Why Successful Retailers Create Community Spaces for Customers

It began with “groceraunts,” but it has extended throughout the retail industry. The concept of community spaces within retail stores has been used to drive more foot traffic and offer a more complete customer experience. Whether it's a café, wine bar, bistro, or even just a sitting area with free Wi-Fi, community spaces have been helping retailers stand out from the competition and increase customer loyalty.

Implementing a community space in your store can accomplish a few things:

Create a Strong Sense of Belonging

When you create a space for a community, you give shoppers an opportunity to form new connections and strengthen old ones. Your retail space transforms into a spot where friends can meet up and grab a drink, students can work on projects using the Wi-Fi, or clubs can hold meetings. All of this forms a community, and with that comes a sense of loyalty — not just to the group, but to the place.

It's these types of close-knit communities that drive customers to venture offline and into physical retail locations. When you're trying to compete with e-commerce, a customer-centric space provides the one thing that online stores can never deliver: a place for people to interact face-to-face.

Encourage Customers to Return

Once you've drawn customers in, you'll be able to encourage repeat visits by using customer data to automate your marketing efforts. You'll be able to personalize your offers and strengthen your relationships with your customers by tailoring marketing campaigns to their interests.

If they tend to spend a lot of time at your café, for example, you can offer specials on their favorite beverages to entice them to return. Likewise, you can offer special themed nights at your café so customers will want to come back. If you offer a cozy atmosphere and amenities like free Wi-Fi, many customers will come to your business for that alone.

Encourage Customers to Spend More

The more often customers come back to your store, and the longer they stay, the more money you can make. Offering a customer-centric space in your retail store encourages customers to stay longer than they normally would. This gives customers ample time to browse the different products you offer and find something they may not have otherwise seen.

You can also leverage your loyalty program to increase the average amount they spend by configuring it so that points are accrued based on the dollar amount spent. This means you can offer a $5 coupon for a smoothie or a free coffee when a spending threshold is reached, which entices customers to spend more.

Why it Matters

Ultimately, adding a customer-centric space to your store proves to customers that you're focused more on their wants and needs rather than the products you sell. Shoppers can find just about anything they want online, so the actual products you offer become secondary in the grand scheme of things. The priority should be offering the kinds of customer experiences that drive customer loyalty. Adding a cozy space where customers can relax is a great way to achieve this.

Pascal Nicholas is CEO of SalesVu, a cloud-based POS system.