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25/01/2010 -
For businesses in the retail industry, going above and beyond customer experience expectations is more important than ever as sales have declined for the first time in the past four months, Statistics Canada recently reported.Retail sales declined by 0.3 percent in November to reach $35.2 billion, following three consecutive months of sales increases. In volume terms, sales decreased by 1 percent, marking the first decline since April of last year.
Clothing retailers took a particularly hard hit, thanks to the unseasonably warm temperatures hampering winter apparel sales. The clothing and accessories sector saw a decline of 3.6 percent in November.
Sales declined in five of eight retail store sectors, with just the furniture, home furnishings and electronics sector as well as the building and outdoor home supplies sector seeing sales increases.
Businesses in any retail sector are encouraged to combat this sales decline by improving their customer experience, something that can be achieved by updating POS terminals, experts say. For businesses with merchant accounts, optimizing the checkout process through faster and more secure POS equipment is an easy way to improve customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
