Maintaining a c-store can be challenging because customers trends and tastes are constantly changing. If you wish to improve the offerings of your store and make it more profitable, you need to identify the key categories which make up your total sales. In addition, once you understand the psychology of your customers—basically, what drives them towards specific shelves—you can tap into that to increase your profits.

If you wish to improve your store’s bottom line, here are simple steps that you can take:

Know your customer base

When trying to increase profitability, we immediately think of the products we’re selling. But what we need to be doing is to shift the focus on customers. By incorporating a customer-first approach, you start asking who they are and what they typically want.

Customer types range from the “regular customer” who always buys the same thing—like a bottle of water or a pack of cigarettes—to the “last minute shopper,” who frantically looks for specific items in the store. For the latter, you need to pay attention to your store’s organization and ease of access. While for the regular shopper, it’s all about keeping the items you know they’ll need in stock.

When you have a rough idea of the motives that drive customers to the store, you’re better able to meet their demands and make your store more useful for them.

Offer a larger variety of products

When you stock a greater variety of products, it’s more likely that something or the other will attract customers’ eye and they’ll end up spending more time in your c-store. Switch it up by offering limited-time-only flavors for popular products. This will increase customer frequency and improve the chances of turning visitors into regulars.

This way, you can also test the waters and figure out which products are customer favorites and add those items to the permanent lineup.

Improve customer service—Customer convenience is key!

If your customer has a positive shopping experience, they’re more likely to shop at your store instead of the one down the road. Friendly and helpful staff will encourage repeat business and improve your store’s reputation. Ensure that your store is always staffed, especially around opening and closing hours. Often, customers also look for valuable recommendations from the staff.

According to CSNews, the selection of affordable and quality products in addition to the speed of service, cleanliness of the store and ease of parking all impact the customer’s overall experience.

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