10 REASONS YOU, RETAILER, SHOULD SELL ONLINE.

OR WHY WE SHOULD START USING THE MULTICHANNEL STRATEGY....

Probably you have considered it,..you have heart about it,...or just still have doubts, if E-commerce is compatible with your typical retail business. Will it not harm your sales in your store?..Will you not compete with your own traditional sales channel? What about your sales people?..What kind of price levels, you have to use? 

As you can see, a lot of questions and doubts,...but believe me...E-commerce is the future and there is no way back, than to the multichannel business. 

Here you have 10 reasons, why you should not hesitate any more and just start your own online store:

*As you have already a store, you have already an existing working operation with a number of fixed operation costs like warehouse space, electricity, staff, etc... .  The use of an E-commerce business implement a setup or creating cost and a yearly management fee, nothing else.  So, by using your existing shop operation as showroom and or warehouse,...you can generate more sales, using the same operation costs.

*You will be able to increase your clients, using the online shop as window and creating more visibility of you existing physical store.  It has be confirmed, that consumers who have seen a campaign online, often buy directly into your store.

*You will create a direct link with your possible consumers, using an actual and similar form, the way they are using.  Do not forget,..follow the consumers trends...be on-line.

*By using E-commerce, you will be using the latest tools like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and blogs in order to interact with your consumers.

*Always see, what your competitors are doing,..are they in internet,...do not miss the boat....be there...

*By using E-commerce, you will start to benefit of scale economy, as having an extra channel to sell you products in stock.

*You will be able to captivate new clients, especially young consumers groups, who maybe never should have visit your store before.

*You will be able to create groups and, or associate your business to similar or related webs,blogs, or collective group voucher companies, like Groupon,... with the end result, more brand and store knowledge and eventually a sales increase.

*E-commerce is worldwide business,...so no geographical limits.  You just can sell everywhere. 

*Probably, the fasted and most increasing business opportunity of the world,...more and more, we will buy through the E-commerce channel.

So, dear retailer, as you can see,..you just have nothing to loose,..invest into a good E-commerce web and tackle the market. Be on the top and a retail trendsetter. Your existing shop and organization can function as your showroom, office and or warehouse.

So, just do not loose this fantastic opportunity......

COMING UP NEXT WEEK:

HOW AND WHAT TO CONSIDER, WHEN SETTING UP THE RIGHT WEBSITE.

MARKETING TOOLS FOR YOUR SALES POINT

WEEKLY MARKETING IDEAS, TO IMPLEMENT INTO YOUR STORE.

PARAMETER 2: THE POINT OF SALE ARCHITECTURE, INTERIOR. 






In this part, we are going to tackle the interior of the store.  Today, your shop should transmit your company message, your strategic and or marketing plan.  So, not just 4 walls, counter and nothing more...., but organized, structured and designed the way,..it will give you the optimum sales results, transmitting at the same time your  brand image and create the right memorable emotions to your clients.  
De outlook of your store interior, should be organized, the way it is easy, logical and comfortable for your clients to shop, but also easy for you and your team, to operate respecting above emotions.
We can divide parameter 2, the store interior into various key elements...

The store access:

We can divide the store access into 3 sub elements,... the dimension, the materials and the door location.
Let analyse them....
Probably the most important and significant elements of the interior architecture, as it is the first contact where your client will initiate its possible sales experience.  So, very important, that the entrance always allows easy access, that the store access is not complicated and that it invites and motivates the possible consumer to enter easily.  We recommend to have the doors always open.  (depending the existing laws on product obligations and season conditions, you can install the typical air door ventilation systems)

Also the used materials of your door entrance, have to be light, safe, easy to open and transparent, in order to make it easy to use and invite the client to go into your store.  It is clear that the selected materials, colors and designs, should be in line with your concept or message , you want to transmit.

The right door location, is vital, as it has been proven, that it is of strategic importance and a key to have  commercial success, to have the entrance on the exact place.  Lets see why...
The store access, is the beginning of the tour that the consumer will start to initiate.  By guiding the client, along a inside shopping path, you will be able to make it very easy to the client, to see all your product groups.  It has been proven, that clients, when entering into a store, have the tendency to go to the center of your store, by turning than, always to the left side and following the patch and moving to the right,..So, if possible, just have your main entrance always at the right side of your store.

Lets start now analyze the division of the store surface.  We can divide it into 5 areas:
- the hot area: the part of the store, where most people walking or passing. (ex. the main central passage)
- the cold area: the rest of the store, with less people or transit, due to its bad access or store situation.
- the hot points into a specific area:  the parts of a specific hot area who are creating a lot of traffic or of great importance.
- the cold points into a specific area: the parts of a specific cold area, who are creating less traffic.
- the natural hot area of your store: an area of the store, which is by itself an important part (ex. the entrance, the main path and the part where people are paying).  Mainly, we will find this more into smaller stores.  It is important that the natural hot area,  connects the entrance, with the various hot areas into the store, allowing also to reach the cold areas, creating more flow of people with an eventual sales increase.

Example store planning City Supermarket.

In order to have an excellent store format and sales result, it is important that the hot points of your store should be at least 10% of your shopping area, while the cold points should not represent more than 10% of your store area.  When planning your store interior, it is important to optimize the hot areas instead of the cold areas.  However, this depends mostly on the existing access or entrance doors, the kind and size of the sales surface (ex.a rectangular store surface is always easier) and if exist eventual different floor levels. (ex. if a store has 3 levels, the ground level floor is the hot area, the basement mainly the very cold area and the first floor a less but cold area.
So when analyzing your existing store and or evaluating an eventual new store location,...always have in mind, that the existing or possible hot area should dominate, in order to create more traffic into your store.

Example of high traffic or hot areas in store.

We will now talk about the layout and the design of the store surface.  We can divide it into the border perimeter, the central perimeter and the shop counter.

- The border perimeter: allows you to present the products alongside the border of your store.  It has to permit you to have a good a good product presentation and an easy to-use or adaptable system, in line with you store image and or corporate commercial layout. 

- The central perimeter, allows you to present the goods into the central part of the store.  Avery important perimeter, as, in function of the position and the used kind of presentations, you will be able to increase your sales turnover.  Good to know, that the corners of the central perimeter of the main access and or store path (with the most traffic) are very required by big consumer brands, willing to pay up to high renting fees to have this store space reserved.  Like above, the used materials have to be easy to adapt and allow a good product presentation.  And in line with your corporate commercial image. 

-The shop counter: the counter location into the store is of vital importance, as it will allow you to control the consumer flow and the time clients are into your store, with the final result, buying more.  Always important, next to its main function, controlling the entrance and its advisory role, the counter should always be place on a strategic place, with the purpose to maintain the consumer flow the much time possible, allowing more sales possibilities.  However, the size of your store, often has an influence 
on the above.  Try to locate your counter always in a colder area of the store, instead of the hot area, as it will take more time to consumers to leave your store. 

Example of the importance of the perimeters of a supermarket with fresh food.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION...

CAMPER, OR HOW TRENDY SHOES FROM MALLORCA, CONQUER THE WORLD....

MORE THAN 40 YEARS OF TRENDY WALKING EXIT....THE STORY BEHIND...





www.camper.es



COMING UP......

DO NOT MISS OUR COPENHAGEN SPECIAL,...

Just surf to our archive of the 29/01/2013, to read all about Copenhagen, the creative retail city.

OUR WEEKLY RETAIL VOCABULARY LESSON

OUR WEEKLY VOCABULARY LESSON
Week 6








A Destination Store: A kind of retail concept (can be store, catalog or website), where the consumers will organize a special shopping trip, in order to buy products.  General, it is a concept with a specialized product group and a in debt product offer.  We mainly know it, of the organized trips to a factory, presenting their products to possible consumers.

A Flat Organization: A term, describing the kind of management organization in a company.  General an organization with many subordinates, responding to one general supervisor.  Very simple management structure.

An Overstored Trading Area: A geographic area, with an excess of stores, selling similar products, with the result, that it is impossible to make a decent profit or even a break even.  Lately, happens a lot into the electro and or media retail market, where there is an excess of retailers, working with very low profit margins. 

Private Brands: A group of products, also name 'white label', made by the retailer him self, next to the typical branded products. Those products have a self created retail brand label, are only sold into the stores of the retailer, have generally bigger retail margins, lower retail prices and automatically create consumer loyalty.   The latest years, there was a huge trend towards home branded products, however lately, we can see an increasing demand for branded consumer products again.  Some mayor discount changes,..like Lidl, are slowly introducing more and more brands again, trying to upgrade their concept and captivate the brand oriented consumer.

THE HIGH STREET EMPTY STORE SYMPTOM

Or how can we cope with the empty store symptom.....in our retail streets.






The todays worldwide upcoming empty store symptom in all cities, reflects part of the current complicated economical situation, we are going through and is forcing all major actors like retailers, landlords and local governments to act and to re-imagine the future cooperation in a new one way oriented direction.  
Maybe, it is time that large retail chains forget there double digit profit margins and their fast swift to other store locations, in case the store results are some weaker, that local governments stop killing their city centers by allowing the construction of continuous new retail parks out of town, creating a death inner town, pushing the local people to buy out of their home town or that landlords lower their lease fees, so that retailers can manage to continuo their business, even during this though economical situation. (already more than 5 years now...)
The decreasing group of consumers, due to the economical situation and the increasing more critical group of online consumers, seduced by new creative ways of buying....leaves us no other way than reinventing our retail streets.
So, lets sit together and realize that it will not be anymore like before,...that we all have to change our chip in order to attack the problem.  Retailers will have to invent the real way of dealing with clients, using smaller spaces, being much more creative and original. Local governments will have to listen more to the local people, changing priorities and putting the emphasis on how to reanimate their city centers, instead of killing them..  Landlords will have to realize that a retailer can only survive when he makes a certain profit and like this he stays motivated to continue to do his business, so asking realistic rents. 
So,...what can we do more...

Projects like the 'Empty Shops Network'..or 'Nest Project'  are bringing together, helping, re-imagining, creating and recycling old store locations and or even neighborhoods, by offering the possibility.. using this locations for social enterprises, artists, upcoming entrepreneurs, local organizations,..etc.. transforming this empty high street image into a new more social climate and environment,.. where people, interact, again, with one another, the way it was before.




Have a look, how the Empty Shops Network,...see it...

emptyshops.wordpress.com

Just have a look, how we can do much more....together..an example or how, by being creative, we can  change an empty store..and or neighborhood...

                                         

                                                             






nestproject.wordpress.com

facebook.com/NestProject














Dear city counselor,...some great ideas, how to start changing your city center...

As you can see, it is time to re-imagine our high streets,...let them become community pools,...where people meet each other, interact, exchange ideas, products, services. We have to get a way from this 'all the same' looking un-personal retail streets, offering the same stores every where.

As already explained in previous post, there is a need and a desire for the return to the old social values,...

So lets sit together and start the change...lets tackle the empty store problem...

RETAIL IS JUST DETAIL, IDEAS TO SELL MORE.

SIMPLE IDEAS TO SELL MORE INTO YOUR TORE
Week 7







Employees, idea 4
Always try to be positive in the use of your communications towards your employees.  Often, we are used to criticize the work, instead of using first positive comments, informing them on things to approve or to do better.  By putting the emphasis on the good things done, you will create a good and positive atmosphere, openness to listen and motivation of the person to accept and change little errors and mistakes.  Always, put yourself into the place of the employee, to understand his possible reaction.  Just think twice, before sending or commenting.

Clients, idea 6
In order to captivate the attention of the clients and stimulate the sales, often, we use various price tags, labels and boards, communicating our product offers in the store.  (especially use full in case, our salespeople are not available to respond)
However, it is important that those boards go in line with your store image and transmit the message you want to communicate. By using the right materials, colors, type of lettres, prices and key slogans you will be able to transmit, but be also aware that an excess or wrong or excessive use of those forms of communication can create a revers effect with your clients. Never forget that the what counts is the product.

Internal system, idea 5
Try to use the retail calendar, in order to make your store activity planning.  It will allow you, to organize various activities, be a guideline for your internal organization and stimulate your sales. Start setting up this activities from the beginning of the year, taking in account al details, in order to coordinate them, to achieve the best results.  Often, some things need to be organized and ordered before.  It is clear if you plan a Valentines action, you will need to coordinate it before in the media and maybe also organize extra sales staff in order to help.
So, try to be creative with your yearly retail marketing calendar.