5 ways retail businesses can increase sales through Bluedot

It's that time of year when businesses have begun ramping up with staff and stocking their stores to the brim in preparation for the holiday season.

What I don’t hear enough about in conversations with businesses is the data or science behind retail shopping, and I couldn’t help but think, if businesses adopted even just a few new strategies, just how much they could help move their operations forward.

For this article, I had to reach out to the CEO of one of the top research and analytics companies in the Caribbean, Larren Peart of Bluedot Data Intelligence.

Bluedot Data Intelligence Ltd is a full-service market research, social media and data insights company whose clients include government, corporations and non-governmental organisations.

Bluedot came down for the Caribbean Investment Forum, and Peart was one of the speakers for the three-day event. I caught up with him to talk about the work it is currently doing in the Caribbean, and started asking about the trends and insights they are seeing in Caribbean retail from the data they have been collecting in the retail industry.

That conversation prompted me to ask Peart for five tips he could give business owners to increase their sales.

Here is what Peart had to say.

5 ways to increase sales

1. Understand your customers – collect as much data on your customers as possible, then do surveys/ask them questions to understand what they like, don't like, when they shop and their spending patterns.

2. Get digital – what cannot be measured cannot be managed. Implement a point-of-sale system to track sales, orders, inventory etc.

Get online, and ensure you show up on Google and social media. The data you get from these will allow to you optimise pricing and target your customers and potential customers better.

3. Ethnographic research – that is, observational. Look at what customers do when they walk in and through your store: do they go left or right first? Where do they stop? What do they stop to look at? A/B test pricing and item positions to see if it increases sales.

4. Have strong in-store visuals – 70 per cent of shopper purchases are made at the point of purchase.

5. Loyalty programmes – when customers feel valued and are rewarded for it, they shop more.

These are five tips that can be easily implemented to start getting yourself on the right path to increased sales and brand loyalty.

Bluedot is also doing some amazing things with technology, neuroscience and data science.

I’ve watched it use a tool that allows it to track facial movements and use ECG tools for heart monitoring to track reactions when someone is watching your ads. That data can be actioned and help you save or make millions.

Say your ad didn’t evoke the emotions you had hoped or during a particular part of the ad, or maybe during a part of your ad someone's heart rate spiked and their face got angry – you are now armed with insights to see the exact moment in your ad it happened, and then delete that scene.

You can even do market testing for product labelling. Bluedot can equip shoppers with specialised goggles that track eye movements, have them walk down the aisles and see exactly what the customer is looking for, what labels are catching their eye and what parts of the label they are seeing. This data will allow you to re-engineer your labels to ensure the customers are seeing your products and are their eyes picking up the right info when they are walking through the aisles and looking at products on the shelves.

This is but a small taste of what Bluedot is doing. Tou can learn more about how it can help your business at Bluedotinsights.com.

Going into 2023, we have more access to international markets than ever before. A business can have a website and sell to international clients. You can join any of the marketplaces available that will allow your business to sell online and deliver the products both locally and internationally.

We are also going to see more travel happening in the Caribbean and since Airbnb is growing in popularity, more travellers will be venturing into the supermarkets or retail stores to buy local products. You need to ensure your business puts its best foot forward to capture your share of consumer's wallets.

Keron Rose is a digital strategist who works with Caribbean entrepreneurs to build their digital presence and monetise their platforms. To learn more, visit KeronRose.com or check out the Digipreneur FM podcast on Apple Podcast/Spotify/Google Podcast.