Why is it Important to Understand Trends and Customer Behavior in Retail?
Fulfilling human desires is a never-ending process. With the magnitude of requirement diversities, it gets even harder. 2020 has been a crazy year for all. It influenced people’s mindsets and needs. For example, People became even more hygiene conscious and decided to ditch certain products. This pattern influenced retailers to a great extent. Since a market is full of diverse people with diverse needs and desires, it becomes quite tough to bring out a product that fits everyone. But before launching a product or making modifications to the existing ones, it becomes essential to understand a customer. A retailer cannot just randomly pick certain products and expect them to buy them. To run a successful retail business, retailers need to understand market trends and customer behavior. Retailers can connect customer data in many ways, such as – holding a market survey, going through their feedback, or simply using an AI-based technology like LS Retail which automatically collects customer data from various sources and formats and turns it into a visionary report. Using such technology is more effective, accurate, time-saving, and cuts manual work. What is Consumer Behavior, and Why is it Important? Customer behavior drives trends. It is the frame of mind depicted by the consumer while buying, consuming, or discarding a product. Several factors influence customer behavior which revolves around looking for a product, evaluating its dynamics, and eventually consuming it. Then comes the post-purchase behavior, which depicts the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of a consumer. A consumer goes through various steps before buying a product. Understanding consumer behavior can identify how you can drive them to buy your products more. Analyzing their pattern and modifying your operations can increase the chances of your product being bought rise. It is the most important aspect of a business because it addresses factors that influence customers’ buying behavior. By understanding their patterns, retailers can differentiate between the needle and the obsolete products. Understanding consumer behavior and trends can also help marketers present their products in a way that catches their eyes and motivates them to buy a product. It is a key to reaching and engaging customers while convincing them to make purchases from them An ideal consumer behavior analysis reveals: What are the mindsets of various consumers on different alternatives (products, brands, etc.) What are the factors driving them to choose from the alternatives, and clarify their patterns? What is consumer behavior while researching and shopping? How their environment influences their purchasing decisions (friends, family, media, etc.) Collecting customer data to understand their pattern and market trends sure seems like a complicated task. However, it is not if you do it the right way. There is certain Unified software such as LS Retail, which integrates data from different sources and creates a report depicting current market trends and factors driving customer’ buying behavior. How Does Understanding Customer Behavior and Trends Benefit Your Business? Understanding what drives customers to buy a product can make a whole lot of difference: Boosts sales Improves Product Helps with More Effective Deals and offers Develops an Emotional Bond Promotes Referral Promotion Increase in Sales with Better Strategies Once you crack the algorithm driving customers to make purchases, you can use it for your product as well. If there is a specific feature in a product that catches their eye, see if you can offer a similar thing. Is it the packaging that draws them in? What is the emotional value of the product to the buyer? Keeping these factors in mind and adopting relevant strategies can help a retailer boost sales. Helps Identifying Trending Products Understanding why a buyer would rather purchase from your competition than from you can help you access the essentials you are missing. You may also make improvements to the product. Maybe they want the product you have but from a different brand, identify what is trending and keep it in your store. LS Retail with its AI technology accumulates market data springing from several sources and addresses what is trending. Effective Loyalty Programs Retailers can classify customers in different segments according to their preferences and purchasing patterns while creating attractive deals and offers that are most likely to catch their interest. This way they can offer, buy 1 get 1 free offer and deals like buying two packets of chips at 20% discount. Loyalty programs have been one of the most efficient ways to boost sales even before the arrival of advanced technologies like LS Retails which makes the process even more seamless. Develops an Emotional Bond Letting customers know you understand and take care of their needs helps develop an emotional bond between the customer and the retailer. Humans live for the sense of belongingness, and it does the trick perfectly. Free Promotion Connecting with your customers on an emotional level encourages them to purchase more from you and refer their friends and family while boosting referral promotion. Referral promotion is the most effective and cost-efficient promotional method amongst all the promotions. People tend to believe word of mouth from their relatives and friends more than any media or paid promotional approach. Conclusion Markets are full of diverse people, with unique needs and requirements. To keep almost everyone happy, retailers must understand their purchasing behavior and market trends. Identifying the factors that drive their buying decisions can be done effectively with LS Retail, a unified software solution that targets every business need. Trident Information Systems is one of its Gold Implementation Partners. Contact us for further information or a demo.
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