What does December have in store for you?

Rich in lessons, this Telegraph articlean English newspaper that explained in January 2019 that for the first time smartphones had surpassed retail outlets as a means of acquisition.

According to this article, more than 30 million Britons (58 percent) use smartphones to shop, an increase of 12 million, or 66 percent from 2018, according to a Uswitch report.

In comparison, 56,% of the British had a shopping centre in 2019, a figure that is declining, as shown by BBC Springboard figures which suggested a decrease in attendance of 3.9% in December 2018 compared to the previous year, despite significant discounts.

 The risk of seeing this decline continue is all the greater as some payment method providers such as Apple Pay allow consumers to pay on credit with a single click, the Telegraph said.

 Consumers surveyed by Uswitch indicated that they prefer the smartphone because they can shop at any time, while comparing prices easily, which makes them feel like they are doing business: the most popular products purchased online were clothing (69%), books (51%), food shopping (47%) and leisure activities (movies, theatre, various outings) for 43%.

 For retailers and traders, the pressure is therefore quite strong: what will happen in France in December 2019? and how can we fight against this trend?

One of the ways to attack is through delivery: even in large cities, e-commerce delivery systems are the nerve centre of e-commerce, due to delivery companies overwhelmed by events, with outsourced staff with little or no training, who has not waited for a package to receive it late, damaged, or even not to receive it at all and spend hours on the phone or writing emails to get their money back? 

 Stores also have a role to play in welcoming customers: transforming the point of sale into a warm, welcoming place where they enjoy going is important, and Nespresso stores play the luxury and hospitality card by offering free tasting of the wines offered for sale, all under the guidance of very friendly staff who give the customer the impression that they are a VIP.

 Of course, as a professional music software publisher, this little overview would not be complete if we didn't mention music in store, so far, many points of sale have equipped themselves with quite ordinary playlists, distributed by means of commercial loudspeakers whose sound is not necessarily the most advantageous feature... More and more, points of sale have an interest in equipping themselves with small hi-fi quality speakers (Bose, Sonos, Harmann Kardon, JBL etc) which broadcast a much better sound

 If your store is welcoming and designed as a space where you feel good, or you are well received with friendly salespeople and a pleasant sound atmosphere based on a well-designed playlist, it is likely that many customers disappointed by the coldness of online systems will come back, especially since the prices charged will be close to those of the web. Investing a little in marketing actions such as in-store music can seem boring because margins reduce like p

 But let's be reassured: a quality playlist, corresponding to your brand, that sounds remarkably cheap and much cheaper than we could imagine: from about twenty euros per month ! it's worth it, because if you manage to attract more customers to your store thanks to the implementation of tools like the sound atmosphere and others, you will probably experience an increase in turnover...rather than a decrease!

However, music is only one of the elements to be put in place, and this year we will have to pay close attention to lighting, traffic, how to treat customers carefully but without haste, etc. More than ever, the job of a merchant or sales staff is to give the customer the impression that we are really interested in him, not that we are just trying to sell him something.