retail store operations

Tips for Creating Successful Window and Focal Displays

Posted onAuthorericw@specialtystoreservices.com

woman-clothes-shopping-vertEffective store fixtures are the backbone of a retailer’s business. It’s easy to fall into the trap of taking your displays, shelves, and mannequins for granted. However, without these fixtures, your stores’ sales would be in trouble. They are doing more than keeping your merchandise off the floor—the right fixture, used in the most effective way, can make the difference between meeting your sales goals and missing them.

Ways to Use Fixtures Effectively  

Use your fixtures to create eye-catching displays in store windows and at the front of your stores. These displays are important to initially grabbing shoppers’ attention. These are called “focal fixtures.” Often the customer experience begins the minute a shopper sees one of your stores—even before he or she walks in. Do not be afraid to use creative and innovative tactics when displaying your merchandise. A great way to find new ideas and spark creativity is by browsing through magazines, photography blogs, or Pinterest.

Creating captivating window and focal fixture displays is an important part of successful store merchandising. Window displays help get shoppers into the store, enticing them with color, imagery and sometimes fantasy, to appeal to their inspirational selves. Once the shopper is in the store the focal fixture displays, especially expertly merchandised mannequins, engage the shopper and pulling them deeper into the store, continuing the emotional dialogue with the shopper, and getting them into the mindset to make a purchase.

 Tips for Successful Window and Focal Displays

One of the first steps to developing a window or front display is to know your customer base. Are your customer targets young, trendy people in their twenties? Are they middle-aged moms with kids? Or are they retired but still active couples? Once you have determined what type of customers you are targeting, tailor your fixtures and displays in a way that maximizes their interests and experiences.

Sean Reed, the CEO of Fashion Media, urges retailers to not underestimate the power of a window display. “Window displays are important in retail stores throughout the world extending from high streets to the mall environment. They are the shop front to consumers and influence the consumer’s decision on whether to enter the store or not,” he says.

Another point to keep in mind is never obscuring a shopper’s view. Arrange products and fixtures in a way so they can still see to back of your stores. This helps entice them to walk through the entire store. Using the appropriate signage will also help shoppers find what they need and want. Use easy-to-follow signs to guide shoppers throughout your stores and help them discover something new for themselves.

Store fixtures are not just metal or wood, they are the screens onto which dreams are projected by the merchant and from which they are acquired by the shopper. Interested in learning how well made and cost effective displays can boost your sales? The retail experts at Specialty Store Services can help. Call us today at 800.999.0771 or click here to visit our website for more information.

After the Holiday Buzz is Over: How to Keep the Magic Alive (and Avoid the Hangover)

Posted onAuthorericw@specialtystoreservices.com

holiday-hangover2-254x300If a group of retail professionals was asked this question, “What lies at the core of high sales and profits?” how would they answer? Some would say great products and others might suggest competitive prices, but they are both wrong. Studies have proven over and over again that an outstanding customer experience is the number one answer. Without an outstanding first impression—followed by many more great experiences—your potential customers won’t give you a second thought. Providing customers with a memorable and superior customer experience should surpass the excellence of your product or low prices, especially during the holiday season.

Exterior and Interior Impressions

The festive, warm atmosphere is one of the major reasons why so many people enjoy the holiday season. Can a customer enter one of your stores and immediately be cheered up by the holiday lights, garlands, and other colorful decorations and have their shopper mojo activated? The decorations help create a positive, memorable customer experience and stimulate buying—an accomplishment that you want to maintain all year long.

Need a Boost? Some Quick & Easy Fixes

If your store branding needs a boost, you have some great options to choose from. Here are some proven ways to create a colorful, inviting atmosphere and encourage your customers to buy:

  • Use new store fixtures to add interest and excitement in different areas of the store
  • Design and develop a unique line of custom store fixtures for an entire store chain makeover
  • Choose a bright, welcoming color and repaint your stores’ exteriors and interiors
  • Add framed pictures or custom banners or signs to select areas in your stores

Creating warm, inviting storefronts and interiors is easy to accomplish during the holidays; the challenge is keeping this feeling when the holidays end. When you take the decorations down, the welcoming store atmosphere can disappear. How does your current store branding measure up when the holiday glitz and glitter are gone? As you evaluate the situation don’t gloss over areas of improvement. Be honest with yourself and your employees. The sooner you figure out what needs to be improved, the sooner you can begin building an atmosphere that welcomes and cheers customers year-round—and ultimately keeps customers buying.

Interested in learning more about how to avoid the post holiday shopping hangover? The retail experts at Specialty Store Services can help. Call us today at 800.999.0771 or click here to visit our website for more information.

What Makes a Successful Store Display? Five Tips To Help You Succeed.

Posted onAuthorericw@specialtystoreservices.com

ConsumersUnfortunately, the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” doesn’t apply to retail shops. As a consumer, it’s easy to decipher between a good product display and a bad one; this initial observation is what fosters a customer’s first feeling towards a store they’ve just walked into. It’s important to develop a creative strategy for your display concept that compels customers to come back time and time again. But what elements go in to creating both an appealing and successful display? Here are some helpful tips to help you create an effective and efficient store display:

  • What’s your vision?– Develop a clear vision that will connect with you core customer group. Is there clarity around the offering? Have you identified the target group? What about the value proposition? First establish the type of customer you want coming into your store: what are their needs and wants? Not only will this will help you better understand your customer, but it will help you to know the types of displays that will appeal to them.
  • Establish an atmosphere– Every store has a culture. Stores create an atmosphere through decorative concepts and the way their products are displayed. For Anthropology, it’s an enchanting, rustic, feminine atmosphere. Cabela’s has an outdoor, sporty atmosphere, and for stores like Best Buy, it’s a clean and techy atmosphere. Consumers adopt these feelings after seeing an ad for a store, walking past a store and finally after walking into a store. What is the feeling you want customers to take away when interacting with your store? Your store displays are what will create the atmosphere within your store, which is why it is important to pay close attention to how you display your merchandise throughout the store.
  • Surprise your customers– A display is your first chance to make an impression on your customers, so don’t stick with the norm. Entice your customers with exciting, unexpected displays. Try using bold, bright colors and funky shapes. Unique window displays can make any passerby or driver stop in to see what your store is all about. In an article from Entrepreneur, Noelle Nicks,  the visual merchandiser for Cole Hardware in San Francisco, discusses a unique window display she used for Halloween. Nicks hung more than a dozen types of brooms against an orange backdrop with the words, “Which broom?” across the glass beneath them. The display not only played on the traditional witch-on-a-broomstick theme, but it also showcased the store’s large broom selection.
  • Don’t overdo it– Keep your displays simple. Trying to go over the top can result in a confusing, cluttered display. If you are trying to feature a certain item, it can become lost in an overly busy display.
  • Work with the seasons– It sounds cliché; however, the seasons allow you to mix up your fixtures and visual displays. The seasons also offer the perfect amount of time to showcase a certain display before spicing it up again.

Interested in learning more about how to create the perfect displays? The retail experts at Specialty Store Services can help. Call us today at 800.999.0771 or click here to visit our website for more information

There is No Such Thing as Being Too Prepared: Tips on how your business can survive the impending holiday season

Posted onAuthorericw@specialtystoreservices.com

 

It’s not uncommon to spot Halloween and fall                                                  black-friday-crowd                                         merchandise on the sales floor by September 1st. For most store owners, managers and employees, this incites a sense of pressure and anxiety for the upcoming holiday season. There are simple steps and action plans you and your team can take to ensure you are prepared for the chaos that’s to come.

Here are four important tips to help you plan a stress-free and successful holiday season:

 1.     Train Staff. Your employees are the backbone of the operation, so take the time to make sure your team is knowledgeable and trained for holiday traffic.

  •  Is your staff trained for potential shoplifters? The month of December can be a costly month for a lot of retailers. Prepare your staff in advance on what to expect and how to handle a shoplifting situation.
  •  Schedule regular meetings to stay connected to what’s going on in all areas of the store. What needs improvement or more support? Communication can prevent inventory disasters, unhappy customers and store fixtures that need fixing.
  • “Happy wife, happy life”- the saying goes for store associates as well.  You can’t achieve results without your staff being at its best. Develop staff incentives to encourage motivation. Friends and family are heading out of town for the holidays, taking the spirit out of the holidays for many of your employees. Give your staff an extra reason to work their hardest to offer customers the best possible experience.
  • Plan for employee time off before the holiday season. This is smart for two reasons: 1) making sure you’re staffed appropriately for the entire season with enough team members to cover expected high traffic weeks 2) ensuring there won’t be any surprises for you or your employees. You’re able to plan ahead and they can plan ahead for time off with family and friends.

2.     Review history. The best way to improve is to learn from past mistakes. Look at past sales records, staff schedules and promotional calendars. What worked last year? What didn’t? Plan ahead and safeguard against past complications. Although the holiday season is hectic, try to note happenings as they come or after the holidays for you or other associates to reference the following year.

 3.     Inventory. You can’t run a store without merchandise. Was there enough last year? Was there inventory on the floor at all times? Have the right inventory available by developing a replenishing function as part of the staff routine, which holds a specific individual accountable to ensure the sales floor is stocked at all times.

 4.    Maintenance. Even in a busy environment, it’s critical your team maintains the clean look of the store. An article from DMS Retail has a great checklist for keeping your store clean: Be sure all light fixtures are working, exit signs are lit, fitting rooms are tidy, fire extinguishers have been checked, your flooring and carpets have no turned up edges that can trip people, your POS and printers are working properly, your doors or door grills are in good repair, ceiling ducts are clean and dust free, fitting rooms are clean and welcoming, shelves are firmly in place to avoid accidents, no chipped glass anywhere, no rough edges on sign holders, the back room is well organized, the plumbing (if any) and any illuminated store signage is working properly. Be prepared so store upkeep is not taking away from sales.

These tips are designed to help streamline your holiday selling season to make it as successful as possible. Plan ahead in all aspects of your business to reduce anxiety before the holidays come; they’ll be here before you can say, “Deck the halls with boughs of holly.”

Not prepared or don’t know where to start? The retail experts at Specialty Store Services can help. Call us today at 800.999.0771 or click here to visit our website for more information.