Whilst online shopping is becoming more and more popular, lots of people still visit brick and mortar stores when making bigger purchases. The majority of shoppers will want to visit a furniture store when purchasing a new sofa or bed, for example, and these high-value products tend to be ordered in-store rather than online. For this reason, proving a positive retail experience is still incredibly important for retail store owners and many will use mystery shopping programmes to help them improve customer satisfaction.
There are many mystery shopping services available, yet video mystery shopping is one of the most popular within the retail industry, especially amongst stores that stock higher-value products. This particular type of mystery shopping will provide you with an insight into the service you provide from a customer’s perspective and video mystery shopping can have a direct impact on the number of sales you make in your furniture store.
Experience your customer journey first-hand
Unlike traditional face-to-face mystery shops, a small camera is worn during video mystery shops enabling retail mystery shoppers to record their experience in-store. The footage they capture will be incredibly informative and when watching it back, you will be able to see the experience as it unfolds in real-time. So, you can experience the customer journey yourself.
Although you will still receive written feedback after this type of mystery shop, watching video footage is undoubtedly one of the best ways to get an insight into what your customers experience on a day-to-day basis in your store. You will be able to assess every part of the in-store experience, from the friendliness of your team to the tidiness of your displays, and the footage you watch is the next best thing to being a customer yourself. The knowledge you gain from a retail mystery shop can be used to help you implement required changes to all aspects of your business, with the end goal of improving the sales of your products.
Carefully assess each customer interaction
When they plan on spending a considerable amount of money in your store, customers will expect outstanding customer service. The way your team treats every customer that walks through your doors will have a direct impact on your bottom line and it’s crucial to ensure negative interactions aren’t preventing sales from being made. Having a retail mystery shopper come into your furniture store and secretly film their interactions with your employees will allow you to see what your team is doing well and what needs improvement.
It can be very difficult to get a true reflection of how your team interacts with customers on an everyday basis, but video mystery shopping can provide you with the honest insight you need. By watching back the footage recorded by a retail mystery shopper, you can provide praise where it’s due and training in areas that were lacking. This will help you to ensure that moving forward, all of your employees are providing an exceptional experience from beginning to end, aiding the future sales of your furniture products.
Receive an invaluable training aid
The majority of retail stores will provide basic training to new employees, however, training really should be ongoing. The right training is key to providing the shopping experience customers have come to expect from stores selling high-value products and to ensure that no sales opportunities are missed, your team should have adequate knowledge of your products.
Video mystery shopping won’t just provide you with an insight into how well your team is performing, but the footage recorded can be a brilliant training tool. Implementing the results of your mystery shops into your training programme is one of the best ways to ensure the training you’re providing is effective, and you can make sure you’re targeting the areas that require the most work. Every member of your team should be able to share useful information with your customers, enhancing their shopping experience, and when they’re equipped with the right knowledge, your team can drive sales whilst providing exceptional customer service.
Enlisting the help of an experienced mystery shopper
Should you be trying to improve the sales of high-value products in your furniture store, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team at Proinsight. We offer lots of different mystery shopping services, including video mystery shopping, and we can provide you with the invaluable insight you need into how well your business is doing.
Our retail mystery shoppers wear the latest state-of-the-art recording equipment during their mystery shops and whilst the cameras are nearly impossible to detect, they provide brilliant viewing and sound quality. Feel free to explore our website today to learn more about how we can assist you with your mystery shopping programme.
