Three Actions to Increase Retail Consumption

In 2022, the retail industry in Mexico has recovered its traction. Influx at malls has been growing throughout this year and sales KPIs have shown positive results among different retail sectors.

The past has taught us that retailers must be careful with their business decisions. Despite the fact that retail is one of the most important economic sources in the country, any external factor can destabilize the economy from one moment to another.

Knowing this, brands have learned that they need to find a value proposition to help them position themselves above the competition. Although having good, innovative products and services is the starting point, there are some actions that are necessary to keep growing.

With this objective in mind, there are three basic actions that retailers must consider within their future strategies.

Marketing Suited to Your Needs

The first is to have a solid marketing strategy that accompanies your general and growth objectives. You have to know who your potential consumer is, and the more details you know around their consumption habits, the easier it will be to align your actions.

Before starting, be clear about the resources that your brand has, then put on paper all the contact points with the client (your store, social networks, website, pop-up stores, etc.) all your sales channels and your budget.

It is important to point out that the more you know about the path of your consumer, the better you will be able to segment the messages that help you guide them during the sales process. The sales funnel will help you map out and adapt it to the physical sales channel or in a mix with the digital one if your brand has online sales.

With this defined, you can plan your omnichannel marketing strategy that guides your customers during the three main stages: before, during and after the purchasing process. Also, it is important to consider buybacks.

You must establish a plan that is appropriate to your day to day and based on a real analysis of your business, if you consider indicators such as the traffic outside your stores, the attraction and purchase conversion rates, you will be taking advantage of your stores in a smart way to connect with the customer.

Bet on strategically implementing actions in the ideal places where your customer daily interacts and let them know your product, your value proposition and what makes your product different.

Remember to incorporate a repurchase strategy focused on your MVP customers to maintain their interest. Your messages should communicate the reasons why your customers should continue buying your products.

The omnichannel world is driving brands that are quickly figuring out how to maintain constant communication across any channel. This practice is becoming more and more common among retailers, so a solid marketing strategy is the necessary starting point for the growth of consumption.

Professionalization of Inventories

Another lesson learned for retailers was the need to present new products to the customer and this can only be achieved if their businesses are based on a structured operation.

Retailers realized that logistics and inventory control in their stores cannot be a secondary activity, since buyers have the availability to continue buying depending on it. According to studies we've done at Getin, a lack of inventory turnover is one of the main reasons why people leave a store without buying products.

The problem with this is that many times at the administrative level, it is difficult to detect a drop in sales related to the lack of products. It is at this point where the importance of having the right tools to facilitate this issue.

The Retail Digitization 

Although the two previous points are actions that are not making a notable difference in retail history, in 2022, the use of technology as an ally to promote increased consumption is becoming more relevant than before.

Year after year, the increase in social media use is becoming more common among the population of buyers, which has forced an  accelerated process of digitization of the industry.

The consumer of 2022 has become an informed and demanding buyer who, with a bad shopping experience, will turn his back on the brand and even damage its reputation.

As a result, retail digitization strategies are no longer optional: contactless payments, buy now pay later companies, payments through applications, etc, are increasing the possibilities for closing sales.

In the omnichannel world, the digitization of payments is making a significant difference in promoting active consumption by buyers.

The New Era of Consumption in Mexico

There are two factors at this time that are laying the foundations for the new retail of 2023: attending the needs of buyers in real time and rewarding loyal customers who will be the ambassadors of the brand and those who will help generate community around your products.

The successful execution of these three actions are necessary to increase consumption and is the starting point to be prepared for the retail customers of the future.

The important part is to ensure that your execution is correct and to constantly measure the indicators related to the objectives that you want to achieve.