just by looking exactly what your customers are doing. Of course, observed insights are important.
But in 2019, you need to have in-store analytics running so you know exactly what’s going on and how to adjust and optimize your sales.
3. Loyalty Programs
A whopping 87% of consumers wanted loyalty programs from their favorite c-stores, reported a 2015 article by Convenience Store news.
You don’t get too many trends which are that obvious in any area of business.
But this is one.
Have you made it happen at your c-store yet?
A more recent 2019 article from the same blog notes the problem has become optimizing the potential of your loyalty program.
The number one reason consumers join a loyalty program is to save money on gas.
You can get the complete story by downloading the 2019 C-Store Shopper Report.
4. Make Purchasing Super-Easy
Apple stores allow you to swipe your card while walking in the aisles of their store.
How’s that for convenience?
Make sure you train your attendants to provide prompt service in case the reader’s not working or the customer has trouble for some other reason.
Eliminating every hassle makes life awesomely convenient for your customers.
5. Provide Motivation for Your Employees to Offer Great Service
Is your c-store a place where employees really want to work? Or do they go to you just to make money and keep food on the table?
To compete with other c-stores who nail service, you must offer benefits that compete with the leaders in your industry. And even consider adding incentives.
For example, the employee with the most positive customer comments in a month gets an extra day off (or whatever the case may be).
Many c-stores, or any store for that matter, simply tell their employees “give great service.” That’s not enough to get it to actually happen.
It’s difficult to get all these factors to come together right now to make your c-store experience truly exceptional.
But it’s a worthwhile endeavor that pays off big once you’ve mastered its implementation. [:]
