In the business process, what should retail customers do to ensure a prosperous business? Appropriate promotions, beautiful displays, sufficient supply, and the right atmosphere... these are all necessary conditions for a prosperous business. But these alone are not enough. There are also some misunderstandings that should not be avoided in business operations, which may greatly affect the business. Today, I have compiled some cases in this area to share with my retail customers and friends to avoid business losses~
Improper preparation can lead to embarrassing business operations
Retail customers often wonder: Why the same investment, but the profits of different stores vary greatly? My store is obviously prettier and larger than theirs, but consumers just ignore it? When I first opened the store, I made many detours because I didn’t understand marketing strategies.
The "confusion" of the front cabinet
There was a shop owner who paid great attention to cigarette sales and had a novel cabinet design, but he couldn't compete with a nearby small store. The problem lies in the front cabinet of his store.
The front cabinet is a push-pull type, in a stepped shape, with a small spacing. Nowadays, slim cigarettes are becoming more and more popular among consumers. The cigarette cabinets in his store are designed with small spacing and cannot accommodate slim cigarettes. They can only be pushed to the top. With the push-pull design, people pull with a little force. Opening the counter, the neatly arranged cigarettes slid down to the bottom floor. If consumers cannot find the brand or specification they need, they will mistakenly think it is out of stock and walk away. Therefore, it is very important to choose a suitable front cabinet, which should not only ensure aesthetics but also pay attention to practicality.
Adjustment of the foreman
There is a well-known large supermarket in the city with a large customer flow. Before April this year, cigarette sales and customer traffic were in sharp contrast, with monthly sales of only a few dozen cigarettes. Later, the foreman in charge of the cigarette counter was changed, and business gradually improved.
The reason is that the foreman who was in charge of the counter in the past was responsible for several areas at the same time and rarely provided counter services. When ordering goods, he was used to choosing brand specifications according to personal preferences, resulting in some inventory backlogs and best-selling products often being out of stock. out of stock. After changing the foreman, the new foreman will stand at the counter for several hours every day. Before ordering cigarettes, he will communicate with the counter staff to understand the latest consumer demand before placing an order. At the same time, the counter staff were encouraged to strengthen display, which quickly reversed the low sales situation.
It’s hard to tell the authenticity from the fake, and the “code” encountered a scam
Recently, I encountered an annoying thing. The scammer defrauded my store through the QR code prepared in advance. of goods.
A young man who claimed to live near my store came to my store to buy cigarettes and alcohol. At that time, the cigarette shop he wanted was sold out. I told him that the tobacco company would deliver the goods the next day and he could pick them up at noon. So, he used his mobile phone to scan the WeChat payment QR code in the store, paid a deposit of 100 yuan in advance, and asked me to reserve it for him.
At noon the next day, the young man arrived as promised. "The cigarettes you ordered have arrived, and the price is 2,100 yuan per day including drinks." I said.
"I have already paid 100 yuan, and I will pay another 2,000 yuan today, right?" He asked while taking out his mobile phone to scan the QR code to pay.
I replied: "Yes, just scan this QR code."
He scanned the WeChat QR code on the counter and heard "beep" After making a sound, he shook his cell phone at me and said, "The money is paid!" After saying that, he turned around and walked out the door with the goods.
But I didn’t hear the voice prompt from my mobile phone that I had received the money, so I quickly said to him: “Sorry, please wait a moment while I check your payment record.”
After hearing what I said, the young man was not in a hurry to leave. He turned on his phone again and found out the payment record just now and showed it to me. I looked carefully at his WeChat payment voucher, and it did show that 2,000 yuan was paid to my store. So, I apologized and let him go.
Afterwards, I always felt that something was wrong, so I looked through the WeChat payment records, but I couldn’t find any record of the payment of 2,000 yuan. At this point I realized that I had been deceived and quickly called the police.
Later, when the public security organs solved the case, I learned how the liar had committed the crime. It turns out that the scammer has two WeChat accounts on his phone, namely the main WeChat account and the clone WeChat account. The scammer got my WeChat QR code by paying a deposit on the first day. Later, he changed his main WeChat nickname to my QR code name, and then used the cloned WeChat to scan the main WeChat QR code on his phone to pay. In this way, the scammer made me mistakenly believe that the money had been paid. In fact, he scanned his own WeChat QR code and the money did not arrive.
In order to prevent everyone from encountering a similar situation, I have a few tips here: First, qualified merchants should try to use a code scanner to directly scan the code to collect payment; second, it is recommended to put the sticker QR code on the Inside the counter, and check the QR code regularly to prevent being transferred; thirdly, when customers use WeChat to scan the code to pay, they must check the payment record immediately to confirm whether the payment has been received.
Insufficient precautions, cigarettes were repackaged
Before opening the store, a friend told me that I should be careful when selling cigarettes and be careful not to be deceived. I consider myself cautious and will not be easily fooled. After opening the store, I also installed surveillance and posted a reminder on the cigarette counter that "Cigarettes will not be returned after they leave the counter." I thought that taking precautions would definitely deter scammers. Unexpectedly, not long ago, I was deceived into buying a "Zhonghua" cigarette.
As soon as the store opened that day, a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses and a mask came in. He walked up to the cigarette counter and said, "I want a soft 'China'." I was very happy because there were customers buying high-end cigarettes as soon as the door opened. I took the cigarettes from the shelf and handed them to the customer. The man took them, looked at them and said, "I want to ask a friend to do something, and I must make sure they are real cigarettes."
I pointed to the cigarettes on the box. The spray code said: "This is the license number of my store. You can check it with the information on my tobacco retail license. There is absolutely no problem. If it is fake, you will be compensated ten percent."
"Then I can rest assured. ” Then he pointed to the cigarette cabinet and said, “Bring me another ‘Suyan’.” I turned around and went to the cabinet to get cigarettes. At this time, his cell phone rang, and I heard him say: "The matter is done, no need to buy cigarettes." Seeing the man hang up the phone, I smiled and said: "It's okay if you don't buy it. You are welcome to come back next time if you need it." ”
The next day, the sales staff visited the store. During the process, an inspector said that one of the “Zhonghua” cigarettes might be fake and needed further identification. I didn't believe it at the time, and said angrily: "The cigarettes in my store are all purchased from tobacco companies, how could they be fake?"
The inspector asked me to check the spray marks on the cigarette cartons. The code is actually not from my store. They asked me to recall whether any customers had come to the store to buy this cigarette recently. I remembered that a customer came to buy cigarettes the day before and later said he didn't need them anymore, so I took them back and put them on the back cabinet. The inspector said that my cigarettes were probably packaged by scammers and asked me to turn on the surveillance camera to take a look.
After calling up the surveillance, I found that the customer who came to buy cigarettes put the real cigarettes in the bag he carried with him when I turned around to get the cigarettes, and then took out another cigarette from his coat and placed it on the counter. superior.
The inspector reminded me that in daily operations, cigarette packaging often happens. You must be vigilant, and when selling cigarettes, make sure that the cigarettes do not leave the cabinet and cannot leave your sight. When customers do not want to roll cigarettes, they must check the printing code.
Since then, I have paid more attention to preventing cigarette packaging. Now that it’s the peak sales season, the store has also seen more customers. All retail stores should take this as a warning to prevent scammers from subcontracting and avoid causing economic losses.