How to Design an Effective Showcase Display

Showcases are a retailer's first impression on shoppers.  Many times they could be the only chance to impact them as they walk by and get them to come inside the store.  Even though there are other ways to drive traffic to a store, outstanding window displays can have a beneficial and measurable influence on a retail business. 

Unfortunately, most retailers, particularly the small ones, design boring and ordinary displays that often times go completely unnoticed.  The reason is usually because the costs associated with developing a great display are considered to be prohibitive.  Undeniably, the showcases that big luxury retailers develop, like Saks Fifth Avenue's and Bergdorf Goodman's in New York, present a tag price that would be excessive for smaller stores.

However, it is still possible to design an effective and creative displays even without the budget of the big box stores.  The way to do it is to consider the showcases an ideal extension of the retail concept that the retailer developed.  Showcases should effectively be a window into the lifestyle and experience that the store presents.  Ideally, they should also be engaging, dynamic and spark curiosity. 

For example just last week I was walking in New York's Upper West Side and I noticed a woman intent in doing Yoga in the showcase of athletics store Lululemon.  Various people stopped to observe the curious and certainly differentiating display, just like me.  A good number of them stepped inside to see what else the store had to offer. 

Another example is La Porte Jewelers, a jewelry shop in Lancaster, PA.  I first read about this store in an article by Michelle Graff, About Retail: Suspending tradition.  Among the many original ideas introduced by La Porte Jewelers were their creativity in their showcase displays, particularly their holiday displays.

Michelle Graff describes them in these words: "The store teamed up with the local Prima Theater Company to put on live, original Christmas skits that were silently acted out in the store’s front windows every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from the beginning of December to Christmas Eve. The skits drew 50 to 60 people a night."

One final example is Tiffany's, which over 50 years ago adopted an artistic approach to window dressing and placed its jewelry in some of the most common and ordinary settings in its displays.  The combination was especially successful, as it strengthened its message that jewelry can complement any situation and is never out of place. To know more about Tiffany's window dressing read Trace Shelton's article, No Showcase Like Tiffany's, and see the videos that he provides in the article.

All these brands have been successful because they thought of their showcases as an additional medium where to promote their lifestyle.  Retailers should always be consistent with their retail concept when designing their showcases and should deliver their message in the most dynamic and differentiating way that they can conceive.  La Porte Jewelers and Lululemon demonstrate that it is possible to do it in an effective and relatively economical manner.

Share in the comment box below any other examples of great showcase displays that you ran into, or other suggestions on this topic.

Discover a New Store Concept Idea for Any Media Retailer

In my previous post, Discover an Innovative Store Concept for Jewelers,  I presented a new and innovative store concept idea specifically for jewelry retailers.  Today I am going to focus on an idea that could be adopted by book stores, music stores, video/movie stores and video games store.

Currently most of these stores have essentially the same structure.  Customers come in, go through the various rows, browse the titles, and eventually either choose something or leave.  In most instances the customers do not have any interaction with the sales staff unless they approach the cash register.  The resulting experience is not very remarkable and lacks any differentiation from any other retailer in the same field.  Honestly, I enjoy going to a traditional book store and browsing the various titles on sale.  However, a retailer that is seeking to stand out and gain market share should consider a different strategy and aim to deliver a notable and different experience. 

I would suggest a store with the following characteristics that could target Gen X, Millenials and teenagers:

• Concierge Desk - I am a big fan of having a concierge desk where the customer could check in and register upon entering the store.  It is still uncommon in current store designs, making it a differentiating feature, and it allows the retailer to instantly start the conversation with the customer.  Done well it results in better sales presentations, better customer service and ultimately increased sales. 
• Personal Associate - The customers would be introduced to their personal associate, who would help them in their search. 
• Tall tables and stools - The store design would be clean, without any rows of books or CDs or DVDs, or games.  It would look more like a modern minimalistic lounge.  There would be a number of tall small tables with 3 or 4 stools per table.  Each table would have a work station/terminal.  The sales associate would walk the customer to one of the tables where the customers could sit.  The associate would sit with them and enquire on their tastes.  Based on the answers, he/she would pull up a selection of books, albums, movies or video games that could interest the customers.  Then the customers could read a few excerpts from each book, listen to some of the tracks in the CDs, watch the trailers of the movies or play the first level of each video game.  The associates would come back periodically to help in the selection process.
• Coffee Shop - The back of the store could include a coffee shop, where patrons could purchase coffee as well as other beverages.  This would promote a relaxing atmosphere and add another revenue stream to the store. 
• Check out - The customers would be able to make their selection directly on their terminals as well as pay for their purchase with their credit cards.  Their order would then be transmitted to a terminal in the store's basement, where all the actual products would be stored.  This would also effectively reduce the rental costs of the store, as their prime retail square footage would be reduced.  An associate would retrieve the product and send it to the check out desk via a small elevator/lift (Nike uses the same system in their New York store).  The customers would pick up their purchases at the check out desk and finalize the payment if they decided to pay with cash. 

This store concept is a complete novelty and delivers a differentiating experience.  It could be implemented as is.  However, the aim of this post is not to bring forth a rigid and unalterable concept.  It is rather meant to spark your creativity to come up with other features that would improve on it.  Please share them in the comment box below.

Discover an Innovative Store Concept for Jewelers

I have mentioned before that the current retailing landscape in many instances can be uninspiring and unremarkable.  I have put forward some strategic ideas that could help those owners, whose stores fit that description, and explained how developing an innovative customer experience is the key to success.  I have also provided a few practical examples from retailers that got it right and that have, therefore, enjoyed impressive results. 

However, I realize that developing a brand new idea, an innovative store concept and experience, can be challenging.  Here and in the next few posts I will focus on different industries and bring forward a store concepts for each of them.  Some might be interesting and feasible in every geographic market, some will be a little impractical for certain retailers.  The aim of these posts is to generate ideas and incite the creative process.

Today I am going to turn my attention to the jewelry industry.  I have been part of this industry for over 10 years.  I know it extremely well and it is certainly a good place to start, as the typical jewelry retailer offers an antiquated and static store experience.

Most jewelry stores feature rows or islands of case after case displaying the jewelry.  During the sale presentations, the associates stand on one side of the cases, facing the customers, a stance that promotes distance and does not help in establishing a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.  In my post, "How to Increase your Products' Perceived Value",  I showed how a relaxed environment is proven to increase a product's perceived value.  Therefore, the cold and detached atmosphere, which characterizes a great number of jewelry stores, effectively reduces their clientele attitude towards buying.

An alternative store concept could have the following features:

• Wide entrance - It would encourage shoppers to come in the store, reducing the reticence and even distrust that some customers feel when approaching a jewelry store.  It would be particularly effective in high traffic areas like malls.
• Concierge Desk - Like I related before, a concierge desk would help in starting the conversation with the customer.  In fact, the customer would have register with the concierge to gain access to the wider store.  The concierge would also give the store an aura of exclusivity and increase the customer's curiosity.  The registration process would give the retailer valuable contact information.  The customer would receive a welcome goodie bag containing the store's brochure, a promotional gift, and a gift card to a nearby coffee shop or restaurant (make sure that the goodie bag is not too heavy for the customer to carry).  After the registration, the customer would be introduced to an associate that would give him/her the tour of the store.
• Interior featuring a few wall showcases - The associate would give the customer a professional presentation of the brand and its history walking with the customer through the wall showcases mounted on the entire perimeter of the store. 
• Sofas - The associate would then walk the customers to the center of the store, which would be designed as a salon with comfortable sofas and chairs.  The style would depend on the store's target market.  It could look like a plush and luxurious French inspired salon or like a more modern minimalistic space.  A bigger store could have a number of salons to increase privacy.  The associate would sit next to the customers and converse with them. 
• Servers offering beverages - Servers would present to the customer a tray with various beverages already served.  They could range from flutes of champagne to the store's signature cocktail to popular soft drinks.
• Moving showcases - Another associate would then wheel in a series of movable showcases.  The customer would enjoy the presentation sitting on the sofas, sipping on a beverage, and chatting with the associate.  The relaxed and friendly atmosphere would enhance the customer's shopping experience and ultimately increase sales.
• Mobile payment stations - At the end of the presentation the associate would process the payment right from the sofa with a tablet computer using a mobile credit card terminal like the one provided by Square (https://squareup.com/). 

This store concept is a complete novelty and delivers an engaging and relaxing experience.  It could be implemented in its entirety or jewelers could integrate parts of it in their own store idea.  Share your comments below to develop alternative and even better jewelry store concepts.

Achieve Better Customer Interaction in 4 Easy Ways

In my last post I discussed how technology can be a great tool to increase customer engagement and ultimately to improve the customer's overall in-store experience.  Today I am going to show you other ways to achieve those results, particularly looking at ways to avoid customers' typical in-store dismissing sentence: "I am just looking".

Customers usually use that sentence because they want to avoid uncomfortable interaction with salespeople that are almost exclusively interested in selling.  The key is to make sure that salespeople add value to the customers in-store experience.  Even though selling is the life source for every retailer, it should be the result of an exceptional and unique in-store experience (See How to Create a Unique and Engaging Customer Experience).  Here are 4 ways to achieve better customer interaction and ultimately increased sales-through.

• Set up a check-in / reception desk.  This strategy was first employed by Daslu, a Brazilian retailer, whose business model I have explored in one of my posts (See Luxury Department Store in Brazil Delivers Unique Customer Experience).  When you set up a check in desk, every client has to register at the entrance of the store and is assigned an associate to give him a personal and customize tour of the store.  The associates should deliver a professional sales presentation, but also try to engage customers based on their interests and activities.
• Entice customers with entertainment and education.  Regardless of what you sell in your store, you will always have customers that enjoy knowing more about your product and your operations.  Amsterdam Sauer, a Brazilian jewelry retailer, understands this well.  In fact, they use part of their store in Rio de Janeiro as a gem and jewelry museum.  The museum attracts a lot of people interested in all sorts of gems.  After a guided visit with a gemologist, the guests are introduced to a salesperson which continues the tour showing them the jewelry on sale.  The video below features the Amsterdam Sauer museum.  This strategy can be extremely effective even with smaller displays and with any other products.

• Offer beverages.  This is the simplest strategy to initiate a conversation with a customer.  The salesperson should not just mentioned the beverage to the customer.  Rather the associate should approach the customer together with a server presenting the beverage already in a tray to make it easy for the customer to accept.  Subsequently, the customer is more likely to continue chatting with the associate.
• Provide the red carpet experience.  Set up a prominent counter in your store that advertises this service.  The interested clients would have a dedicated associate / stylist to help them choose an outfit.  The associate would then take a picture of the customers and e-mail it to them or to a significant other.  Finally, the customer would receive a goodie bag with a printed copy of the picture, a store brochure, a promotional gift, and maybe even a gift certificate to a nearby restaurant.  This unusual and fun experience would most likely result on the sale of the outfit and tons of repeat customers.

There can be a number of other strategies that you can implement in your store.  Be creative and do not settle for a passive approach.  Think of your customers as visitors that you want to impress and dazzle as much with your service and in-store experience as with your products.



4 Easy Ways to Integrate Technology in Your Store and Increase Sales

In an earlier post I mentioned that technology, in its various forms and applications, is a useful tool to create a more engaging customer in-store experience.  Today, I will expand on this topic and give some practical examples and ideas on how to integrate technology in a retail store.  I will restrict the topic to technology used in-store and leave all applications of direct marketing and social media for another post.

The current retail landscape is full of stores that deliver a very static and forgettable experience.  Most do not stand out and, therefore, have low sales conversions and few repeat customers.  However, to be successful a store needs to develop an entertaining and comfortable environment, which would draw the clientele in regularly. 

Technology, when used properly, can help you develop a more engaging experience, even a multi-sensory experience in some cases.  The use of technology is certainly necessary when targeting Gen X and Gen Y consumers as well as teenagers.  However, it can certainly appeal to Baby Boomers too when used accordingly. 

There are a number of tools that a retailer can adopt.  Here are a few:

• Quick Response Codes - QR Codes are now easy to use and increase the client's interaction.  Develop your own codes and place them around the stores to unlock certain promotions or discounts.  Make sure that they are placed in convenient locations where they are easy to scan.  Also, make them relevant and interesting to the consumer.  A QR Code that just directs the customer to your website is only going to annoy the user.
• Video Installations - Video installations and screens are a basic feature in many retail stores.  However, try to use video screens in a more creative way and in a way which relates to your brand and strengthens your store concept.  For example set up a number of video screens around the store, each associated with only one line that, and feature on each an appealing video that shows the specific use of that product.  Done well it would reinforce your message and the lifestyle associated with your brand.  Fashion brands could project their latest fashion shows and allow customers to pre-order the featured items. 
• In-Store Workstations - Here I am referring to either workstations that are similar to the self service check-in stations that are now ubiquitous in any American airport or even big wall installations that could work like a big iPad.  These would grab the attentions of younger customers even more than the actual products.  The clients could use them to learn more about the brand, but mostly to browse and order the entire range of products that the brand offers, even items which are not currently in stock at that location.
• Custom Apps - Retailers can now design all sort of apps that salespeople can easily access from iPads at the store.  The most interesting uses of this technology could allow salespeople to speed up checkout, access instructional videos that can enhance the sales presentations, and suggest to the client complementary products to their purchase.

A great example of a retailer that was able to successfully integrate technology into its stores is Burberry.  The company's chief creative officer Christopher Bailey referred to technology in these terms:

"Technology is the enabler and I find it incredibly liberating. Burberry is really about an experience, it’s about an attitude, it’s about the spirit, and I think it’s a lot about music. Of course, there are the clothes and bags, watches, eye-wear and fragrances. But today we are all about how you interact with the brand. It’s not a one-way street anymore, it’s a two-way dialogue."

This quote is taken from the article by the Huffington Post: Burberry: The Best of British Digital Innovation.  I suggest you read the full article to understand how Burberry uses technology in its stores and provides what is today considered the freshest and most innovative in-store experience of any fashion brand.

How to Increase your Products' Perceived Value

I have explored at length the idea that the main success driver for a retailer is to provide a unique and engaging customer experience, which is the result of an innovative concept, a consistent store design and an excellent customer service.  However, for most people the issue remains simply: how do I come up with that unique store idea?

I have to concede that it is never easy to intuitively imagine a truly innovative retail concept.  I will present a few innovative store concepts for different types of retailers in future posts.  However, today I want to focus on a few points that could help existing retailers igniting creativity.

A Columbia University study recently showed that more relaxed people considered a paper shredder to be 39 percent more valuable and than less relaxed people.  Similarly, the relaxed people thought that a digital tire gauge was 19 percent more valuable.  It is clear then that a store owner should strive to provide a relaxed environment for its customers.  He or she could introduce in his/her store enjoyable music, appealing aromas, comfortable seating, a selection of beverages, or technology. 

However, it is important to recognize that any improvement must cater to the specific target customer of the store.  One demographic group might find a space comfortable, interesting and engaging, while another group might find the same place unpleasant.  Here are a couple of easy examples:

• Millennials or teenagers would consider more comfortable and attractive a store that uses bold colors and incorporates technology.  This includes QR codes that unlock promotions, in-store workstations that allow the client to browse a digital catalog or order custom made products, apps that speed up the check-out process or allow the shopper to access additional information about the products in the store, and others.
• Consumers from the Silent Generation as well as some early Baby Boomers generally would find it more comfortable to be in a store that features smaller and more intimate rooms with seating areas.  They would enjoy socializing with friendly staff about topics that do not necessarily relate to the products on sale and would appreciate a beverage.

These are the two ends of the spectrum in terms of age.  However, age is not the only factor that influences customer's design preferences.  All of them should be taken into account when brainstorming about a new store concept.  Always keep in mind your target consumer. 

Next week I will relate how retailers can provide an innovative experience to its shoppers by incorporating technology in its stores.  Subscribe to my blog and stay connected.

How Anthropologie is Outperforming all its Competitors

Last week I wrote about how a luxury retailer was able to create a unique and successful experience for its customers by focusing on an innovative concept, a consistent store design and great service (see this post).  However, this model does not apply only to luxury retailers, but to all sorts of stores. 

Today, I am going to write about Anthropologie's business model.  Anthropologie is an American retailer offering apparel and accessories for contemporary and sophisticated women, primarily in the 30-45 year old demographic.  It is a multi-brand retailer stocking about 50 or 60 different brands with a decidedly vintage style in each store.

However, this simple description does not explain their success.  What is then the key to their success?  Could it be their strategy of maintaining lean inventories and pushing for high product turnover?  It is certainly part of it.  These features help the company have new products in stores with high frequency and reduce the need for heavy discounting to clear inventory.  However, there are hundreds of other multi-brand retailers that try to implement that same basic strategy, but unsuccessfully. 

What sets Anthropologie apart is that it created an exceptional customer experience.  It is effectively a destination where they present a lifestyle, as much as a product.  They envisioned a retail store with the feel of a small vintage boutique, but with a larger selection, targeting a specific consumer. 

The stores are configured like a cozy house, rather than a store.  The wood floors and vintage inspired furniture is a consistent theme with their concept.  Finally, they provide exceptional customer service.  Here is what Michelle Graff wrote in her blog on this topic:

“It’s not just the vast array of clothing and accessory lines from Anthropologie that I like or the fact that I know when I walk in, the problem won’t be finding something but, rather, finding too much. But it's the accommodating customer service that keeps me a fan for life. No questions asked on returns that can be taken back at any point, which they’ve been nothing but gracious about, emailing my receipts to me when asked, discounts in honor of a birthday and bending over backwards to help when I have questions about merchandise. The always-cheerful staff is obviously trained to know how to cherish their clientele and do everything in their power to keep them happy.” 

You can find the Michelle's entire post at this link.

I have already made this point a few times: retailers need to think of their store concepts and develop a consistent design and customer service to create a unique customer experience.  Rest assured that if that experience is actually innovative and not a mere copy, customers will realize the novelty and a number of them will fully engage in it.  Anthropologie is just one more example. 

In my next posts I will explore ideas of retail concepts that are currently absent in the marketplace.  Be sure not to miss them. 

Luxury Department Store in Brazil Delivers Unique Customer Experience

As we have seen, a retailer's key to success is to provide a unique experience to its customers by developing an innovative and differentiating concept, a consistent store design, and exceptional customer service (See this post).  In this post I am going to talk about a luxury department store in Brazil, which achieved incredible success by adhering to just this model.  This case study could be interesting to big department stores, as they are desperately trying to find ways to increase sales.  But it could certainly provide an interesting perspective to smaller retailers as well.

The department store in question is called Daslu.  It is a 180,000 square foot store housed in a beautiful and private Florentine villa in Sao Paolo, Brazil.  Eliana Tranchesi, Daslu's owner, had the vision to develop Daslu into a luxury department store where customers would feel as if they were in a private residence visiting good friends.  She envisioned them having coffee, lounging, chatting, and in the process shopping.

To develop her concept she subdivided the spacious villa in various inter-connecting private salons.  She also closed off the women's department to men and did not provide any dressing rooms.  This was consistent with her concept and she perfectly applied it into her store design.  After all her vision was to have a homey, albeit luxurious, space where friends were visiting friends.  So there was not a need for changing rooms.  And given that customers were her guests, she would try to greet and chat with each one of them.

 

The men's department was designed with the same concept in mind.  The various salons housed a Johnnie Walker whiskey bar, a bookstore with sofas, a La Perla boutique so the men could shop for their wives, and countless other products ranging from Maserati and Ferretti yachts dealerships to wine and tobacco areas.  Men mostly enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. 

She developed the concept even further, making sure that each of her guests would have an exceptional customer service.  Daslu employed over 300 people just between salesgirls, called Dasluzettes, and wait staff, called "maids".  The Dasluzettes were themselves Daslu customers and came from the best families in Sao Paolo.  Tranchesi wanted to make sure that her salesgirls would understand completely the clients.  In most cases the Dasluzettes were actual friends of the customers, moving in the same social circle.  They chatted with the customers in comfy sofas while showing them the latest Daslu fashion picks.

The "maids", as they were called at Daslu, reinforced the concept of being at a get together with friends in a private residence in Brazil.  Wearing black uniforms and white aprons, they offered refreshments and put the clothes back.

At checkout the customers sat in another luxurious and private salon chatting with their Dasluzette, as their payment was processed and their purchases were taken to their cars.

Before running into problems with the Brazilian authorities in 2005, Daslu estimated that 75% of people walking into Daslu ended up purchasing something, compared with 20% of the customers in a typical Brazilian mall.

At Daslu an innovative concept, a consistent store design and exceptional service, came together to provide an unique and differentiating experience for the client.  This is a clear example of outstanding retailing.  In the next posts I will write about additional ideas and examples for other retail segments.

How to Create a Unique and Engaging Customer Experience

Every business is constantly trying to increase sales and profits, aiming to be more and more successful.  Business owners struggle with various "recipes" for success that seldom work or bring only temporary results.  Retailers, being in a particularly competitive segment, are hard pressed to come up with winning ideas. 

In the modern marketplace, there is one thing any retailer should continuously try to develop to maintain and improve its business.  And it is providing to its customers a unique and engaging experience. 

Currently only a small fraction of retailers has developed a distinctive and differentiating in-store concept.  Most stores still deliver a static, monotonous, and detached experience.  They focus on other areas of their business like cost management, stock selection, staff management, and marketing among others.  Additionally, they rely on other means of enticing the consumer like ads, promotions, and sales.

All these areas and each of these tools are certainly important.  They need to be improved upon continuously and utilized properly.  In fact, in this blog we will explore all these subjects.  However, in the modern marketplace they can have a lasting impact and bring actual results only if they are included within the framework of a unique store concept and design that provides a differentiating experience for the customer.

Indeed, the store experience is the aspect of a retailer that is most difficult to replicate even in the long run, as the consumer immediately associates it with your store.  That is if that experience is truly unique and different from the one that other stores provide.  Low prices, brands' selection, promotions, and sales can all be matched if not improved upon by retailers with bigger budgets.

So how do you design an engaging and unique store experience?  You should focus your attention on these key areas:

• Innovative Concept - Setting up just another restaurant or clothing store or jewelry store with the same basic characteristics of what is already out there is a waste of money.  You should study your competitors extensively and think of ways to modify and improve their business models.  In particular, you should keep your target market in mind.  If you are targeting consumers in their 20's, try to incorporate technology.  If you are targeting affluent consumers develop a more exclusive and luxurious environment.  Be creative and bold.
• Store Design - Your design should reflect your particular concept.  The theme should be readily understandable.  Therefore, any customer would immediately be thrown in your "world" upon entering the store.  If the theme is well developed and attractive, the customer is going to want to buy into it.  It is important that the concept and the message that is conveyed with the store design should be one and focused.  Ralph Lauren is a fitting example.  It has developed a clear store design that reflects their message and appeals to their target market.
• Exceptional Customer Service - Bad customer service can be enough to ruin a customer's experience despite an innovative concept and an appealing store design.  Apple and Anthropology know this well.  Apple makes sure that its stores are constantly over-staffed to ensure that every customer gets attended in a reasonably short time.  Anthropology trains its staff extensively to make sure that they can adequately answer any question and resolve any issue.

In the next posts I will offer various innovative store ideas, concepts and designs for different type of retailers.  I welcome your ideas and your comments.  Subscribe to the blog and join the discussion.
KG45232QY5X6