While many of the most immediate problems faced by the retail sector in Australia can be traced to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are actually far more factors at play. The retail sector is under tremendous pressure, and it’s harder than ever to put up a shingle and create a successful enterprise in this sector.

For those in retail facing rising rents, wage bill pressures, and the growing competition of the online space, what can they do to better compete? Let’s take a look at some simple examples.

1. Gather Data, Data, and More Data

One of the key advantages that drives the success of online retail is how they make use of customer data. The data they collect allows them to understand customer habits, preferences, spending limits and much more, which in turn means they can tailor the customer’s experience to be closer and closer to perfect each time that person logs in and shops.

Regular retail businesses can do the same with in store customer analytics. They can learn more about their customer base, what they’re spending, what they like and don’t like, and more. While not necessarily tailored down to every individual customer, it can still be a powerful tool to help stores better manage inventory, predict periods of demand for certain products, understand when the store will be busy and in need of more staff, and more.

2. Customer Service Training

One of the reasons traditional retail continues to endure is that people everywhere just can’t shake their love affair with good-old customer service. The experience of shopping online can be very cold and sterile, and sometimes people need the kind of extra help with their purchases that only a fellow human can provide.

To make the customer experience better, regular training of your staff in how to deliver the very best-possible customer service is essential. Having team members who are also well-presented, smiling, and in possession of a positive, can-do attitude also helps greatly. The retailers with the best staff will invariably attract the most repeat customers.

3. Consider Child-Friendliness

How geared towards younger children is your retail space? Shopping with young kids can be a very stressful time for parents, and that’s made even worse when the kids are bored and there’s absolutely nothing they perceive as “for them” in the store.

Some retail spaces have worked to create kid-friendly stores where they have activities and things for kids to do while parents are shopping. These additions could be something as simple as a set of chalkboards for drawing, a TV, or just crayons and paper. Even the basic act of training up staff to be more friendly and easy-going with kids can be a god-send to parents.

4. Do Everything You Can to Cut Down Waiting Times

Possibly one of the biggest pet peeves of anyone making use of retail services is the idea of having to line up for long periods, either waiting for specific services, or waiting at the checkout to pay. Not everyone can make it to the store in off-peak hours when queues are at a minimum. Anything you can do to cut down on lines will give a boost to your business.

Some current options include implementing mobile payment systems that allow customers to pay at a swipe of their smartphone rather than looking for cash or waiting for card transactions to confirm. You can also employ more checkout staff when you know the store will be busy --- analytics data will help you predict that --- or add in some self-checkout counters to allow people more options when they’re ready to leave.