POSTED ON 08/05/2020 IN Blog BY Jamie Bourn
Creating an engaging in-store shopping experience
We’ve seen and heard a lot from our customers in the last 25 years. Our sales team has travelled the length and breadth of the country hundreds of times and are proud to have developed an in-depth understanding of our customers.
Over this time, we have noticed a few traits that seem to make some retailers stand out and be more successful than others.
Here, we share some of those secrets to success from our experienced sales and marketing teams:
- Retailers who have sales staff with a flair for - and an understanding of- interiors, are often the most confident in talking to customers, and are often the most successful at selling. Staff that are trained with some basic styling skills have more confidence to engage with the customer, boosting sales and loyalty. That extra level of advice ensures the customer has an amazing experience instead of just being sold to. Make sure your staff are asking the right questions about the customers lifestyle too, it’s no good trying to sell a high-end, design-led sofa to someone who is looking for a slouchy, family style sofa instead. Know your market and your customer.
- Ensure the customer has a good in-store experience. They will leave the store feeling like they’ve been looked after and feel good throughout the day in the knowledge that they have been offered the right advice for them.
- Too many stores end up looking bland in an effort to cater to everyone, but not really inspiring anyone. Make sure you have an exciting window display to entice people in, and refresh it, often! A lack of colour or interest in-store results in nothing standing out. Even if it’s displaying a product in a fabric that is quite bold, you have to be visually exciting to get customers attention. It’s all about being aspirational and engaging.
- It goes without saying but once a customer is through the door, you want to keep them in there until they have either bought something or have taken away enough information to return and make a purchase soon. Retailers that have a clear, uncluttered floor, not too many promotional notices and staff that are friendly always seem to do better than those that have cluttered floors with pushy sales staff and a plethora of ‘SALE’ signs everywhere.
- For those that have the space, styling and ‘zoning’ areas appears to be a great way of story telling in stores. You often find a consumer will buy several pieces from the display, such as a lamp and a rug, as well as the sofa, because they have ’bought into’ that look and want to re-create it in their own home.
So don’t just sell to your customers, inspire them! If you want any specific advice on how to refresh your displays, please don’t hesitate to call your sales manager who will be happy to help.