In-store marketing: 10 best tools entrepreneurs choose to work with customers

For example, a store creates two types of bonus cards for customers — «Standart» and «Gold». A customer with the basic «Standart» card who has made purchases totaling 3000 conventional units or more starts receiving 3% bonuses to their account from each subsequent sale, and once their total purchases exceed 10000 conventional units, the system automatically upgrades them to the «Gold» card, where the accrual rate is already 7%. To make these points work as a sales incentive tool, the owner sets up their automatic «expiration» at the end of the calendar year. For maximum effect, an automatic SMS campaign is also configured: a few days before the expiration date, the customer receives a personalized message (for example, «You have 225 bonuses available, which will expire in 5 days. Hurry to our store!»), which motivates the buyer to return quickly and spend the accumulated funds on a new product.

For example, a store owner connects integration with the TurboSMS service and configures automatic transactional messaging in Viber or SMS within the program to accompany purchases. When a salesperson processes a sale or ships an order via Nova Poshta, the customer instantly receives a personalized message (thanks to dynamic variables, the system automatically inserts their name), which includes the TTN number for tracking the parcel and the amount of bonuses just credited for the purchase. In addition, to stimulate repeat visits, the system is configured to automatically send SMS reminders a few days before these bonuses are deactivated (expire), eliminating the need for managers to manually filter the customer base and reliably bringing customers back for new purchases.

For example, retail chain owners actively configure promotions to stimulate bundled sales by applying a discount to the cheapest item in the receipt: when items from specified groups are purchased together (for example, «Men’s» and «Women’s»), the program automatically finds the cheapest position and subtracts 14% from it. 

Another effective scenario is setting a special fixed price for a bundle, where three specific products priced at UAH 400 each, when added to one receipt, are automatically recalculated by the system to a total of UAH 1000 (instead of the standard UAH 1200). 

In addition, to increase the number of items in the receipt, business owners implement cross-promotions for related goods (for example, the combination «dumplings + sour cream» in grocery retail), which quietly but effectively guarantees an increase in the store’s total revenue.

For example, stores mass-generate certificates with fixed denominations (UAH 500, 1000, or 2000) and print their barcodes on a regular label printer (4x2.5 cm format) to stick them onto gift blanks. Since most business owners now work with a software ECR, technical support strongly recommends setting the certificate type specifically «as a deferred discount» and обязательно checking the «Fiscal» box in the product card for this item type. 

In practice, this is as simple as possible for the cashier: when a person comes to redeem the gift, the cashier adds the items to the sale and simply scans the certificate barcode, after which the program instantly deducts its denomination from the total receipt amount as a discount. This approach guarantees that the fiscal receipt will be issued absolutely correctly, taxes will be calculated properly, and the cashier will not face any confusion with cash shortages or surpluses when reconciling the Z-report at the end of the shift.

For example, retail store owners (especially children’s goods stores) actively combine the use of discount cards with setting maximum discount limits to prevent loss-making sales. If a regular customer has a cumulative card with a 10% discount and brings high-margin clothing and low-margin products to the checkout (for example, diapers, where the markup is only 3-5%), the program automatically separates the calculation logic. Thanks to a pre-set attribute (zero discount for a specific category), the cashier only needs to scan the discount card and all purchases: the system will apply a 10% discount to clothing without staff intervention and keep the full retail price for diapers, while the entire total receipt amount will automatically be added to the customer’s purchase history for their further progression in the cumulative loyalty system.

For example, retail chain owners (especially children’s goods stores) actively use the function for entering information about a customer’s children in the «Family members» tab of the customer card. To stimulate sales, they configure automatic messaging through integration with TurboSMS: a specified number of days before the celebration, the system independently generates and sends parents a template SMS greeting with an invitation to come for a gift. When such a customer comes to the store and the cashier scans their discount card, a special graphic notification (photo greeting) about the birthday child immediately appears for the seller in the lower-right corner of the sales screen. At this moment, the program automatically applies an increased holiday discount configured to fully override (replace) the customer’s standard discount percentage, and to avoid abuse in the future, business owners set the «Age limit» parameter (for example, 12 years), after which this children’s discount automatically stops being awarded without any manual staff intervention.

Retail business owners often combine this referral program with bulk messaging or issuing physical cards at the checkout, using flexible limits to protect profits. The business owner sets up automatic generation of unique promo codes in the program (for example, 3 for each regular customer) and specifies strict conditions: the friend’s discount will apply only to a specific selected product group, while the referrer will receive a percentage of the friend’s purchase amount, but with a firmly set limit (for example, no more than 300 bonuses for one referred customer). The generated promo codes can be printed in bulk and placed on special flyers for distribution at the checkout, or added as a special variable (dynamic promotion barcode) to SMS or Viber campaigns so that the customer can simply forward this message to their acquaintances. When a new visitor shows this code (on paper or on a smartphone screen), the cashier scans it directly in the «Sales» window — the program instantly checks the conditions, applies a one-time discount to the newcomer’s receipt, and after payment is completed automatically credits the reward to the bonus card of the customer whose promo code was used.

Retail store owners often face the problem of lacking small coins, so they actively configure this function with the parameter «Add to receipt as a service». When a buyer pays in cash and the change amount is uneven (for example, UAH 14.35), the cashier offers to credit the small change to the bonus card. Thanks to a pre-set automatic rounding of the change amount (for example, to 10 whole units), the program independently splits it: the system prompts the seller to give UAH 10 in cash, and UAH 4.35 — instantly transfers to the «Change to card» field. When the sale is completed, this amount is processed through the fiscal registrar or pECR as a special service, which guarantees a perfect cash balance in the register during the Z-report without any shortages, and the customer receives these funds to their balance in the form of bonuses to pay for future purchases.

Owners of clothing boutiques actively use the recommended mode «Partial payment with item breakdown» so that a trusted customer can take several items home for fitting. At the checkout, the seller processes the sale but clicks «Continue» without entering payment, automatically transferring the entire amount into debt, while to protect against risks, the owner sets a strict maximum debt limit in advance in that customer’s card. 

The next day, when the customer brings back the items that did not fit, the cashier processes their return — the program understands that the goods were unpaid, so no cash is issued from the register; instead, part of the debt is simply written off. After that, the seller opens the payments window, where they see a clear breakdown: they simply tick the positions the customer decided to keep and accept the actual payment for them. 

If the customer leaves an overpayment (change), the program allows it to be saved as an «advance payment» (displayed as negative debt), which will automatically be taken into account during their next visits, while technical support in turn helps configure access rights so that cashiers can easily process these settlements but cannot manipulate the dates of financial documents for VIP customers.

For example, owners of grocery stores (in particular, semi-finished product chains) enhance the lottery effect with sound support that the program provides. The business owner sets the system so that every 50th receipt gets a significant discount (for example, 50%), and in the Torgsoft settings additionally "links" a special audio file (for example, the sound of fanfare) to the «Milestone sale» event. When a customer comes to pay and the seller scans their first item, a festive sound suddenly plays from the checkout computer speakers, and a bright notification window appears on the screen announcing the win. The cashier ceremoniously informs the customer that their purchase has become a prize-winning one, which not only causes genuine delight in the customer themselves, but also attracts the attention of other people in the queue, launching powerful «word of mouth» and motivating visitors to come back more often to shop at this particular store.