Bikeworks ABQ shared some heartening information...

Clifton Chadwick

Another good article on the blog should give hope to independent retailers of all stripes;

"A British market study shows that retail staff members are the key to making customers feel comfortable while shopping, and also cause them to buy and spend more.

Some highlights:

    Customers who receive assistance in a store, on average, spend up to 40 per cent more than those who are not helped by staff.

    For highly-satisfied consumers, assistance (43%) and friendliness (32%) were cited as the most important factors in their satisfaction, followed by item availability (14%) and speed of service (13%).

    For dissatisfied consumers, the biggest turn-offs were assistance (27%), speed of service (22%) and item availability (20%). The report notes, “This report reveals staff assistance has the biggest impact on the customer experience of SMG’s clients, highlighting the possibilities and challenges facing the retail sector to improve customer service and staff motivation.”

In our last e-newsletter we directed you to a Wall Street Journal Article that argued automated checkers won't ever out-perform human checkers.

So congratulations on your cutting edge approach to business - hire good people!