RETAIL IS JUST DETAIL, IDEAS TO SELL MORE.

SIMPLE IDEAS TO SELL MORE INTO YOUR STORE.
Week 15







Employees, idea 7
The first impression is always the final impression and will always be reminded and very complicated to be changed. It is important, when introducing a new staff member in your company, to create a kind of welcome pack, where you will explain general information about the company, a manual how to act and some general rules. This kind of welcome pack, will create an emotional link with your new employee.  He will feel comfortable, well received and very motivated.  This emotional link will be very use full later on, when he is going to do his job.  Here some ideas, when introducing your new staff member:

*Always try to receive your new staff member personal en a positive way, dedicating 100% to him.
*Make a presentation to all the other staff.
*Show him the installations.
*Explain him the introduction plan.
*Introduce a tutor, who will follow up and help the new employee, for the first weeks.
*Explain clearly all details of the contract.

As you can see, it is very important, to start well.  Like this, you will always end up well.

Clients, idea 8
Sensations are selling.  It has been proven, that consumer buying is for a big part created by the feeling and sensation they receive into your store. Your sales point, should transmit this feeling. The first, a client motivate to enter, is your store front.  (windows, door, general image).  The use of the right visuals should motivated them to enter.  (important to have the doors always open, as they invited to enter.
Once in the store, the right lighting, music and smell should create the exact sensation, you want to transmit.  A well organized and clean store, will give a very positive feeling.  The fact, that consumers can easily touch and or try your products, will motivate them to consume.
Don't forget,..consuming is a total emotional process.

Internal system, idea 7
Nobody likes to wait. Nor your clients.  One of the major problems in a store, is that your clients have to wait.  They have to wait, to be served, to receive their product or when paying.  It is important, to organize your store, the way you eliminate above situations. 

How can we organize this?
*Always provide enough employees in peak sales moments.
*Remind your employees, that client service is PRIORITY.  (the rest becomes secondary and can be done later)
*When there is a waiting line of more that 4 clients willing paying, automatically open a new extra paying terminal, in order to reduce above waiting line. 

It is clear that your employees, have to understand the importance of a good client service.  Today it is  probably, the most important part of the success of your business.  By creating a good and well organized system around, you will be able to have perfect service oriented company.  You will be different than your competitors.

THE FOUR TYPES OF INTERNET BUYERS.

 OR HOW TO CATCH THEM....












In line with our previous posts about your website, we like to explain you something more about the kind of possible eventual buyers could visit your website.  It is important to know, what kind of visitors, are surfing into your site, as you will have to adapt your marketing strategy, to each of them.  
So forget the mass marketing publicity and try to focus on each particular consumer group.

Your web site, should reflect and reach each of the consumer groups, with a clear message.  However, concentrate your efforts, mainly on the ones, who could give your a major sales result.

The four major potential buyer groups are:

The Window Shoppers: The ones, who mainly surf the web, to see products and or services, without a real interest in buying something.  It is like the people on a sunday, in a shopping mall,....a day trip with the family, just spending the afternoon. without any intention to buy. Sometimes, they can get motivated to buy something, if there is a real offer, however....as retailer, you should take care of them but not focus too much on them.

The Shopping Freaks: The ones, who really visit your web and buy.  Those clients, need to be take care of.  It is a client, who demands a personal, quick and easy service. They are the ones, who generate your repeated benefit. So, put them on a statue.  
A specific VIP membership App, could be a an answer.

The New Internet Users: The ones, who are new and not familiarized with the online buying.  They mainly have suspicion and will be very reluctant with your website.  Once they feel, that your site, is to be trusted, they can become a real consumer.  In order, to change their opinion, it is important to adapt  your website, the way, that the terms, conditions and guarantees are clearly mentioned.  Integrated opinion polls and client reviews, can help them, to become a real shopping freak.

The Best Price Shopper: The ones, who just surf your web, to find the best price offers.  It is a client, who is not reliable and switches, until he finds the best price offers.  As retailer, it is important, not to fall into the idea, that your website is visited only by above possible consumers.
Their exist a real danger, when focussing to much on above, to lower your prices permanently too much, thinking, that it is the only way to sell more, with a logical drop of your benefits.  A special 'Sales Offer' segment in you web, could be a solution.

As you can see, when setting up your website, it is important, to try to catch each of above possible consumer groups.  So it is necessary, to offer a segment in your web, covering the specific needs of each of them.
Like this, you will be able to respond on each.
So start your analyze and adapt your website.

OUR WEEKLY RETAIL VOCABULARY LESSON.

OUR WEEKLY VOCABULARY COURSE.
Week 12








Data-Based Retailing: A form of retailing, by gathering, storing and using information about customers and using this information to sell.

Floor-Ready Merchandise: Goods wich are delivered straight into the store and placed into the shelfs, without any further preparation.  Mainly, used by discounter stores like Lidl, Aldi, Dia,...

A Horizontal Cooperative-Advertising Agreement: When various retailers, mostly located close to each other and complementary in their product range, share the costs of an advertising ad.

A Marquee: A store sign, mainly used to communicate or display the stores name or logo.

Mystery Shoppers: A form, used by retailers, to control, how their stores and services are working.  Mystery shoppers, mainly are hired persons, which visit stores as clients, analyzing and reporting their results to the store management.  A ideal form and important tool, to see, how employees, behave towards the clients and a perfect tool, to change and ameliorate the service towards the clients.  

TOUS, OR HOW A LITTLE BEAR BECOMES A LEADER IN INTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY RETAILING.

Talking about Tous, is talking about the famous little bear, worldwide image of this Spanish jewellery family company, based close to Barcelona, Spain.  It was founded in 1920 and today sells its products around almost 400 stores around the globe, having a turnover of a roughly 320 milions euros. 

Tous is not just a some jewellery,.. it is image, concept, a cult lifestyle, offering a wide range of fashion accessories like bags, jewellery, leather goods and perfumes.

Its always returning cute little sympatic bear image returns in almost all its products and is the perfect marketing image a company can dream of. It is the redline through out the story of Tous. The perfect icon, a company needs. The apple of the famous Apple company.  What should Rosa Oriol, during her visit to Milan, have seen in an innocent little toy in a window shop in Milan.

In the last years, the company has been increasing and changing its familiar way of working into a more profesional company, with an open structure and management mentality, still respecting its typical Tous family image. 
Exporting more than 60% of its turn-over, it is the world image of famous people like Kylie Minogue and Jennifer Lopez.

Today, Salvador Tous, de presidente and owner of the company, together with her wife Rosa and their 4 daughters, have shown a tremendous energy and creativity, to manage this amazing very sucessfull concept.
Market leader and cult icon in Spain, Tous is focussing its strategy to conquer the rest of the world.  Their is no doubt, that they will succeed.







Have a look inside the Tous family company...

Or have a look to some of their collections....just click on the Tous Collection.

TOUS COLLECTION

www.tous.com



WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST ANNOYANCES FOR THE CONSUMER WHILE SHOPPING IN YOUR STORE.

THE TOP ANNOYANCES...
GOOD TO KNOW....










According to various researches, it has been showing that the biggest annoyance for consumers, visiting your store, is the rude inappropriate behavior of the staff.  Four out of ten clients attach a lot of importance to the right greeting, when entering in the shop.

Some of the most irritating attitudes are:

*Staying at their sales desk, without greeting nor looking to the client. (eye contact)
*Using the mobile phone, during the visit of a client.
*Lack of sales staff, overstressed existing sales crew, creating long waiting lines, when paying at the  checkout.
*Promising something, but not completing, what have been agreed with client.

Behind above, there also exist a number of annoyances on the product, price and presentation in the store.
Clients hate disorganized and or dirty stores, wrong marked prices or sizes, too small changing rooms
or bad quality products.

The direct contact between the client and the store personnel, is considered as a vital part in the shopping process for the customer and should be considered as a key point, when hiring you shop staff.
By creating a kind of ideal store behavior, to be followed, you can base your hiring criteria on above.
This store behavior should be reminded continuously on all store level, in order to maintain the ideal quality level.  Important to realize, that an irritating sales staff experience, can push the customer to never come back to your store.

Although mayor annoyances depend a lot of your internal system, sometimes, the attitudes of clients, can also provoke the irritation.  Not respecting the waiting line or slowly swarming clients are also considered as top annoyances.  
As you can see,...not everything can be controlled..

RETAIL IS JUST DETAIL, SIMPLE IDEAS TO SELL MORE.

SIMPLE IDEAS TO SELL MORE INTO YOUR STORE.
Week 12







Internal system, idea 6
It is important that your store transmit change and excitement.  So, it is necessary, to bring continuous new products and change time to time your decoration.  These changes, require a good organized planning, as they mainly happen, when your store is open to the public and bring most of the time a negative impact, with lower sales results,  due to the following situations:

*Your salespeople are not focused on the clients, as they are busy preparing the store.
*Your store presents a disorganized look, your clients don't find the products,..

In order to avoid above, try to plan in advance the changes, like staff and product reception and preparation.  Try to follow a logical line and order.  Use the less busy hours in the store, to make the major changes. 

Employees, idea 5
Always take note and consider the social and family life of your employees.  Always consider, that maintaining and offering, a good balance between social and professional life is a key to have motivated employees. So, be understandable and flexible with your employees.
The use of terror management in your company, will only harm your business.  

Clients, idea 7
It is very important to know your clients.  By setting up a membership or club, your clients will give you a permanent flow of information and will allow you to learn everything about them.  You will be able to learn their needs and adapt your way of working.
Sometimes,listening to the opinion of your clients, can avoid you, to make big spending errors.

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

In line with our previous post about '10 reasons, why you should have a website', we like to give your some key points what to consider, when you start setting up you web.  Starting up a website, is more than a just a good idea or a good looking website.  You will get confronted with a the technical part of it and a lot of questions.  How to set up the right web, where and how to start, what kind of design, payment process, etc....

We can detect 4 problem areas, when entrepreneurs start to set up their website:

*Those who have no website and do not have the knowhow where or how to start up.

*Those who let make a website by an external company, but do not know, how to handle or manage to work with it and depend completely on above external company for whatever use.

*Those who have a website, but not a good one.  (few visitors or marketing functionality, lack of clear marketing strategy)

*Those who have a website, but not profitable. There few websites, who makes money.  (you can have a lot of visitors, but few sales results)

As entrepreneur, try to focus on the things you do well.  Making a website, is business of specialists in E-commerce.   So, make use of their knowledge.  Do not waste your time, trying to create one your self.  However, be aware, not to be depend completely on your website builder, as each time you will have the need to change something , it will become a very expensive situation, using above service for whatever change needed.

As retailer, you are used, to do in your daily business, almost everything.  Your managing, programming, designing, selling and taking care of the distribution and client service.  A good and easy to use website, will allow you to dedicate your time mainly on managing.  An automatic well organized website will manage all above process, allowing you the change, adapt or even ameliorate continuously.

A good sales page with continuos offers will take away, part of the role of a salesperson and a including blog will allow you to be updated with vital client information and being continuously in touch with your clients.

Maybe you have it in mind or maybe you have started already your website,...but do not underestimate the POWER of a good website.  A lot of retailers, see the website as something to have, just next to their store (because it is the talk of the town,....), but not as an very important tool to captivate future clients.  So, make use of it.

When starting with your website, you can select various ways of website solutions. 

*You can make your own website or let it make by a professional.

*You can use special auction web sites like E-bay,..

*You can use a pre-instaleted standard website, which you can personalize the way you like. (Ex. Strato)

*You can use open source websites software packages. It is a kind of standard software, available for everybody, but adaptable to your specific needs. (Ex. osCommerce)

Example to visit...strato.com

It is clear that, depending the size and importance of your company, you will have to select one of above ways.  By experience and in order to start, we like to recommend you to use a pre-installed standard website, as they relatively cheap (you pay a monthly fee), very well organized and developed and easy to use.  

They will allow you to set up easily and very fast a very attractive website.  On a later base and if your website starts to be profitable, you can always upgrade to another solution.

In order to have a good website, it is important to know the basics and essentials, about a website.  So, start reading.  Visit and learn about existing websites.  Define your strategy, product groups, suppliers, way of logistics and payment systems.  Once, you have set up your website, make use of the existing tools, like google, blogs, Facebook,... to create continuous interest in your web, changing and or adapting your website on a regular base.

SO DO NOT FORGET, MANAGING A WEBSITE IS A DAILY BUSINESS.