APPLE OF MY EYE: Improving your Visual Merchandise

VISUAL AESTHETICS

Aside from the product itself, another thing that captures the heart and the interests of the customers is the way you package your shop inside and out. It is about making them see something that will automatically set their feet towards your store.

Your goal is to give visual pleasures and ‘eyegasms’ which they can’t resist to look at. This is now your next step after luring customers to come in and to keep them inside the store.

However, you don’t want to be just nesting grounds for window-shoppers and your store is obviously not just a display exhibit to those who love and appreciate art but it is a place for the highest bidders who will spend their money and make you earn.

You just need to look beyond product displays and have that solid visual merchandising idea to make your store an absolute 360° head turner.

Here’s how:

Creativity

Your store is a big masterpiece and every part of it is an essential piece of art. So the key is to maximize it and make each and every corner as something irresistible.

Taking advantage of technology, it doesn’t necessarily require you to invest huge amount of money. You can come up with great ideas 99 cent store. It actually depends on you.

Warm them up and encourage Interactivity

No Wii? No PSP? No worries!

You won’t expect what low-tech but popular games can actually do.

Drawing customer to spend extra time with you and your shop giving them more sense of familiarity and increasing the possibility of them going back and spending some more.

You can also add creative and interactive store guides for your customers. With this you practice directing your customers.  This way you will know how they are traveling through the space. Using this knowledge, it will then be easier for you to know where they’re likely to look and what they’re likely to see so you will know where you can place promos, new products and other priorities in those high-trafficked, visible spots while they enjoy roaming around the playpen that your shop has become.

UPCYCLE!

You might not always know this but people nowadays but the environment is now one of the primary concerns all over the world.

But don’t be mistaken. It is not as easy as collecting a bunch of scraps, shaping it into your favorite farm animals and piling it up next to your products. It is also about an advocacy which will gain sympathy for your store aside from the interest and attention. This will further attract more and more customers.

Reinvent and Repurpose

Being unique and authentic is your primary goal. But it doesn’t have to cost you so much more.

There are plenty of ideas to create that perfect eye catching storefront.

It is also about having something out of the usual that they see every day which will your store remarkable.

Playing with Reciprocity: Do your Customers a Service

Shopping can be stressful and tiring for customers too. So giving them relief and relaxation would be a major turn on.

Wonder why some shops offer free seats on their storefronts? Well it is not just pure kindness and camaraderie. It is actually a strategy to provide something for your potential costumers which can make them feel they that you are thoughtful and that they owe you. Free in-store snacks, baby carriers and carts are other possible ideas as well.

With all that being said, you’re on your way to being that top store your customers will never forget.

It is best that you provide satisfaction with your products and services but it is also important that your customers see something they can’t see with any other store.

 

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Tips and Tricks for an Efficient Retail Staff Training

As a merchant, the process incorporated to your workers is important and inevitable. It cycles around finding, then hiring to preparing new workers for their job. Of course, the main goal is to make every staff productive enough for your products and services to be competitive.

However, most owners find this time consuming and costly.

Instead, when current workers failed to do what is expected to them, the usual immediate option is to send them home and hire a new one, especially for retailers who don’t want to waste time to ducks which won’t give them the gold egg.

Not knowing that hiring newbies can even be more expensive than training and retaining current workers.

The problem is that we settle to the quality of the products and services that we can provide by utilizing only the current knowledge and skills of our workers.

Not knowing that we could offer a lot more, especially when our retail staff undergoes enough training and skill-development.

These could boost revenues and the work quality by 110%! So, those who actually realize this reality acquire an advantage while those who do not continue to suffer the consequences.

Duties won’t be performed well with employees who lack preparation and training. This eventually lead to poor service and lots of undone tasks which will add burden to all especially to YOU as the merchant.

They say it will take time before a worker becomes fully productive and it will drain your resources.

So why choose to go back to zero?

Why not instead of hiring more and more inexperienced newbies, use your resources wisely by investing for the improvement your current employees whom you established good relationship with?

But, if you think that it would require a lot of efforts, time and money which you think you can’t afford, you’re wrong. There’s actually a thousand of ways to be able to train and another good thing about this is, you don’t have to do it personally nor pay someone else to do it.

Though, there are consulting firms that you can hire to help you out creating a new program suited for your business or you can also spend on existing training programs. However, you might also want to consider the use of the internet and the modern technology to create your own, personalized training program.

This way you can also teach yourself a lot of things and at the same time, you can explore and create a program that will suit the needs of your business based on your perspective. You will have your own strategies and techniques and you can make sure that you’re familiar with the system just like the back of your hand.

INTRODUCING THE POWER OF ONLINE TRAINING

There are plenty of software/apps that can assist you to accomplish this not-so-easy task. More and more merchants now prefer to utilize the advancement of technology to be successful with their businesses because online training guarantees accessibility, convenience and efficiency.

Some of the best recommendations would be Lessonly, MindFlash, Retail Sales Associate (RSA) Certification, Retail Training Services and Shopify POS; each of these offer different mechanisms and systems that you can integrate to make a system to train your staff in only a matter of minutes. You can do it with your phone or laptop anytime and anywhere you want.

By starting with this, it may be little by little but surely, there will be a great improvement to the working practice of your staff. Not only will they be thankful but you will also surely reap what you have sown with their improved and more productive skills.

Now, you’re all set!

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Surviving in the Apocalypse of the Retail Industry

‘APOCALYPSE’

For some ordinary movie-goer, fiction writer or binge reader, this could pertain to as an interesting or thrilling genre that they would totally love to witness and experience.

But, for retailers, this could mean a ‘nightmare.’

It could be something really terrific stemming from a huge number of physical store closings in the past years all over the world.

Now, that E-commerce has been gaining its power and surfacing as one of the best marketing strategy, rampant change to the shoppers behavior have been observed.

This is primarily evident to western countries with lots of giant companies who shaped the market with tons of holiday sales and the likes.

They’ve learned that these holidays and discounts affect the customer’s behavior and their overall spending.

One example is the concept of black Friday which a lot of people have been bracing for, hopefully waiting for bigger discounts. While other competitors made their own concepts of ‘sale’ and ways as to how they will sensationalize it to attract the herd of shoppers.

More so, there was a quick development observed on the buyers’ ability to find the cheapest and lowest prices online. Companies are now waging a war as to who will be able to dominate the science behind the retail industry.

Many have tried working through algorithms and scientific models that can help them cope with the customers’ buying decisions.

The Total Market size is primarily what everyone was concerned about. Thus, this is one of the major concepts they’ve been studying.

On the other hand, Modeling Approach will be of great help with regards to the sudden changes on the business environment and consumer behavior. In fact, this is how it was found out that there is a transition to the consumers’ buying habit from spending every holiday sale to waiting only some of the biggest before they purchase.

Data nerds are the people in-charge to explain the information gathered by all these research and studies. They tell us about patterns and consistency in the market. This helped to find out that consumers have become conditioned to wait for big discounts and global markets are shifting hundred year old behavioral patterns in just two years.

For the past years, changing dynamics yields a lot of possibilities on the marketplace. Either small or large retailers are needed to adjust for the sake of their survival to this fast-paced and competitive environment because lack of substantial knowledge often leads to ineffective strategy. Last thing we know, everything that has been worked hard for can be lost in a blink of an eye.

This is why it is really important for every company to be well-equipped before being able to brave the marketplace. These data that we usually think as too nerdy or inappropriate are often vital in preparing for the rapid changes to the customers and the way they purchase.

The retail industry is another tough world that is being run by competition. It is about who knows best to be able to overpower their opponents. It would really take a lot to be on top.

Are you ready?

 

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Going Smooth through Digital Marketing

Along the chains of brick-and-mortar located shops and other large retail establishments, there are a rising number of retailers who now prefer Digital Marketing over television, print and radio. Resources are now being diverted from it to the other platform. This is also because of the growing online audience that is y these businesses invest more going online.

Even though it is still a fact that television advertising is still the most effective form of advertising, the less able, smaller and less powerful retailers have now found the perfect spot to establish their name, which lead them going into Digital Marketing which is the perfect path for them to take.

However, Digital Marketing is not a guaranteed life-saving jacket that will prevent anyone from sinking and drowning into bankruptcy because it is just a small piece of the puzzle that will lead to marketing success.

It is also important to keep in mind that there is no such thing as overnight success; one post/tweet/blog won’t make all the difference. As every lock has its own key; every problem has its own perfect solution.

So, don’t expect to find your saving grace while depending on digital marketing alone. This is just one platform where you can come up of greater ideas and deliver brighter plans.

So what now, after going online?

Of course, the main purpose of going online is not to be an online star (though being known online is important for a brand.) It is necessary to catch the attention of your audience and having impact to them. However, that is of no use unless you make them start spending their money on you.

Now, how do you exactly do this?

Do not be caged around the four corners of your physical store. There’s a bigger world out there over the internet. There’s a lot of new apps you can use to create your own website which will make your business much more accessible to your customers. Many people prefer shopping while staying on the comfort of their cozy homes than going out. So, you have to take advantage of that.

Relationship building and Search Engine Optimization are two things you might want to consider when doing your marketing online. Being able to effectively work with these two factors will increase the chance of your customers reaching your site or its likelihood of being found in short.

The social media is also a very powerful platform to execute your marketing agenda. If you succeed in developing your own voice that will have a good impact to the audience, then you’re doing it right. This will surely bring you the jackpot in the end.

This is how you will establish your online presence and branding. Along with this are your own media creative and promotion designs which will provided you with good visual aesthetics.  By starting from this, you can expand and develop your media channels as time goes by.

Think of the internet as the unpredictable sea. There will be times that it will be calm, peaceful and easily accessible for you. But in a matter of seconds, it could get stormy and chaotic and will throw you tidal waves of problems. So, better come prepared.  Remember that even big-box retailers can be taken down instantly with poor digital marketing. You now have the decision to change path and create a bright and clear future for your business.

 

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How to Hear ‘Em Out: Boosting your Customer Reviews

Nothing can make a consumer feel much more important than having a seller that values his/her thoughts and feelings. It is a direct hack through their minds when a company finds a way to make them feel special and well treated.

Most retail owners might think that promos and freebies are the only way to the costumers’ heart and mind. Most of them are also not aware of a big puzzle-piece that they are missing, the power of ‘Costumer Reviews.’

Why it is Important to Retailers like You?

With the advent of the internet and social media, people developed their love on giving opinions, suggestions and even random thoughts about almost everything. This can be super beneficial to a business. Maintaining interest and encouraging loyalty to current buyers while attracting new ones, in short, hitting two birds with one shiny stone.

Many businesses have utilized providing their customers the ability to write reviews.  Even simple experiences on the market about their products which seemed to be nonsense at first have created a huge impact to their sales. This is where the concept of “social proof” comes along where these reviews can be used to back you up and establish your credibility with these feedbacks.

A consumer review survey agrees with this claim that customer reviews do really have impact to sales. In fact, according to this survey, almost 90% of people trust online reviews and considers it just like a personal recommendation. While almost 60% of people are convinced to visit a company’s website after reading positive reviews.  80% of these people are also proven to trust local businesses more after reading the positive reviews towards them and another 60% of people believe on the star rating system and considers it the most important metric to them.

So given this very important discovery that can be a key to the breakthrough and success to your business, here are now some steps that can help you optimize and take advantage of having customer reviews:

Make your products easier to review

Technology is all around and you’re always free to have a system for reviews within your site. You can also make use of the other retailer’s online stores to see how they set up and manage their reviews, but of course, always consider including a star-rating system for consumers feel that’s the most important measure.

One of the customer review system may be set as the standard for retailers include the star system along with all written reviews as well as a search functionality to allow other customers to read various types of reviews.

After this, it’s up to you to back it up with emails where you will include your call-to-action or all you tricks with rhetoric.

But overall, the point of this is to make sure that your reviews will be friendly and accessible for your customers.

THERE IS POWER ONLINE: In short, make use of social media.

With a lot of social media sites that use you can use, it would be easier for your shoppers if they can leave reviews in more places than just your very own website. Of course, you also want to assure that these happy customers will remain happy because they can easily share their positive experiences with your brand.

There are a lot of sites that can play as third-party to encourage positive consumer reviews. One good example is Facebook.

You can also use specific directories relevant to your business.

TRICK OF TREATS

Rewarding your customers was never out of style. You can effectively encourage them by offering them rewards by writing reviews. This can also provide add to their happy and positive experience with your brand. You can offer them discount codes or coupons that can encourage them to share their experiences publicly and be excited to have transactions with you. What a double hit!

In terms of ethics, it is actually not bad to reward customers after giving their reviews. However, paying GOOD reviews is a totally different and is actually a big turn-off. Offering them simply for their review is okay. But writing with the angle you wanted is a no-no.

Meet ‘em in personal and Let them speak out

Among everything else, personal interaction is actually still the best strategy that you can do. Though it cannot promise the same results as the others and may seem to require more effort, it can actually be a turn-on to put places or booths where they can personally write their reviews. It can also assure that the reviews are from the heart as they were on the spot. Of course, this will require extra creativeness as well.

With all these, you can now be ready to reap the benefits being enshrined by customer reviews and have a wonderful customer-retailer experience.

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The Trick of Treats

It’s amazing how the word “FREE” brings out the sparkle on the eyes of almost every buyer.

This is because people are easily drawn to “free” things that even those with no any great use to them at all might be considered interesting just because it’s free. Studies also show that the word “free” generates an effect to people’s mind by the time they see it. While for most retailers, it talks about the costs of free products to them and to their business.

However, this is actually a great strategy that can lead to a great boost in sales that can exceed not just 100, but even 1000-2000% in some cases. So what are the other benefits of freebies than just mere take-home to window shoppers?

Of course, before you start giving everything away you might want to understand first how this can help you attract and hook paying customers.

First, here are some uses of free samples:

• It can inspire loyalty with your existing shoppers and improve your relationship with them.
• Develop the customers’ knowledge about the products and services that you offer.
• Assure repeat buyers and more sales of current as well as new products.

Earning necessary attention for your brand or even to an upcoming event. Most especially it is effective in introducing products to new audiences unfamiliar with your brand to expand your buying population.

While these are just some of all great results that you can get for your business and your sales, this also requires great investments and efforts from you as a retailer.

Knowing the right strategy can lead you to effective and beneficial ways of providing samples to your audience. Now, it is important to know the power that lies within your hands. It all starts with your need of a direct hack to your buyers’ decision process.

After knowing what they need to purchase, there are still a lot of considerations on their mind. These are the price, availability, and even personal preferences or biases that they have.

So, as “social proof” plays a big role to influence them on whether what to buy and what not to buy based on others experiences, having the ability to make them experience it directly with your free samples can finish this off and give them a more rational sense of decision-making which can give you a better chance of swaying them in your favor.

Do not also forget the concept of give-and-take.

When you have a business that is giving free samples generously, it is actually a way to put into their thinking a sense of “giving back” because of your nice and generous deeds.

The pressure is now on the buyers to do something for your brand.

Aside from this, free samples are not solely for gaining new producers or familiarizing people with your products. Giving freebies to people can also encourage their loyalty to you and to your brand.

One good example can be found on businesses who offer free tastings. A study found out that people who enjoy it was not only more likely to spend more money on it, but also highly likely to buy to again from this business in the future.

Now, after knowing all these, you might also want to be cautious. Though giving freebies is highly beneficial when wisely done, it can also be disastrous when done too much.

You have to remember that providing an overwhelming number of free options to your buyers will more likely drive them crazy and away from you. So be careful not to stack it all up at the same time.

The last thing you might want to keep in mind is that, there is not only a single way to do it. Having someone standing on the boutique smiling all day to people is not the only option because the magic of freebies isn’t just for physical retailers.

You can have it online as long as you have a physical store or you can hand it to your customers. It still depends on you. There are a lot of creative ways and systems where you can work on a way of giving freebies that can lead you to the maximum positive result.

May your sales sail high!

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Shining Out with your Digital Stars: A Battle of Influence

With all the vlogs and videos across the internet along with a bunch of social media personalities also known as “influencers” arising to take on the spotlight, different brands and retailers have explored the opportunities of having a wider scope of audience and dominate the media platform as a way to the top of the marketing world.

Influence has now become a major weapon of marketing. Because of these influencers all over the internet, businesses have been either into the peak of success or at the edge of bankruptcy.

Now, aside from the presentation of the product itself, what matters most for your audience is who are going to deliver your message.

Influencer marketing is somehow another form of the word-of-mouth marketing, which can be considered as one of the oldest and most effective forms of marketing.

But now that almost 60% of people are actually betting more to trust online bloggers, it is really undeniable that there’s a good reason for the brands to jump on the bandwagon. Because aside from their traditional ways, we now also have sponsored blog posts, social posts, banner ads, guest posts to launch events which are only some from the variety of options that these influencers can offer.

Now, you might be wondering how you will be able to pick the best influencer that can carry your brand. Just remember that not because someone has a large, engaged audience does mean they’re the right influencer for your brand. They must also fit with your audience, your goals and your brand.

So, here are the things you should consider:

How do they look like?

Is there a connection between your product and your target market?

Because if there’s nothing you or your audience could relate to the one they’re seeing carrying your brand, then there will be little to no reason they’ll be throwing even a little attention to the message you want to convey.

How do they look?

Based on the way they dress and the way they carry themselves, do you think they’re the best one to represent you and your brand? If no, then think of choosing another one.

Know them well.

Checking their background won’t be considered stalking or as if it’s a CIA/FBI thing. You just want to make sure that there are no hidden bones on their closet because you don’t want to be incorporated with any scandal or controversy they might have in the past.

You may also want to track any past connections between them and other competitors. This can help you strategize so you could work with them better.

Their experiences may also contribute on how they will be able to carry your brand. If they have enough or more expertise, then you just got your jackpot.

Now, the biggest question that may follow is:

Where to find them?

Not on the streets, not on the carnivals and not simply on the social media. A single post with a thousand likes is definitely not enough to tell you they’re the one.

With the use of social media itself, the use of hashtags can do quite a help. Just search for something related to your business. You can also make use of words like “blog” or “blogger” in the end, which leads you to #skincareblogger or #foodblogger for example.

There are also agencies which can offer you help. It is also an advantage because at some point, people from an agency can be more trackable at the same time, this is where you can get some more integrity.

Remember that every influencer has their own areas of expertise, own working experiences and skills so before closing up with a deal, make sure you have necessary papers to secure the welfare of both parties.

Now, if you think you’ve found the perfect influencer to carry your brand and shine, then let them start talking, writing or doing their thing with the best of their capabilities.

Let your star shine and burn bright.

 

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Three Convincing Scheme to Set Off Impulse Buying

There is a considerable number of consumers who believe that they are smart shoppers. But, despite that, all of us have fallen for an impulse buy—admit it or not.

In retrospect, more and more shopping malls, department stores, and even e-commerce stores are indulging in capitalizing on impulse buying by adding irresistible “extras.” Well, it is not too often that we hear people saying that they have completed a purchase for big-ticket items even without having any intentions of buying a product.

So, perhaps, your questions now are, “How can I do it in my business?” “How could I persuade consumers to make impulse purchases on my site?”

Add Complementary Products

Amazon is a perfect example that effectively maximizing this kind of scheme. There, whenever you buy something from Amazon, there would be automatic suggested complementary products—that you can also add to the cart—that pop up before you click the button and make your purchase.

If by now, you are not yet using this strategy, you might have to consider this technology in your e-commerce store. Well, just by utilizing this, your business’ revenue would probably increase by at least 10-20 percent—if done correctly.

Another way to actually utilize this strategy is by packaging lower-priced items that complement a larger-ticket item together. After that, you can offer them at a little discount and be offered prior to checkout. Of course, the consumers would highly appreciate the opportunity and mark-down on the prices of the items while you enjoy the increase in terms of average order value.

Highlight Products that Sell Themselves

In a store, there are always two general categories of products:

1. The products that require comprehension and analysis
2. The products that require little to no thought at all.

With regard to impulse buying, the latter one works effectively.

These kinds of items are usually affordable and are every so often considered as a necessity—even requiring to put another item in the cart at its peak. Well, even when the product isn’t really related to the main reason why the consumer visited the store, he/she would purchase it merely because it is inexpensive. Small purchases such as these add up over time. These products can also be used to generate more revenue for your e-commerce store.

Use Prevailing Psychological Triggers

No savvy marketer would refute the idea that psychological triggers are really important. Combining high perceived value, urgency, scarcity, and novelty would bring wondrous effects on your product. Take, for example, you could create a “buy two, get one free” deal for a merchandise that is well-thought-out as expensive/affordable—which would still depend on your preference and discretion.

Another way of utilizing this scheme is to add new or novelty products to the list as a promo—with a time limit to create some urgency for the special offer—and wait for its effect.

Combining all these would be a great persuasion for many impulse shoppers will get them to complete more purchase from your store.

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