For independent retailers, the shopping experience they offer is incredibly important. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most overlooked aspects of running a retail business. 

‘Experience shopping’ is one of the latest trends in retail, although some have been doing it well for many years. Arguably, it’s the retailers who provide exceptional experiences that will survive and prosper in an age where online shopping is eating into the high street market share. It’s the only way to compete. If the experience you offer is sub-par, it’s a sure-fire way to ensure you will lose customers, either to competitors or online! 

So, where do you start? You first need an impartial opinion on the experience your store offers. One way to achieve this is to hire a secret shopper to use your store, ideally at a number of times throughout a week. That way they can feed back their experience and identify areas for improvement and highlight areas you excel in. These might include queuing times, staff issues, ease of finding products and many other areas. 

Once you have a list of areas that need improvement it’s important that you start to implement changes. For example, another till might alleviate the queuing issue or some additional staff training might be required. Whatever the issue, it’s an investment that will pay dividends in the long run, consumers will happily visit a store where they have a great experience time after time.