Updated July 4, 2026
Brick-and-mortar retailers have a finite client base, only so many people walk into your store on any given day. The fastest way to increase retail sales isn't chasing more foot traffic, it's converting more of the browsers you already have and raising your average ticket.
Here are eight ways to do that.
Your sales associates need to be constantly aware of how to sell the value of a single product over the price of the product while looking for ways to enhance that value with additional products.
Not only will this lead to more upsells and add-ons, but it will also help eliminate the need for markdowns to move higher-value items.
Practical retail sales techniques and strategies
With these retail sales tips, you’ll boost your bottom line — and create raving fans, too.
Let’s dive in so you can stop wondering how to drive sales in retail and start taking action instead.
1. Build rapport with every person who walks in your door
This list of retail sales ideas begins with one of the most important: building rapport to create a world-class shopping experience for every customer.
Today, exceptional shopping experiences begin with exceptional employee skills. Your staff must know how to genuinely engage people from all walks of life. That means getting out from behind the counter because they want to, not because you have to tell them.
Those employees must be able to listen to why the customer walked through your doors today, identify their motivators to buy, and link all of your products in a way that encourages them to buy.
When they build retail sales rapport and connect with their customers, it will keep customers from browsing for better deals on social media while standing in your store. It will also lay the groundwork for a true relationship where each looks forward to seeing the other again, increasing customer retention.
That also makes it easier for the sales associates to suggest add-ons because they are seen as human beings, trusted advisors rather than nameless clerks.
2. Treat your sales process as if it were a good script
Whether it is from poor hiring, a lack of training, or an unspoken belief by your crew that if people want something, they’ll ask, employees frequently leave their shoppers on the sales floor waiting.
Waiting for someone to talk to them. Waiting to be rung up. On the other hand, your untrained employees are waiting for the shopper to ask a question, or worse, waiting for them to leave so they can jump back on their smartphones.
When you have a consistent sales process, like a good script, everyone understands the plot and exactly how to get to the happy ending of a purchase - or, more specifically, how to increase sales in retail.
3. Optimize your retail marketing strategy
Many who create social media posts or help with the retail strategy for advertising a retail store don’t have the same passion or creativity as a business owner to show and sell.
Outsourcing your social media posts - while one option - isn’t the best answer regarding advancing your brand or ways to increase sales in retail. Clogging your social media with stuff doesn’t encourage visits.
Because you concisely know who your customer is and what answers they are looking for daily, you can create social media that passionately addresses their concerns and holds their attention.
4. Always be value selling over price
Value selling is the foundation for increasing sales in retail. It’s easy to mark down items or steer customers toward the cheapest option. Heck, that’s 90% of retail business help these days. However, markdowns are bad for profit, and the cheapest option is rarely the best for the customer.
With the proper understanding of the premium products they’re selling, salespeople can keep the conversation focused on the long-term value those products offer. Once customers understand that there truly are differences in quality from good to better to best, they’ll be more understanding of the price differences between those levels.
A good tip is to teach them the differences in your most popular SKUs and then have them tell a story using the Feel, Felt, Found Method and say, “I used to feel that way too about the price of this item. I felt it was too much. That was until I found out how much (better made, easier to use, quicker, etc.) it was over the others.”
Establishing the product's value in the customer’s mind makes it easier for the salesperson to segue into a conversation about add-ons.
5. Embrace all stages of the buyer’s journey
When you miss the first two stages of a buyer’s journey - #1, making them aware they have a need and #2, getting them to consider you as a source of how to solve that need - you just focus on #3, getting them to buy.
That usually leads to too much emphasis on discounts for those who have decided to buy. It also often misses an opportunity to upsell.
When you consider all three parts of the shopper journey, you can develop compelling videos, blog posts, articles, and newsletters that focus on just one aspect of the buyer’s journey at a time to reach a broader audience and increase retail sales.
6. Use suggestive selling to boost average check
Salespeople with in-depth knowledge of the products they sell should also clearly understand the items that complement those products. If they work in electronics, they know that even the best 4K television only offers limited sound quality.
That can lead directly into a conversation about soundbars or surround-sound systems. An apparel salesperson knows that a beautiful dress is not, by itself, an outfit, and a camera salesperson knows that a camera has a lot of lenses and focal lengths to make it truly an artistic device. The customers leave with products that exceed their initial expectations, and the salesperson gains higher per-ticket sales from their upsell.
To learn how to increase sales in retail effectively, your salespeople need to see the full picture of their product lines more so than the product features.
Even if they don’t know the specifics of an add-on but understand the concept of what it does, they’ll be able to create additional value for their customer and not settle for clerking a single item.
7. Describe compelling features
Unless your shoppers are engineers, facts are boring to most of them. When you lead with just a long list of facts about the product, you immediately lose most shoppers’ interest. Your shopper cares about how your product will help them do more, be more, and enjoy life more.
When you focus on your customer first, you look at the poorly performing product they are using, at the project they want to complete, or the gift they want to give and understand they aren’t just buying something - they’re upgrading their lives or someone else's life.
8. Remember your own story
Rounding out my retail sales techniques and strategies is this: remember your why.
The world is full of retailers with no soul, point of view, or passion. Shoppers, especially millennial shoppers, are looking for an authentic brand that can lead them to a cause.
One that says, “I created this store because I wanted a place where people like you could come and shop.” Or retail associates who have embraced the product or lifestyle their brand represents.
They are especially focused on social responsibility and how you make the world a better place. Focusing on your story and training your employees to share theirs makes a connection and shows your humanness. The result? Your staff knows how to increase sales in retail.
Ready to start using these retail sales tips?
When I ask about something seemingly obvious during my visits as a retail consultant, I often hear, “Oh, we used to do that. I don’t know why we stopped.”
It doesn't matter the reason.
When starting, you’re often hyper-focused on the customer because every sale means the difference between making your payroll and missing it.
You were hungry. Often, you hired people who were hungry too and knew how to make sales in retail.
People who enjoyed the sport of building a sale. Employees who enjoyed the challenge of adding on, getting people to treat themselves, and having fun.
You created energy in your store. Anyone could walk through the doors. Anything was possible.
It still is.
The retail sales tips in this article will help you get started or reignite your original passion. Then, it’s up to you to train your staff. Get more from your existing customers — and learn how to strategically target high-value shoppers — with the right online retail sales training program.
SalesRX is unlike any other retail training available. It is possible to grow your business. Learn more about my award-winning online program, and start seeing double-digit sales increases month after month.
Common Questions About Increasing Retail Sales
Should I focus on getting new customers or selling more to who's already in my store?
Selling more to who's already there. Brick-and-mortar has a finite number of people walking in on any given day, so raising your conversion rate and average ticket moves the needle faster than chasing more foot traffic.
What's the 50/20 rule in retail?
About half of a store's weekly sales happen during its 20 busiest hours. Scheduling your best-performing associates for those peak hours matters more than spreading coverage evenly across the week.
What's the fastest way to raise average ticket size?
Suggestive selling framed as a natural pairing, a soundbar with a TV, a belt with a dress, rather than a hard upsell pitch. Customers leave with a complete solution instead of one item.
Does storytelling actually help sell higher-priced items?
Yes. Explaining why a product matters to the customer's life, not just listing its features, is what justifies a premium price without discounting.
To learn more about how to fill your store with customers, motivate your team, and make more sales, download my Shopper Magnet Playbook below.
