20 Retail Sales Tips to Improve Sales (2025)

As a retailer, you use many resources to get people to walk through your door. But while traffic is crucial, it’s only the beginning: what do you do to generate sales once shoppers enter? 

The artful display isn’t enough. Sometimes, products meet a need so well that they sell themselves. But that’s rarely the case. Rather than leaving your sales to chance or innate sales talent, you can teach your staff some effective retail selling techniques or apply them directly yourself. 

Below, look at 20 sales tips to help you sell your products. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced salesperson, these tips can help you make more sales, drive more revenue, and build greater customer loyalty.

20 retail sales tips every salesperson should use

1. Sell solutions to pain points
2. Focus on quality conversations with quality customers
3. Understand your customers
4. Greet customers
5. Offer product demos
6. Give free samples
7. Train your employees
8. Always follow up
9. Ask for feedback
10. Encourage referrals
11. Share customer stories
12. Perfect your sales pitch
13. Be an active listener
14. Upsell higher-quality products
15. Cross-sell complementary products
16. Track and improve sales performance
17. Use customer profiles for personalized interactions
18. Encourage seamless cross-channel experiences
19. Check for loyalty rewards at checkout
20. Offer various payment methods 

1. Sell solutions to pain points 

Rather than focusing on the price of a product, explain how it can benefit the customer and add value to their lives. How is it enjoyable or useful? How can it solve a specific problem? 

Focusing on value, rather than technical product knowledge, can help you avoid discounting just to move inventory. It’ll also help you educate customers about each product’s unique features and benefits. 

For example, “This skincare bundle includes a face cleanser, toner, and oil, so you’ll have everything you need for your morning and evening skincare routine.” Then, you can go into detail about each product's benefits and how well they work together for specific skin types, depending on the customer’s needs. 

2. Focus on quality conversations with quality customers

Instead of surface-level conversations about the weather, get to know your potential customers. This type of sales conversation allows you to dig deeper into a prospect’s pain points and act as the entry point for your pitch (more on that later).

Need some ideas on how to start the conversation? Try these open-ended questions to kick off a new customer interaction:

• How can I help you? 
• What brought you to our store/website today?
• Who are you shopping for? 

3. Understand your customers

Customers often raise objections to products within a few minutes of a sales conversation. A great salesperson takes this as a cue to personalize their sales approach.

If in the first conversation a customer tells you they’re struggling to find a baby carrier that doesn’t hurt their back, empathize with them. Explain how you have two young children and that you went to the doctor with back pain problems, too. 

As Suzanne Sachs, president of Vintage Diamond Ring, says, “Any business can have a logo and a product, but when a consumer can turn to a company and know their purchases say something about who they are and what matters to them, it falls into a different category. When you connect with them on that level, you are able to tap into their world.”

4. Greet customers

The way you greet customers sets the tone for the entire interaction. A simple, warm greeting creates a welcoming atmosphere and makes customers feel valued. 

Generic greetings like “Can I help you?” may appear insincere. Instead, personalize your approach with a friendly opening like, “Hi there! Welcome to [store name]. Let me know if there’s anything I can assist you with.” 

Tailor your greeting if they’ve shopped with you before: “It’s great to see you again! How’s that [product] you bought last time working out?” 

A smile and eye contact also go a long way. An inviting first impression encourages customers to stay longer and engage more deeply, increasing the likelihood of a sale.

5. Offer product demos 

Customers might hesitate to purchase a new product if they’re unsure how it works. Take inspiration from TV shopping channels and grab a prospect’s attention by demonstrating how potential customers can use the product they’re considering buying. 

For example, if you’re selling cleaning products, have a small tile that you can splash grease on. Bring out the tile and spray your cleaning solution on it. Show how good it is at cleaning tough grease they’d find in their kitchen. They see how it’ll make their life easier immediately.

Better still, if customers aren’t paying attention, have them try the product themselves. 

6. Give free samples

If you don’t have a product or service to demonstrate, consider creating smaller versions of your product and giving them away for free. It’s a sales technique made popular by wholesalers like Costco because it shows people why they should spend their hard-earned money with you.

Free samples allow customers to interact with the product and get a taste of what they're buying. Plus, it's a great way to generate word-of-mouth marketing—if customers love the product, they'll likely tell their friends about it. 

After the customers interact, a great way to increase sales is to provide stories on satisfied customers. This demonstrates that you're not just another retailer—somebody who goes above and beyond for your customers. It builds trust, and customers are likelier to buy from someone they trust.

7. Train your employees

Your staff are the face of your retail business, so it’s important to empower them with the knowledge and training they need to do their job well. Effective training empowers employees and sales associates to assist customers and close sales confidently.

Equip your team with product information. They should be able to explain features and benefits and answer questions. Onboard them on using technology like your customer relationship management (CRM) software and point-of-sale (POS) systems. 

Good POS training can directly impact sales and customer experience. A well-trained employee can quickly look up inventory across multiple store locations when an item is out of stock, securing the sale instead of losing the customer. 

They can also efficiently process returns while checking customer purchase history, making smart decisions about store credit or refunds. Plus, properly trained staff can use POS data to make personalized product recommendations based on past purchases, boosting average transaction value.

8. Always follow up

Persistence is key. When it comes to sales, the best salespeople dance on the fine line between being persistent and being pushy. 

Following up before the sale is important to convert new customers; keeping in touch after the sale is equally important to encourage repeat purchases. 

When following up, don’t act desperate. It doesn’t matter how much you want or need to make the sale to reach your sales goals or grow your business—never make customers feel like you’re just in it for the money. You’ll always want to make customers feel like you’re helping them and providing value versus them helping you.

9. Ask for feedback

Customer feedback is a goldmine for improving your retail sales strategy. It provides insights into what’s working, what’s not working, and how to improve the overall customer experience. Regularly asking for feedback shows customers that their opinions matter, strengthening their connection to your brand.

Here are a few ways to gather and implement feedback effectively:

• Use multiple methods: Offer comment cards in-store, send follow-up emails with quick surveys, and create online surveys and polls through your website or social media platforms.
• Ask targeted questions: Rather than asking, “Did you enjoy your experience at your store?”—for example—try something like, “What did you enjoy most about your shopping experience?” or “What could we improve?” This ensures you get actionable insights.
• Incorporate feedback into your store: Share common themes with your team and make changes based on recurring customer suggestions. For instance, if multiple customers mention that checkout times are slow, consider a POS that unifies customer profiles across online and in-store shopping, which can speedup checkout and boost sales by up to 20% per order through better personalization.
• Show appreciation: When possible, thank customers for their feedback and update them on how their input influenced changes.
• Follow up post-purchase: For online or in-store sales, send follow-up emails thanking customers for their purchase and inviting them to share their thoughts via a quick survey or review link.

By fostering an open dialogue with your customers, you’ll build trust and continuously refine your sales approach to meet their evolving needs.

10. Encourage referrals

One of the best sales tips is to let your previous customers do the talking. Shoppers often trust referrals from people they know, making customer referrals crucial in any retail setting. 

According to one report, compared to customers acquired through other channels, referred customers spend about twice as much, are two to three times more loyal, are twice as likely to shop frequently, and are three times more likely to make a purchase.

Here are a few ways to encourage referrals: 

• Create a referral program that lets customers earn points or rewards for each new customer they refer to your retail business. 
• Focus on building customer relationships in-store to create a more memorable experience; people will naturally share this positive experience with friends and family.
• Run contests or special offers in-store where existing customers who bring in a friend or family member during a set period can earn discounts or freebies.

11. Share customer stories

Collecting customer testimonials and reviews and sharing user-generated content (UGC) are all forms of social proof that can be used online to bolster sales. But you can also use customer stories in person to build trust and increase sales. 

For example, if you’re selling skincare products, the following could influence a prospect’s buying decision: “In the last month, many women in their 30s benefited from using our best-selling face oil. When their skin started clearing up–in one week–they returned to buy the cleanser and lotion too.”

When you’re sharing customer stories, two things to think about are: 

1. How did your product(s) help people? 
2. Have customers come back to buy more of the same or similar products? 

Pull customer stories from online reviews and UGC posted on social media, and use them to incorporate social proof into in-person selling.

12. Perfect your sales pitch

A sales pitch is a short presentation to convince a potential customer to purchase.

Use the elevator pitch approach—a two-minute speech that educates people without overwhelming them with too much information. Briefly explain your business, who it helps, and why the product or service should be bought. 

Most importantly, never bad-mouth a competitor in your pitch; it can make prospects uncomfortable. You can benchmark product quality or price and angle your business as the better option without being too negative.

13. Be an active listener

By actively listening to customers, you can understand them better, personalize your approach, and make the right product recommendations. But what does active listening actually mean? 

Standing in front of shoppers silently while they talk isn’t how it works. Here are a few tips to help sales reps improve active listening skills: 

• Avoid forming a response while the customer is speaking. Instead, listen attentively and refrain from interrupting or completing their sentences. 
• Show you’re engaged with body language. Having an open stance and nodding as the customer speaks will show them you’re listening and processing the conversation.
• Before you respond, briefly summarize what the customer said. This will show the shopper you were listening to everything they said and it can remind them to provide additional details. It will also allow you to formulate your response.

14. Upsell higher quality products 

Upselling works by recommending a higher-value product similar to the one a customer has already shown an interest in. Not only does it increase average order value, but there’s a good chance your customer will be more satisfied with their purchase—especially if the higher-price replacement is a better-quality product.

Gerrid Smith, founder and CEO of Joy Organics, explains, “Using cross-selling, you can entice customers to buy complementary products, such as the wedding band for a customer who just bought an engagement ring.

“Customers are upsold to more expensive alternatives to the products they initially viewed. If you think it's within their price range, show them a $1,500 engagement ring instead of the $1,000 one they're contemplating and explain why it's better.”

15. Cross-sell complementary products

Cross-selling works by recommending products that complement the one your customer is already browsing. For example, if they’re looking at a cast-iron skillet, they recommend matching pots or cutlery sets. 

This sales tip results in a win-win situation for everyone involved. Not only do sales reps process a higher-value order, but the customer gets the full package. They’re more likely to get value from their purchase when they have supporting items to maximize their potential.

16. Track and improve sales performance

Regardless of which key sales tip you’re implementing, there’s always room for improvement. 

Track whether your techniques are impacting customer experiences by tracking your sales performance with metrics like:

• Average order value. Increasing your AOV by $10 might not sound like much, but it could indicate that the products you’re promoting through cross-sells and upsells are paying off. 
• Units per transaction. An increase in the number of units per transaction could signal that each sales professional is answering customer questions well enough to sell several units
• Sales per employee. Find your standout sales associates and reward them. Pair them up with staff who make fewer sales as part of your sales training program.
• Sales per square foot. Are you maximizing the value of your retail store? A high sales-per-square-foot rate indicates either that sales reps are using what’s on the floor to generate sales, or that your visual merchandising displays are working, or both.

17. Use customer profiles for personalized interactions

Create customer profiles to start tracking your relationships with shoppers, and as a way to learn more about them, so you can more effectively sell to them. And don’t just keep these profiles to yourself—share them with sales associates. 

With Shopify POS, retail sales associates can look up customer purchase history, preferences, and more. They can then make personalized recommendations on the spot during in-store interactions. 

That’s exactly what western wear retailer Tecovas does. It has built and implemented custom UI extensions in Shopify POS for effective clienteling. These extensions surface customer information to retail store sales associates directly in the POS, so they can deliver more personalized, memorable shopping experiences to customers in real time. 

18. Encourage seamless cross-channel experiences

Shoppers often move between online and in-store channels during their purchasing journey. Rather than try to force a linear path to purchase, do everything you can to accommodate this customer behavior. A unified experience meets modern shopper preferences and increases the likelihood of repeat purchases.

Train staff on how to help customers locate online items in your retail store and suggest alternatives if a specific product isn’t available. You can also offer the convenience of options to order online with in-store pickup (BOPIS) or in-store returns for online orders. 

With all these blurred lines of ecommerce and brick-and-mortar retail, true and effective unified commerce happens when ecommerce and POS exist on the same platform. Unlike other providers, Shopify’s commerce solutions are natively built on a single platform, allowing businesses to facilitate seamless cross-channel experiences with a unified commerce strategy.

19. Check for loyalty rewards at checkout

Loyalty programs incentivize repeat purchases and boost customer retention by rewarding customers for purchases and other actions of your choosing. There are many rewards programs, and it may be difficult for shoppers to remember all the programs they belong to. So, instead of waiting for your customers to tell you they’re a loyalty program member, make it a habit to check for them at every checkout proactively.

With Shopify POS, you can check out the loyalty profile, points, and personalized offers tied to a customer’s profile. You can offer to apply any eligible discounts for them at the time of checkout. This proactive approach reinforces the value of being a loyal customer and encourages future visits.

Austin, Texas-based pet supply retailer Tomlinson’s takes advantage of this approach. It uses Shopify POS in its 18 storefronts across Central Texas. The retailer builds customer loyalty through its Pet Club Annual Membership program, which provides discounts and other perks to members—both online and in store. It uses a custom discount app and Shopify Functions to directly customize Shopify’s backend logic to apply eligible discounts to loyalty program members.

20. Offer various payment methods 

Consumers are increasingly moving away from cash and adopting diverse payment methods. Flexibility in payment options can make or break a sale, especially as customers increasingly expect modern, frictionless checkout experiences. In addition to cash and traditional card payments, you’ll want to consider contactless options like Apple Pay or Google Pay, gift cards, and cryptocurrency.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) and layaway options can appeal to customers who don’t have all the cash to make a purchase.

With Shopify Payments, retailers can accept all payment methods, eliminating the hassle of setting up a third-party payment provider or merchant account and entering the credentials into Shopify. Shopify Payments can also facilitate international payments. 

Implement the best sales tips to increase revenue

Now that you have many sales tips, it’s time to implement your new sales strategy. 

Experiment to find what works best for your business, sales process, and target audience. As long as your product knowledge is top-tier and you’re in tune with your customers, you can confidently own the sales floor, close deals, and make more sales.