When running a retail store, customer satisfaction and sales are two of the most important factors you should consider. Of course, all success with making sales depends largely on both your customer and the product. 

 

Even though you can’t directly tell customers what to buy, you can encourage sales by selling products that feel tailor-made to their needs and desires. The question is then, how do you choose the right products to sell? We outline how to start planning for customer needs to make sure you’re stocking up on the best items for your store. 

 

Think About How to Meet Customer Needs

With the exception of impulse buys, it’s likely that your customers already know what they want or need every time they shop. As the retailer, you want to develop and choose products for your store that meet these needs. If customers come to your store for gifts, it's probably not a good idea to stock cleaning supplies, despite consumers' everyday need for those items. 

 

You may love a really niche product, but how do you know if it will sell? There are countless ways to meet customer needs and just as many unique needs to meet. You can find the balance between carrying products you like and products that sell by looking at popular products with a good return on investment.

 

So how do you know what will sell and what won’t? You can easily find out what’s going to be popular and meet customer needs by doing research!

 

Conduct Market Research 

Market research is the most important part of product selection. You can discover who your target audience is by understanding what people are buying which products. Some things to consider in your research are demographics, customer personality types, market trends and location. If your store is located near a college campus, then young adults may be a large portion of your customer base. You can then stock up on products that pique the interest of this demographic, such as apartment decor, loungewear, tech and accessories!

 

Analyze Customer Demand

Another way to find your customers’ needs is through competitive research. Looking at what your competitors are selling and what’s trending in-store and online can help you find products for your own retail business.

 

Competitive research can be like window shopping. Looking to see “what’s hot” and “most wished for” on sites like Amazon, Etsy and the like are a good way to find out what the current customer demand is. It’s like going on a mental shopping spree!

 

Choose Product Lines That Have Been Thoroughly Researched & Are Designed to Sell

Choosing a reliable vendor that will fit your customer needs may be easier than you think. DM Merchandising has a variety of best-selling signature brands and products to fit any customer need. We sell everything from fashion accessories, apparel and footwear to tech, jewelry, kitchenware and impulse! You can see our new product list here. 

 

We’ve also done our market research. DM has shelf-ready product lines that have been researched, tested and developed to sell. We can even offer you trending products with optimized packaging and displays to make both buying and merchandising your products easier than ever. Check out our full catalog now to see how we can help you curate your product selection with confidence!