Inflation happens to be one of the leading causes of financial complications in economoies around the world. They not only influence the cost of goods and services but also indirectly influence the quality of life. Inflation is a severe issue pushing more people toward poverty, resulting in a nation’s economic fall. Developed countries have the potential to manage this inflation while being selective about their purchases. Developing countries, on the other hand, often suffer the worst consequences of inflation.
Inflation can transform people’s buying habits, which directly impacts businesses. As a result, it seems almost impossible for independent brands to do anything that can change consumers’ shopping behavior.
However, consumer research shows that it’s not that difficult either. With some smart initiatives, business owners can generate sales during inflation. However, before you do that, you need to get some basics right.
With that in mind, here are a few ways the business should focus on to drive more sales during inflation in the following sections.
Tips To Increase Sales During Rising Inflation
1. Explore The Buy Now, Pay Later Options: Buy now, pay later has become a go-to option among businesses due to its feasibility. In cases of conventional economic scenarios, delayed payment options give trusted customers an alternative way to purchase the goods they want.
Over the years, ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ has become crucial for many customers to manage low budgets and price hikes during high inflation. Many studies show that more than half of the population adopted this method of purchasing discretionary goods. Unfortunately, this means that consumers are deeply affected by rising inflation.
If your business doesn’t offer a BNPL option, avail it now, or many customers won’t consider shopping from you. This will eventually result in fewer sales and less success than your competitors.
2. Millennials Might Not Change Their Shopping Habits: Different customer segments respond differently during inflation. This also means the impact of inflation will majorly depend on who your customers are. Usually, “the GenZ customers” are most sensitive about rising inflation, perhaps due to going through that phase earlier or the likelihood of fixed income.
In additon, you also need to consider millennials’ spending and shopping habits since they are tempted to use new forms of payment. Here, you could consider introducing cryptos as a legal tender. This would help you attract new clients while also retaining your existing ones.
Besides, thanks to the introduction of platforms like Coingate, you can now accept crypto payments at no extra cost. The crypto payment gateway allows you to integrate OpenCart plugin to your eCommerce site and enjoy seamless crypto transactions.
3. Consider Your Shipping Cost: A discretionary shopping approach makes customers more sensitive to extra money being spent during checkout. Consumers now spend more time online looking for free shipping offers. Businesses can acquire the rewards of these thrifters if they have a free shipping threshold.
This is where a customer spends a minimum amount in a single transaction to enjoy free shipping. Your minimum product value must be high to encourage customers to increase their purchases, but not so high that they go elsewhere. So be careful of how you decide your shipping prices since this can either encourage or discourage your customers.
4. Taken Advantage Of “Loyalty Stock” To Attract New Customers: While it may be hard to find ways to deal with rising inflation, businesses have one noticeable advantage. Strict household budgets and price hikes are often called ‘loyalty shock.’ This increases customers’ urge to interact with and use newer products and services.
The loyalty shock mechanism is a popular feature that prevents people from accessing these products and services. Recently, consumers have been moving towards cheaper labels for essential goods or looking for discounts. These changing consumer behaviors give a valuable opportunity for businesses to use them to their advantage and navigate through inflation.
5. Focus On Loyalty Initiatives For Engagement: As mentioned above, loyalty shock is an opportunity that can attract new customers, but it’s also challenging to keep a hold of your old customers. This means existing customers are more valuable to businesses than new ones. This is because acquiring a new customer is more expensive than retaining old customers.
The more customers buy goods from you, the more beneficial it is for you. So introduce loyalty rewards and incentives for your older customers. Launching a premium will give your additional business revenue and give your customer more reasons to stay loyal. In addition, you can add perks like exclusive discounts and free shipping.
Wrapping Up
This rising inflation triggered by populist government decisions is not going anywhere anytime soon. Thus, businesses need to take proactive measures to adopt various techniques and boost their sales.
For example, you can deal with inflation by attracting new customers and retaining the old ones by introducing different kinds of incentives. But no matter what you do, ensure your business is ready to face the upcoming devastation that awaits the business world.