▤For shops

Above all one thing: that people find you and know whether the trip is worthwhile.

The three questions someone has before visiting:

1. Do they have what I am looking for?
2. Are they open?
3. How do I get there and where do I park?

Whoever answers these three wins the visit. Whoever leaves them open loses it to whoever does answer them — or to online retail.

What else you get out of it:

• Reaching regular customers when something suitable comes in.
• Finding staff — the second big purpose of a website in retail.
• Order in the contacts you already have: suppliers, local business association, regular customers.

What you do not get: an online shop or a till. Those are other systems.

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No. There is no shopping basket, no payment processing and no stock management.

What you can do instead:

• Show products, with picture, description and price — as a shop window, not as a shop.
• Accept enquiries via a form.
• Invite reservations — “Give us a call and we will put it aside for you.”

For many small shops that is enough, because a shop brings more obligations than the turnover justifies: right of withdrawal, shipping, returns, payment service providers, ongoing stock maintenance.

If you really want to sell: for that you need a shop solution. The website can link to it.

And what you must bear in mind with prices: even without a shop, the price indication rules apply as soon as you state prices — final prices including VAT and, where applicable, unit prices.

Through the map listing — in retail it is more important than your own website.

What belongs in the listing:

• Address and phone number.
• Opening hours, current and with public holiday arrangements.
• Photos of the shop, inside and outside.
• What you stock, in keywords.
• A link to the website.

Why this is so important: someone out and about searching for “bakery nearby” gets map listings — not websites. The decision is made there.

What you should do regularly:

• Enter public holiday hours before the holiday arrives.
• Reply to reviews, including critical ones.
• Keep photos up to date.

And what you should check: whether there is a listing you did not create. Such listings are created automatically and often contain outdated details. They can be claimed.

With a list of all the places they appear, and a date for it.

Where they all appear:

• Website: home page, contact page, footer.
• Map listing.
• Social networks.
• Business directories.
• The shop door.
• The answering machine.

That quickly adds up to eight places. If you write them down once, a change takes five minutes instead of half an hour of searching.

When you need to think of it:

• Before public holidays, and resetting afterwards.
• Before holiday closures.
• For special opening hours.
• For permanent changes.

What goes wrong most often: the public holiday hours are entered and not reset in January. When entering them, set yourself the reminder to reset them straight away.

And the most expensive mistake: wrong hours. Anyone standing in front of a locked door does not come back.

Not completely — but enough for someone to know whether they have come to the right place.

What works:

• Product groups instead of individual items. “Hiking boots, climbing equipment, outdoor clothing” says enough.
• Brands you stock. People search for them.
• Special features — what do you have that others do not?
• A few current items as examples.

What does not work: a complete catalogue. It is out of date the day after it goes up, and maintaining it eats up your time.

What you should bear in mind: if you show individual items with prices, the details must be correct and complete. A wrong price on the website leads to discussions at the till.

The pragmatic way: product groups permanently, individual items as eye-catchers with a date — and a sentence saying that the range changes.

Through a mailing list you have built up properly, and with messages that are worth something.

How the list comes about:

• Ask in the shop, with a clear sentence: “Shall we write to you when something suitable comes in again?”
• Record in writing who agreed and when.
• Do not collect secretly. An address from a complaint is not an advertising list.

What you can write about:

• New stock that matches what someone has bought.
• Dates — extended opening hours, promotions, events.
• Useful tips from your field.

How often: rarely enough that it gets attention. Once a month is a lot, four times a year is little — somewhere in between.

And the rule that underpins everything: every message must be worth something to the recipient. Whoever only advertises loses the list.

Through all channels at once, and early enough for it to get through.

The channels:

• Website, with a notice on the home page.
• Mailing list, if you have one.
• Map listing, where possible.
• Shop window.
• Local press or parish newsletter, if appropriate.

The timing: about a week beforehand, and a reminder one or two days before.

What belongs in the announcement:

• What exactly, from when, until when.
• Which conditions apply.
• What the advantage is, specifically.

What you should bear in mind legally: price reductions and comparison prices are subject to rules. In particular, stating a previous price is subject to requirements — find out before you advertise with crossed-out prices.

And afterwards: remove the notice again. An expired promotion on the home page says that nobody is looking after things here.

Reply — briefly to good ones, factually to bad ones, promptly to all.

Why reply: not for the author, but for the many people reading along. A factual reply to a bad review comes across better than ten good reviews.

How to reply to criticism:

1. Thank them for raising it.
2. Express regret without arguing.
3. Offer to clear it up — offline: “Please give me a call, I would like to sort this out.”

What you had better not do:

• Justify yourself. It always reads badly.
• Prove the customer wrong. Even if you are right, you do not win.
• Spread details of the matter in public. That is also a data protection problem.

With obviously false reviews: object factually and report them to the portal. Do not get into an exchange of blows.

And what you must not do: buy reviews or have staff write them.

On the customer record, factually, with date and outcome.

What belongs in it:

• What the occasion has been.
• What has been agreed.
• What came of it.

Why you should record it:

• Spot repeats. If the same item is returned three times, that is information about the item.
• Keep promises. What you promised in the heat of the moment, you should know about later.
• Be able to prove what happened.

How to word it: so that you could show it to the customer. A note about a complaint can also be the subject of an access request.

What you should not create: a list of unwanted customers with assessments. That is legally risky and rarely helpful in practice.

And the point at which handling complaints pays off: a customer whose complaint was resolved well is more loyal than one who never had one.

Through the website and the map listing — and with a very simple way to apply.

What belongs on the page:

• The job, specifically: hours, times, tasks, start date.
• What you offer, apart from the pay.
• A face and a name.
• Photos from the shop.

What makes the difference: the way to apply. In retail, people apply from their phone, often in the evening. A form with name, phone and a free-text field brings more applications than a portal with registration and a mandatory CV.

In addition:

• A notice in the shop. Your customers are your best source.
• Reply quickly. On the same or the next day.

And the wording of the advertisement: make sure it is free of discrimination — regarding gender, age and origin. Careless wording can be expensive.

Yes — they are contacts like any others, just with different details.

What belongs in the note:

• Contact person with direct line.
• Ordering channels and minimum order quantities.
• Delivery times and delivery days.
• Terms and payment terms.
• Notice periods for framework contracts.

What you can expect from this: that the information is not just in one person’s head. If your buyer is off sick, someone else has to be able to order.

What you should also do: categorise by product group. Then you can quickly find an alternative when needed.

And a practical side effect: if you see the terms of all suppliers side by side once a year, you notice where nothing has been renegotiated for years.

What matters: payment terms and contract details are confidential. Not everyone in the business needs to see them.

Three things, about an hour a month altogether.

1. Keep the map listing up to date — 15 minutes. Opening hours, public holidays, a new photo now and then. That is the most effective quarter of an hour you can invest.

2. Reply to reviews — 15 minutes. All those that have come in since last time.

3. Look through the website — 30 minutes a quarter. Are the hours, prices and contact people correct? Is an expired notice still there?

What you can skip if time is short:

• Regular posts.
• Social networks you cannot keep up.
• A mailing list you do not serve.

The principle: better little and correct than a lot and outdated. A social network account whose last post is two years old does more harm than good.

And if you had to choose one thing: the map listing.