What is retail marketing?

Getting your retail business off the ground is a great achievement, and one you should be proud of. But what's next after you've opened your first storefront, hired your first sales team, and are ready to grow your retail business beyond its humble beginnings? 

If you're looking to build a better retail strategy to help increase sales, build relationships with customers, and drive more customers into your retail space, investing in retail marketing is your next step to growing your business. 

In this article, we'll go over what retail marketing is, the range of elements it includes, and how clienteling with Clientbook can help you better market to your customers.

Definition of retail marketing

Retail marketing is any effort a retail store makes with the goal of acquiring new customers—or retaining current ones—and getting them to buy your products or services. Retail marketing helps bring awareness to your brand and increase profits. 

Retail marketing strategies often go hand in hand with retail sales strategies, which generally have similar goals in mind, such as increasing foot traffic, expanding your customer base, and enhancing the overall customer experience. 

Four principles of retail marketing 

The basics of retail marketing are broken down into four main principles, known as the four "Ps" of retail marketing or the "retail marketing mix."

We'll go over each in more detail below. 

Product 

The first P is product. In order to begin any kind of marketing efforts, you have to have a high-quality product to market to first. Product-related decisions that impact your retail marketing strategy will fall into this category.

For example, if you're a jeweler, making the decision to stock more engagement rings during the spring and summer months for the wedding season is a smart product-related strategy to drive traffic to your store. 

Or, if you own a fashion boutique, you'll have to make decisions on which brands and lines of clothing you'll want to keep in stock and for how long. 

Whatever your industry, making these decisions will require a close look at the market, your competition, and what your potential customers might want or expect.  

Price 

The next P is pricing. Once you have a product to market to, you'll need to decide how much you're going to charge for it. This is a balance between offering a price that buyers will be satisfied with, but also one that allows you to drive your retail sales and grow your business.

Pricing strategies can include things like offering sales promotions on a product that isn't selling, price bundling for products that are bought together, or offering promotional pricing during a specific season to drive sales. 

In any good retail strategy, your pricing should ebb and flow to fit the demand, your target market, and other seasonal factors that impact your retail sales. 

Place 

After you've got your product and pricing strategies planned out, the next P is place. This refers to the physical stores or other digital locations where you'll be selling your products. 

Will you have multiple retail stores, or just one? Do pop-up shops make sense for your product? What about an online presence or social media pages? Will shoppers be able to make purchases from their phones, or are you only a brick-and-mortar retailer?

Getting answers to these questions about your retail environment are all part of deciding what kind of retail experience you want to offer your customers when they shop with you. 

Other decisions can include what you want the physical environment of your retail store to look and feel like when shoppers walk in. Things like how much shelf space is available, which products are displayed up front, and even what kind of music you want playing all contribute to your retail space. 

Promotion 

The final P is promotion. This refers to how you're going to promote your store to potential and current customers. How you promote your retail store will largely depend on your audience and what they are most likely to respond to.

For example, if you own a fashion boutique with a younger customer base, teaming up with a social media influencer on Instagram or TikTok could be a great way to raise awareness about your brand and help you get discovered by new people who wouldn't have found you otherwise. 

Or, if you own a furniture store, attending furniture expos and trade shows in your area could be a smart strategy to build relationships with customers near you and build interest around your brand. 

Taking the time to figure out what your target audience looks like and how they like to be marketed to is key to driving more people into your retail space and improving your customer conversion rates. 

Why retail marketing is important

Focusing on the four Ps of the retail marketing mix and developing retail marketing strategies is essential for retail store owners looking to build customer relationships and grow their business. 

Below are just a few of the benefits of investing in retail marketing: 

• Drives revenue: First and foremost, the effort you put into retail marketing will increase your sales. After all, the more people who know about your brand, the more potential customers you'll earn. 
• Increases brand loyalty: Putting in the effort to tailor your product, pricing, location, and promotions to your audience will earn their trust and turn them into repeat customers.
• Helps your sales team: Dedicating resources to marketing efforts makes the job of any retail sales teams easier. When customers come in after seeing an ad or promotion that excited them, your team's job is already halfway done.

How clienteling software can help with retail marketing 

If you're new to the retail marketing mix, getting started may seem daunting, but with clienteling software like Clientbook, the job becomes much easier. 

Clientbook allows you and your sales team to keep track of key clients, build product wish lists, and even send promotional messages to groups of clients—all from a phone or tablet.

By clienteling with Clientbook, you'll be able to build relationships with customers who come into your retail space and learn how to market to them better. No more guesswork or trial and error when it comes to your retail strategy. 

Conclusion

Growing your business is an exciting endeavor for any retailer, and one that only comes after a lot of time, effort, and resources have gone into it. But developing and implementing your first formal retail marketing strategy doesn't have to be tedious or time consuming. 

By investing in clienteling software like Clientbook, getting to know your clients and what makes them tick is easier than ever. If you're ready to see how Clientbook can help you build lasting customer relationships and drive sales, book a personalized demo today.