3 Retail KPIs to Consider this Season

3 Retail KPIs to Consider this SeasonKey Performance Indicators, or KPIs for short, are a metric businesses use to measure how effectively they are progressing toward goals. KPIs can focus on a number of things, from the overall success of a business down to processes or marketing strategies.

As a business owner, you likely already have KPIs outlined as part of your business objectives. While there are some common KPIs that a lot of retailers follow, today we’re going to focus on 3 retail KPIs to consider this season—and beyond.

Dwell Time

Dwell time is commonly used in reference to websites, in that it represents the amount a time a customer spends on your site before leaving. The longer the dwell time, the more engaged a prospect is and the more likely they are to complete a purchase. Short dwell times mean a customer landed on your site and either didn’t find what they were looking for, abandoned because of slow load time, didn’t find the content relevant, etc. Dwell time is a great way to track the relevance and quality of the content you’re putting out there.

Dwell time can also refer the amount of time a customer spends in your retail store. Some businesses, such as quick-serve food establishments, would want their in-person dwell time to be relatively short—after all, customers are just popping into these places to grab-and-go. But if you’re a brick-and-mortar store looking to make big sales, you’d want your dwell time to be high. Determine which is best for your business, and then work to raise or lower it by reviewing your store layout, signage, and staffing.

Employee Satisfaction

Happy employees can do wonders for the overall success of your business. They raise the spirits of their coworkers, are a pleasure to their management, and do a great job spreading those good vibes to customers. It’s a win-win-win. But not many businesses focus on the happiness of their staff as a KPI, which is why we suggest taking a closer look at the people you’ve tasked with driving success and working to improve that metric this shopping season. Check out our post on boosting employee satisfaction for more tips on keeping your workforce happy. When your employees can grow, so can your business.

Net Promoter Score

Finally, we urge business owners like you to consider their net promoter score (NPS), which measures a customer’s likelihood of recommending your business to someone else. A lot of times this number is calculated through online surveys that simply ask a customer how likely they are to recommend your store to others, but this question can also be posed at the POS in a physical retail location as well.

Net promoter scores are based on a scale of 0-10. There are 3 types of customers: Detractors give a response of 0-6 and are not likely at all to recommend your establishment. They may also spread bad word-of-mouth about you as well. A Passive gives a score of 7-8; these folks don’t have a strong opinion one way or another about your business, but they’re not likely to badmouth it. Promoters give a score of 9-10 and are enthusiastic cheerleaders for your brand. Increasing your net promoter score is critical these days, especially as we head into the winter months when we are not sure what the retail landscape is going to look like. It’s going to be a tough sell to get folks fully comfortable with shopping in person again, but a high NPS means people are willing to stand by your business despite all that’s going on right now.

Looking for more marketing and retail advice? Be sure to stop by ARF Financial every week for coverage of hot topics in your industry. We’re also home to a host of loan products designed to help your business thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hop over to learn more about our best-loved Flex Pay Loan, business lines of credit, and more!