Posted by retailmakeover on November 24, 2011 0 Comments
An increasing number of customers are choosing to do searches and shop online, and this trend will continue this Christmas. You should therefore consider boosting your online marketing, and making sure that your website can cope with the increased demand.
If you have not already optimised your website to perform well for festive-themed search terms, do this immediately.
If you do not have a website, now is the time to start. Visit Retail Makeover Web Design Services today.
Best
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on November 23, 2011 0 Comments
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Get your own Retail Makeover with Barbara; sign up for her Store Design and Product Placement coaching program.
Also; the Ultimate Retail Makeover (a $9.95 value!) 
is an electronic report on the latest store designs and product placement tips written and created by expert Barbara Crowhurst. Give yourself a Retail Makeover. It's easy and it's fun...
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Posted by retailmakeover on November 22, 2011 0 Comments
Decide whether you are a discount store with product always on sale, or a higher priced store with one-of-a-kind type product or something in between?
Here are some questions you should be asking yourself each time you bring a new line into your store.
- Can I make money selling this product?
- Will my customers pay the money I’m asking?
Let’s look at the two extremes
A discount store is always about best prices in the area, which can mean prices just above cost.
A high priced store counts on getting customers in regularly at the beginning of each season; counting on selling products at full markup because they are unique, and what the customers want, when they want it.
What you pay for your product, what you sell it for, and the difference, is your margin.
Ideally, you want to sell greater volumes of product at higher margins. Also, your marketing activities must focus on getting more customers coming to your store earlier on in each season buying your products at higher markups. One way to give this idea the best shot is to be strategic about attracted new, and existing customers to your store regularly, monthly e-blasts or mailers, referral programs bringing in new customers, and loyalty programs bringing in existing customers more frequently.
Lets look at the right pricing for the marketplace you find yourself in. Here are the guidelines for figuring out your market place - draw a circle on a page with a dot in the middle. The distance from the dot that is your store location to the edge of the circle is 30 km. That is the average distance a consumer will travel to shop. Your circle or market place zone also shows you what other stores are located there. Make sure your pricing is competitive or at least you know what is going on in other stores like yours. You do not want to be caught off guard. In addition, this zone will tell you how many potential customers live and work in your market place. Finding out if your customer profile fits with the demographics of the area is vital to understanding if you are pricing your products correctly.
Perceived value pricing
There are times when you will buy products at a unbelievable price, and be able to mark it up beyond traditional markups - Pashmina scarves anyone! No matter where I travel in Canada, I come across these scarves. They are selling well because even at these incredible markups customers scoop them up because of their great value.
Last idea for you. What does your store look like? Does it support your pricing strategy? Check this out; is your store telling the right branding message, or confusing the consumer one way or the other? So back to the first idea I shared with you; are you a discount store, a high priced store, or something in between?
Best
Barbara
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Posted by admin on November 22, 2011 1 Comment
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Dr. Doolittle
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Posted by retailmakeover on November 19, 2011 0 Comments
Barbara Crowhurst, North Americas #1 Retail Business Coach and director of programming will deliver all classes, LIVE. 
Going back to the basics is the motto for this Christmas offering to retailers from Retail Makeover University ( RM "U" ).This Retail Makeover course is designed for any one in retail sales.
Barbara Will Teach You:
- What a retailer and staff's role is in a retail sales environment, how to approach customers, how fear plays a big part in your sales culture, why saying can I help you is outlawed, what to say instead to get to what the customers needs and wants are, how to deal with all buying types and to spot buying signals, how to overcome objections, how to deal with add on sales.
Barbara Will Also Cover:
- Face time with your customers
- Sales targets
- Increasing conversion rates
- Items per sale
- Average sale
- Add on sales
- Daily check-in with staff
- Promotions
- New stock
- Out of stock items
- Selling strategies
This program will help you increase your sales the very next time you are on the sales floor.
Dates:
All classes are LIVE and in person with Barbara as your teacher and trainer via Skype
- November 22 @ 7- 8 pm EST
- November 29 @ 7-8 pm EST
- December 6 @ 7-8 pm EST
Cost - $49.99 per person
Limited space. So book your seat today.
Note from Barbara...
You have my continued commitment to sharing my retail knowledge and expertise, with a focus to helping you increase sales and profitability.
Enroll in one of these 3 class dates and boost Christmas sales.
See you in class.
Looking forward to our working together.
Best;
Barbara Crowhurst
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Posted by retailmakeover on November 18, 2011 0 Comments
Why Display Is Important To Retailers
... especially at Christmas time
"A better organized store means sales go up" ... quote from me barbara crowhurst
Why Display is Important to your Retail Business:
o Over stimulated customer, and there are a lot of us around these days, need things made easy. Good displays make an easier shop with products presented in a unified way.
o First Impressions. You don’t get a second chance here. Displays that are done right support your brand image and what you are all about as a retailer.
o Competition. There’s a lot out there. Be the retailer everyone else talks about. Make a commitment to have great displays thru out your store.
o Makes shopping easy. Having good display in each department of your store will help better traffic flow. Better traffic flow gets consumers seeing more of your merchandise and staying in your store that magic 7 minutes - when they start to make more buying decisions.
o Multiple sales. Magical words to retailers at Christmas time.
Acheson's in Orangeville is ready for Christmas . This is an A+ Christmas Customers Experience !
Thank you for sharing your store with us Dianne.
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on November 14, 2011 0 Comments
Designate high traffic times in your store:
Align your staff to traffic, not transactions. Sounds simple enough, but is something many retailers overlook. Staff scheduling is tricky at the best of times, but aligning your staff resources to when customers are in your store will help you maximize your chances of converting more of them into buyers. Pay particular attention to lunchtime or late afternoon when store traffic can be way up. Matching staff schedules and attention to traffic volume and timing in your store will help improve your chances of converting more. All support activities such as display, unpacking, dusting ,rearranging are keep to a minimum or totally stopped during these designated times. It's all about helping the customers to buy.
Best;
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on November 08, 2011 0 Comments
This was our second Lole event in 2011:
The first was held in April. The most recent event was held Thursday, November 3 from 12 noon to 8 pm. We sent invites for Lole Customer Appreciation Day at our store a week and a half in advance and a reminder notice the day before. Our data base has 1,500 good addresses. 614 or 41% opened the first invite, over 300 the second.
We served refreshments and snack boxes (raisins & nuts), had hourly draws for Lole product, free gift with purchase over $50 and a grand prize draw for a $350 Lole parka. Our sales rep from Ottawa joined us and was very helpful in promoting the brand and assisting customers. Our displays featured Lole product and signage. We also printed window and in-store posters. A few of our staff were were yellow Lole t-shirts. The event was well attended; for the most part they were determined to purchase a Lole product, and in many cases more than one. Our immediate priority after the event was to order more stock! Our Lole rep and I are discussing our next event (April 2012).
Thank you Diane Petryna, of Take a Hike, for sharing your event with us.
Here are a few things that great promotions do for your businesses .
- Increase sales
- Increase awareness of your store
- Add new customers to your customer list
Barbara
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Posted by retailmakeover on November 04, 2011 0 Comments
Display Ideas Using Shoppetalk Signage:
Please send me pictures of your Shoppetalk windows. I'll post them on my blog and share your retail story with my readers.
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Posted by retailmakeover on November 03, 2011 0 Comments
I know that most retailers do not want to think of products being returned to their stores. But, it’s part of doing business. I have often felt that a business that has a fair return policy that favors the consumer is where I want to shop. Review your return policy with a customer service focus. Your return policy should reflect the needs of your customers.
Review these tips I share with you. Write your own return policy as part of your internal store systems. This will make running your business a little easier. Because you will have another important procedure in place, you will be less reactive or in many cases not so over reactive. You will have thought things thru before hand on how best to handle customers who are returning product. Here is a little hint, only staff with the best people skills get to deal with customers who are returning products. You want these staff to have strong people and communication skills and tons of common sense.
Ask your self these two questions:
- Who will be responsible for accepting product back? Most retailers give their sales staff the authority to accept returns. You may want to have the final say so. In that case, you will be tied down to being available and in contact with your staff always. I would not recommend this.
- What are your return terms in general? Receipt required with product being returned in how many days - 7, 14, 30, 60, 90 days for full refund. Here you are looking to secure cash flow and the time is up to you.It has to make sense to your customer as well. Product must be in good condition to be accepted for full refund. Your return policies should consider how the product was paid for: example if the customer paid by interact then give back an interact credit. If a check payment was given. That is a bit tricky because you want to make sure the check cleared your bank. If a customer brings back product with out a receipt, give them an in-store credit for the lowest price the product sold for in recent times.
Here are some further great ideas about your policies once you put them down on paper. Your policies should be equal for all customers. Make sure your policies are in plain view near the cash. Train your staff to reinforce your policies with the customer at the time of purchase. Your sales receipts are another great place to state your policies.
On line shopping is becoming more and more the norm. If you sell product on line, your return policy must be fair and attractive to your customer. Your policies around returns on line can become an effective marketing tool and make your customer feel more secure about shopping with you.
A well thought out retail return policy with a customer focus can help increase sales because shoppers put great value on this part of their shopping experience with you. Remember it’s about relationship selling and also relationship returns. Please see this as an opportunity.
As always,
Love to hear from you. What do you want to ask Barbara next?
Barbara
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is an electronic report on the latest store designs and product placement tips written and created by expert Barbara Crowhurst. Give yourself a Retail Makeover. It's easy and it's fun...
