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With the holiday season fast approaching, competition is going to be fierce. Boost sales with these tips and tricks:
- Get Visible!
Advertising your shop and your wares is a great way to increase sales, and foot traffic!
- There are many venues that still allow you to advertise that you have firearms for sale. Everything from billboards, to newspapers, to local forums and national classifieds websites like Armslist.com allow you to advertise your store, your wares, sales and more to a wide audience of firearms enthusiasts and even first time buyers!
- Even though social media giants are largely against firearms, you can still make your presence known by staying active on the platforms. Just a teaser photo of the gun wall or pistol case in your shop with a tagline like “New inventory always coming in! Be sure to stop by and see us,” can go a long way. Best of all, posting on social media is free to do!
- List as many of your firearms for sale online both locally and nationally, on websites like Armslist.com. Customers often come in to look at a gun and leave with the gun and a handful of non-firearms items.
- When listing your firearms for sale, always be sure to use original, quality photos of your items. Never use stock photos.
- Pro tip: Always be willing to ship. Indicating you are willing to ship nationally increases the likelihood of a sale exponentially. If you can pull it off, offering free shipping makes consumers much more likely to purchase.
- Advertise that you are willing to do firearms transfers. Whether it’s a customer having a firearm shipped to your store to fill out a 4473, or two customers meeting in person to do a face to face transfer at your store, transfers are a lucrative way to attract customers.
- Encourage current customers to leave reviews places like Google, Yelp!, Facebook and more. More positive reviews draw your shop to the top of the search results list.
- Build an address list of your customers so that you can send out periodic mailers. Mailers are great ways to inform customers of sales, new inventory, and more!
- Build an email list of your customers using a service such as MailChimp or SendInBlue. This way you can send out a newsletter updating customers on your inventory, and any sales and events you have going on!
- Supplement Pawn Inventory with Distributor Inventory
Having a large selection of both new and used items can make a vast difference in sales numbers
- If you haven’t already, build a relationship with a distributor such as RSR Group, Davidson’s, or Lipseys. These distributors typically have a massive and diverse inventory for you to choose from to put in the gun counter or on the gun wall. This also allows you to order firearms you may not have in-stock for inquiring customers at wholesale pricing!
- Be sure to keep abreast of new releases and industry trends so that you can always keep the most popular items on the shelves, both used and new, to be sold and in a happy customer’s hands in no time!
- Having new and used accessories on the shelves for popular firearms can also help drive sales both individually, and as an add on to a firearms purchase, or even a transfer! Be sure to stock items such as holsters, scopes, red dots, magazines and more!
- Customer Service is Crucial
The holidays can be a stressful time for many, especially as they draw closer to a close. As tensions run high, it’s especially important to be patient, understanding, and calm and level headed. One customer that had a bad experience can spread the word to many, causing you to lose out on potential customers.
- Not being too aggressive in your sales pitch is very important. You never want to turn a customer off or have them feel that they may be being mislead into a purchase that isn’t right for them, especially when it comes to firearms.
- Always be sure to give a friendly hello to customers both on the phone, and when they enter the shop. A welcoming environment can go a very long way.
- Having some sort of a loyalty program can be a great way to keep customers feeling positive about their experience. A great way to do this would be to offer a fifth transfer free.
- Host an Event or In-Store Super Sale
In 2019, there were 84.9 million shoppers on Black Friday according to the National Retail Foundation. The FBI reported that there were 202,465 background checks performed that day. The amount of guns purchased is likely much higher, as many buyers purchased more than one firearm. Get in on the action!
- Hosting a super sale and getting the word out about it using the above advertising techniques, bolstered by the help of a manufacturer or distributor is an excellent way to get customers in the door, and spending money.
In summary, there are a ton of great ways to strengthen sales both during the holidays, and the rest of year! Using the tips above, your sales and foot traffic will be up in no time!
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