The global pandemic has changed many things about the way people work, shop, and carry on their daily lives. Even if COVID-19 mysteriously vanished overnight, it has created a paradigm shift in the way people think. While the virus has had a huge negative impact on sales for stores that offer direct customer service, there are ways to move with consumer thinking to offer them a safer, more convenient experience when it comes to shopping at your store.
Curbside pickup is one major player that has kept business such as restaurants and convenience stores afloat while the customers they normally see regularly have sheltered in place and are staying protected from the coronavirus. But simply adding curbside pickup to your repertoire of business tactics is not as simple as having customers call in an order and having ready for them when they arrive. Here are a few steps convenience stores in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina should take when adding curbside service to their overall operations.
– Technology: Consumers are increasingly turning to their cell phones, tablets, and laptops when making purchasing decisions—either by shopping online or actually making a purchase. To offer curbside service to your customers, you’ll need to have an eCommerce solution on your website for purchases made by credit or debit cards. You’ll also need a specially designated landing page or spot on your website for curbside delivery shoppers that lists your entire product lineup and that provides them with a way to place items in a virtual shopping cart while they shop online. The check-out page should provide a “shopping list” of all the items and a timeframe for when the customer wants to pick their order up, so the employees who will be “picking” the items for your customers have a cheat sheet to follow and know when to have order ready without compromising on the freshness of the items in the order, especially if frozen foods are involved.
– Dedication: The “pickers” you choose should be employees who are dedicated strictly to fulfilling online orders for curbside pickup. You should also have a dedicated space within your store where the completed order can be placed, as well as dedicated parking spots with numbered signs outside your building for curbside pickup customers. You may also want to have a dedicated phone number that goes directly to the “pickers” so a customer can let them know they have arrived and which spot they are parked in.
– Communication: To help increase your sales even further, when a customer places an order, try to capture their cell phone number and/or email address. This will allow you to stay in touch via text messages or email with them to build loyalty through online specials. This is a great way to personalize the shopping experience by using data to understand what your customers are buying and what they might likely want to try in the future. It will also help you track your inventory to make ordering from your distributor even easier.
Atlantic Dominion Distributors 