Retail Tips

I'm now a quarter of the way into The Greeting Card Project, my YouTube channel where I’m sending more cards each week to try and feel closer to my friends and loved ones. I’ve visited a different shop for each video and have been learning a lot about retail with each visit.

Here are five ways you can improve your retail business:

1. Websites

People are already talking about your shop online so you have to make it easy for them to share and recommend you digitally. Most customers that visit your shop will connect to the internet every day. You need to be there for them too.

Under each video that I post, I add hyperlinks to all the retailers and publishers that are included so that viewers can easily click through and visit from them. Unfortunately I have not been able to do this for all I have visited as some don’t have websites nor any social media presence.

If you don’t have a website, people like me can’t hyperlink to your business and you aren’t able to maximise your business presence online. Remember that these links add value to your website over time. They’re like road signs on the digital information super highway, all pointing to your business.

You need these signs and you need a website. You can keep it really simple and it doesn’t have to cost more than a couple of hundred pounds. Using software like Wordpress you can use templates that are predesigned to be mobile friendly. You can always add shopping functionality later. For now you just need a web presence, even if it’s simply a single page with nice photos of your store saying who you are, where you are and links to any social media accounts you use.

2. Your Brand

Shops with their logo on their bags have benefited most because their brand features prominently in the videos when I pay for the cards. I love being able to share the shop brands and so do your happy customers. For instance, the other day I overheard a lady on her phone nearby telling her friend that she was in a lovely coffee shop and didn’t know the name. What a missed opportunity that may be happening countless times a day. To be honest, I still don’t know the name of that coffee shop either. Don’t assume that all of your customers know the name of your shop.

Make it easy for your customers to know your brand so they can share it. Have it up on the walls, on your bags and even on your pricing labels. Add your web address to your till receipts and to your bags so your fans can rave about you online to their friends.

3. Get Social

You don’t have to be on every single social media platform that’s out there. Not all your customers will be using these tools. A lot are though and the majority of the next generations of consumers will be using them in some form or another. We all need to plan for the future of our business.

I recommend Facebook, Instagram and Twitter primarily for strong engagement on social media. I’m also getting a lot of shares on LinkedIn at the moment due to my large network of over 1,300 connections there; people from diverse careers that I’ve met over the years.

The people who get the best results tend to post daily and have a planned schedule of what they are sharing and how they are engaging. They are not just blasting out their sales messages. They are helping and engaging with others. Always listen first before posting on social media. Choose the right type of engagement for your followers and your fans before starting.

Initially you’ll benefit most on social media from improved relationships with suppliers. Most of your card publishers are using these platforms and want to share you with their followers. Tag your suppliers in relevant posts so that they can help you to leverage and grow your presence online with their fans. Make sure you allow yourself to be tagged. Some businesses don’t do this and I think they are missing out too.

Encourage your employees, friends and family to follow and engage with your brand online to help get it going in the digital domain. Each like, share and follow adds to the importance of your business to the Facebook, Google, Twitter and Instagram algorithms that favour the most active businesses online.

I have to say that businesses with a website and active social media presence are a lot more attractive to me when choosing who to visit and promote for The Greeting Card Project. I spend a lot of my time and energy on each video, so I’d much rather visit shops that will help my YouTube channel reach a wider audience and get more people around the world sending greeting cards.

4. The Customer Experience

Having said that, I’m glad I’m staying open, random and supportive when visiting retailers for this project. That’s because some of the most interesting shops have not had any digital presence. Ironically, these are the ones that I think would benefit most from being online as their back stories are so interesting and their shops are so marvellous. I’m not going to embarrass anyone by mentioning names, if you watch the videos you can probably guess.

My favourite shops have a mixture of cards and gifts. I prefer trade shows that mix these categories up too as I think you can zone out if looking at too many of the same type of thing. Some supermarkets can feel a bit like this for example. Personally, I prefer the Aladdin’s cave experience, where you feel like you can hunt out treasures for yourself or your loved ones.

One of the most interesting retail experiences for me was at the Tate Modern which has several different shops that all work in different ways. For example, they have Tate Edit, in which they sell fine art prints and home accessories. As an art collector myself, it was so lovely to be met be a well trained staff member who talked me through the various items with a soft sales approach. Given that purchases in this shop are hundreds if not thousands of pounds, a more refined lifestyle, interiors type of space with a knowledgable sales assistant worked well. It felt more special, exclusive and nurturing.

Having a mix of products and price points zoned in the right way appears to be a strong way of maximising sales in retail, as are well trained staff who can help customers enjoy their experience.

5. Be Open Online

The people who are thriving online are those that aren’t hung up on protecting their own interests and just looking out for themselves. Marketing is different in the digital domain. You are more likely to be following and engaging with everyone in your digital community these days, including your competitors.

For some this is hard to get their heads around, yet in our industry we all have an interest in encouraging people to send more greeting cards. It doesn’t matter if you are a publisher, supplier, retailer or employee for one of these businesses. It’s one of the reasons organisations like the Greeting Card Association and Giftware Association have been working so hard to include retailers.

If you are not a member of these associations, I’d encourage you to have a look at joining them. It’s relatively inexpensive for retailers to get involved and they are doing some fantastic work online. Look out for the video I shot of the recent GCA Dragon’s Den style pitching event as a great example of what lovely things we can do if we work together to help one another.

I’d love your support for The Greeting Card Project too. I need 24 more subscribers to get the vanity URL, which makes the channel easier to share online. Please click here to subscribe.

Marketing Then vs Now

What consumers want from retailers

Seven habits of highly effective retailers

After thirty years as a marriage counsellor, Greg Chapman knows a thing or two about relationships. He believes that there are 5 Love Languages. All of the important people in our lives have a primary love language that we must learn to speak if we want that person to feel loved and appreciated.

Improving the way we communicate is invaluable, so here's how I think retailers and business owners can use the 5 love languages to improve their relationships with their customers, staff, suppliers and loved ones.

Chapman has devised a separate set of Appreciation at Work languages because there are different types of relationships, expectations and boundaries in the workplace. I’m sure that most of us can all fully appreciate these differences, so I’m focussing on the 5 Love Languages.

Good Intentions

Before we start it's important to be aware that good intentions are not enough. We must learn to meet each other’s emotional need for love and connection. We instinctively offer this in the way that we wish others would express it to us. When they don’t respond in the way we might we become frustrated. The problem is not sincerity. It’s that we are speaking our language and not theirs.

Love and Business

Considering the way your partner prefers to be loved and then speaking in the language that lights them up inside is vital to a happy healthy personal relationship. It’s the same with your children and in your business. This is how we strengthen and maintain our relationships. A friend of mine has a saying “happy wife, happy life.” You could say the same of all your relationships including those of your customers. Keep them happy and you’ll be happy too. We can do this by considering they way they like to be spoken to.

Here are the 5 Love Languages, how they work and how they might be used in your personal and professional life:

1. Words of Affirmation

Your unsolicited compliments and encouragement mean the world to some people. Your words of appreciation will be soaked up like rain on parched soil. If you hear someone say phrases like “I can’t do anything right”, “All you do is criticise” or “nobody notices,” then their love language of choice is words of affirmation. Take time to speak words of gratitude and praise to them.
It doesn’t matter if they are a member of your family or a member of your team these words will fill them up and light up their day. Try to include words of thanks in your correspondence or dealings with customers, suppliers and staff. Those that speak this love language will feel more connected to you and your business.

2. Acts of Service

For these people, actions speak louder than words. When someone complains to us they are actually giving us valuable information. They often reveal their primary love language. If they accuse you of not lifting a finger to help then, for them, you need to do and not say. Nothing will speak to them more deeply emotionally than simple acts of service like making them tea or doing the dishes.

Offering a free wrapping service to customers in your shop or opening the door for someone are simple ways retailers and their staff can appeal to people who speak this love language. Making your team members a cup of tea or helping them with tasks from time to time will make them feel more appreciated.

3. Receiving Gifts

For some people what makes them feel most loved is a gift. Whilst gift giving is universal, what many people do not understand is that for some this is their primary love language and makes them feel most cared for. It’s the thought that counts here.

Sending a greeting card to these customers thanking them for their business or even just to wish them Merry Christmas will mean a lot. See how your customers and staff respond to receiving gifts or look out for them not feeling acknowledged using the other languages to identify that this is their primary love language. Bring some treats in from your local bakery and remember to get them a little something at Christmas time.

4. Quality Time

For some people, nothing says “I love you” like your full, undivided attention. If you hear complaints about not spending enough time together, then turn off the TV, put down your book and look into your partner’s eyes, listen and interact. Men, if your wife walks in the room whilst you are watching the game, turn off the sound and don’t take your eyes off her. If she engages you in conversation turn off the box and give her your undivided attention. She will feel loved and you will bank major brownie points if this is her primary love language.

When dealing with customers make good eye contact and stay present and focussed on them whilst serving. If they are regular customers, asking after their families and how their day is going are ways to connect deeply with those that use this as their primary love language. Similarly some members of your team will really enjoy you spending some quality teamwork time with them.

5. Physical Touch

To this person, nothing speaks more deeply than the appropriate physical touch. Simple gestures like putting your hand on your husband’s shoulder as you walk by or holding hands whilst walking will light up their day.

One study followed shoppers who entered a bookstore alone and were handed a catalogue then were either touched lightly on the upper arm or not. The touched group shopped 63% longer, spent 23 % more, and had a high higher opinion of the store. Touch can be misinterpreted in the workplace so one has to be considerate with this one. The elbow is the safest place and it must be light and brief. Outside the arm area - backs, legs and hands - are no go zones at work.

Wait, I can’t do this!

What if it’s difficult and doesn’t come naturally to you to speak some of these languages? If you choose to love or care for others you will find the appropriate way to express that decision every day. You learn to speak a new language by trying. Like all new things, it will get easier over time.

You can love your wife, your staff or your customers, but if you don’t show it in a way that is meaningful to them your caring will fall on deaf ears and will not resonate in the same way as it will if you understand and use their primary love language.

Make the Time

It’s easy to love others who they are loving us. When we are treated well it’s no biggie to be nice back. The true test of how much you care about people in your life is how we react when they complain or don’t respond to something that you feel is loving or caring. The time when you feel annoyed or disgruntled by these situations is most valuable to you if you stop, listen and consider the love language they wish to be spoken to in. It’s not always the case that we don’t love one another, sometimes we simply aren’t speaking the same language.

When you take the time to understand the needs of your partner or customers you will find it much easier to resolve conflicts and your relationships will become bountiful. The more resentment and anger you harbour the worse off you will be. Take a moment to think about the five love languages and how you can use them to have a lovely time with all those important people in your life.

I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all my lovely readers, customers, suppliers, staff, family and friends.I am grateful for being able to spend time with you. You are amazing. I hope that you’ve found these posts to be of some service. Sending you lots of hugs and happiness. Here's a special gift just for you. I hope you have a very merry and prosperous Christmas. See you in 2016!

Ten Ways Retailers can Appeal to Their Customers

7 Habits of Highly Effective Retailers

What I learnt about retail selling from Liberty of London

 

Major high street retailers like John Lewis, Oasis, Jones Bootmakers, New Look, Top Shop and Multiyork use a fascinating array of techniques to encourage consumers to spend more during their promotional sales periods. Here are 18 key insights that independent retailers can learn from the bigger multiples when launching their January Sales:

 

1. Sales aren't all about clearance items

Multiple retailers, like John Lewis, buy in stock known as Special Buys to sell at discounted prices during the sales. This buying accounts for a significant proportion of what is sold to consumers during the sales. Plan to have stock that you can sell specifically during your sale period instead of just focussing on left over stock clearance.

 

2. Visual display merchandising is key

As one John Lewis merchandiser points out " We've got a lot of expensive product so if you want to sell it you have to display it in a way that makes people want to purchase them.” How you present your sale items and the signage you use will boost your sales. Make it tempting.

 

3. Mark downs must be carefully considered

Jones Bootmaker’s entire senior management team spend 2 whole days locked in a room deciding what goes on sale and at what discount. 40% of annual sales for their business are taken during the winter and summer sales so their decisions are vital to the profits and turnover of the business. Too much discount and they lose profits, too little and they get stuck with dead stock. Make time to focus on getting your offering right.

 

4. There are rules to discount signs in your windows

Legally you can put up a 50% off sale sign in your window as long as at least 10% of your stock has a 50% discount and it has been on sale at the list price for a meaningful length of time. Multiyork's MD suggests this should be around 28 days. Ideally you should state when the item was on sale at the list price.

 

5. Phasing down drives sales

If you stagger your sales discounts down in stages it helps to drive sales. Consumers then have to weigh up the choice between buying it at the current discount and having the item they want or waiting for the price to drop further and risk the product being sold out. Multiples use phasing down pricing as a call to action for shoppers to buy then and there.

 

6. Other clearance channels

Jones Bootmaker has a warehouse clearance sale that it markets in a very small way in it's local area. What they don't sell there they clear to traders abroad and remove the branding from the shoes so that it doesn't damage sales in the UK. It's worth having other channels to clear your dead stock. eBay, craft fairs and car boots are all options to consider.

 

7. Understanding Oniomaniacs

Oniomania is the technical term for shopoholism which affects 1 in 10 people. Bargain hunting physically affects the pulse and stress levels of shoppers. Dr Jack Kreindler has tracked shoppers and discovered that their heart rate increases from 60 to 100 beats per minute when they find an item they like and stress / excitement levels rise from 20% to 80%. According to retail psychologist, Dr David Lewis, the body also releases reward chemicals when shopping. Essentially shopping can be addictive and your sales bargains can feed this.

 

8. Presenting sale items like a jumble sale can drive engagement

Shoppers can add value to a sale item in their mind because of the time they have spent searching through other items for bargains they have found. The longer they spend searching through sale items in your shop the more they engage with your products and the more likely they are to value them. Also, the more products customers touch in your shop the more they are likely to make purchases.

 

9. Discounting is expected in some retail sectors

£12 billion is spent each year in the UK on furniture, something which is not regarded as an essential purchase by most consumers. The furniture industry permanently run sales and offer free credit to enhance sales. 75% of furniture sold by MultiYork is sold at discounts of between 30 and 50%. Consumers expect this of the furniture sector so it's a must have marketing ploy for furniture retailers. Be aware of what customers expect of you in terms of sales discounts so that you don’t disappoint.

 

10. Personal Shoppers boost sales

Shops like Top Shop are now offering personal shopping experiences where clients can get assistance with choosing what to wear and what looks good on them from the latest season. Sales staff that meet consumers needs well will always help any retailer's profits.

 

11. Retail interiors add to the experience

Oasis spent £7 million refitting their stores focussing on a sensory experience for their customers. In their flag ship store the downstairs area is fresh and bright and upstairs is moodier and more atmospheric. The railings are positioned to be more inviting for customers. These experiences affect the mood and encourage shoppers to spend.

 

12. The customer is the fairest of them all

The mirrors in one of fashion retailers are often large and lean against the wall. This looks aesthetically good and also had the effect of slimming the person standing in front of the mirror. The lighting and the mirror are set up to make the customer appear to glow in their chosen garments. Creating a satisfying feeling for customers is important.

 

13. Smells are not to be sniffed at

Oasis has a machine that scents their retail space. Smell is a trigger for contextual memory which can help put clients in a good mood and encourage them to spend more. Using a machine called ScentAir, smells like vanilla may increase customers' perceptions of trust worthiness of sales staff, make them 84% more likely to purchase and can even mean that they value products more highly.

 

14. Getting customers to join your club

High Street retailers are using social media to help consumers feel part of a community and to create loyal fan bases. New Look have over 3 million Facebook fans and a customer email list that they send flash sale deals to which drive turnover. Can you use these to boost your sales?

 

15. Fans feel special

New Look often tweets their followers to come in for a surprise and amazingly they do respond. They literally draw customers into their stores by inviting them on social media. These customers love being the first to know about a deal that they could share with their friends. Looking after fans who refer you to others like this is key to any successful business.

 

16. Product layout boosts sales

Using a pair of eye tracking glasses (tobii glasses) Dr Tim Holmes, a neuroscientist, shows how our eyes are drawn to blocks of texture and colour when shopping. For example, when grouped in colours, products like shoes help to draw the eye around the store. If the shop is well laid out, retailers can use this trick to draw customers deeper into the store.

 

17. The power of suggestion

Some shops have suggestive slogans on the walls which we register in our brains even if we don't seem to notice them. The entrance to the shoe department at New Look had a sign which says "Shoe Heaven" and a slogan on the wall that said "Repeat after me: 'I deserve new shoes'." You can have a lot of fun with this kind of marketing.

 

18. Red sale signs

Red is a colour that really stands out against others so is perfect for Sale signs that they draw the eye. Too many red signs and the effect is ruined. Too garish and badly type set signs also cheapen your offering.

 

Retail sales are exciting. Consumers who love to shop do love sales. It's thrilling to find deals and even more exhilarating if there is a limited time to do this in. Retailers that do well during their January Sales take advantage of this knowledge and create experiences that give customers what they want: some fun and excitement at a price they feel is a bargain.

 

Read more:

 

How to get more customers into your retail business

7 Habits of Highy Effective Retailers

9 Tips for Retailers to improve their greeting card sales

There is no doubt that bricks and mortar retailers have had their work cut out for them in recent years. Take post offices, for instance, many used to enjoy high footfall with many regular visitors collecting benefits cheques, pensions, etc. Much of this is now done by direct debit and, as a result, footfall has dwindled both in their outlets and in their local shopping precincts.

If falling footfall offline is difficult, building traffic to an ecommerce site can be even tougher. Opening an online store is a bit like opening shop in the middle of a desert. The upside is that you are not limited a single road leading to it. You can literally develop hundreds of roads for customers to reach your online store. This road building can be done using a combination of social media tools and even some old fashioned marketing. The good news is you can use some of the same principles and tools to get more customers to your bricks and mortar store too.

Getting started
Personally, I think it’s really important that all roads lead back to a website that your business owns ie. your own website and not Facebook. Ideally this would be an ecommerce site or a blog with content that is updated on a regular basis. Even if it isn’t, make sure that you set up a simple page with some nice images on a domain that is yours. Over time the links to your website are going to be more and more valuable for search engine optimisation (SEO) and will act as a collection point towards which all of your online and offline efforts direct customers. The sooner you start on building this asset the better.

Think of all your marketing and each social media profile you create as funnels that regularly channel engaged customers to your website and / or your bricks and mortar store. You might have 1,000 followers and get say 100 of them to visit your shop and 10 of them purchase £20 of goods each for example. Do you see how the numbers funnel down towards sales? From this example, you can see how each extra 1,000 followers you add could generate another £200.

Content is King
Your offers, insights, tips and humour all form the basis of the branded content (on your website, blog or social media) that you need to produce on a regular basis to drive visitors to your business. Content is becoming hugely important for generating SEO results that point to your business. Start thinking about the ways that people might find your business (E.g. asking friends, social media, Google, etc). Where and how are they looking for what you offer? Target the online search phrases they use (keywords) and search points (such as Google, Facebook and Twitter) in your content creation and marketing strategy. Use these phrases in tweets, Facebook posts, blog posts, website copy and on product listings in your store.

Here are some examples of how you can use content to drive engagement with your customers and others in order to drive more customers to your business:

Images
Great images are key to driving visitors to your door. Pinterest and Instagram are two image based social media sites that are performing very well for retailers. In fact there is evidence to suggest “reverse showrooming” from these sites, where customers visit retailers in store to purchase items they have seen online via these sites. Images also feature heavily in the feeds of Twitter and Facebook, so if you have shots of something funny, interesting or beautiful in your shop do post them online regularly. For example, some of our retailers have cafes and drive footfall to their door each day posting images of their beautiful cakes on social media.

If you are photographing greeting cards it is good etiquette to mention the publisher of the cards when posting. Another neat trick is to position a business card with your logo into the shot you take, just in case the image is shared away from your website and the connection is lost. All of our images have our logo on them for this reason and to protect our design copyright.

Email shots
It’s worth building your mailing and emailing lists because engagement with them is still strong. As an example, over 30% of my customers open my emails and I generate over £1,000 in sales every time I email them. Make sure that you only contact your list with information that is useful, timely and relevant to them. Try to keep your mailings to an acceptable limit, I tend to mail my customers in the run up to the five trade shows we do each year. Our customers often tell me that they love my receiving my emails as they are so useful and informative. The majority of the articles on my emails links back into evergreen content on our blog, trade show listings or social media channels. All of which funnel towards sales.

Events
See if you can speak at events that are relevant to those in your market. For example, I recently spoke at Widdop Bingham’s Summer event for retailers on the topic of social media and I am speaking again at Autumn Fair International next month. I get a lot of publicity, web links and referrals over time from these. If you don’t like public speaking, get yourself to industry events like the GCA or GA AGMs or to local business networking events in your area. You can even hold events at your shop. ‘How to wrap presents’ is a one that would be relevant to most consumers around Christmas for example. Video or photograph these events and add them to your YouTube channel, website and social media channels to drive more engagement with your fans.

Reward Loyalty
More and more retailers are feeding back to me how effective these are for their shops. Buy 10 cards get your 11th free is a popular one that drives customers back through retailers doors. Sometimes you can offer these deals through other outlets like local papers. One of our customers ran a successful 25% off promotion in their local paper, for example, and could track it’s success by people who bought their vouchers into the store to claim it.

Cross Promotion
Try to find local businesses which would be happy to cross promote your products in exchange for a plug for them in your shop. You might also be able to get flyers or brochures into the relevant press or another business’s mailout. All of these are ways of building new roads in to your business. Use Twitter and Facebook to engage with these businesses and to plan events and offers that can be shared. Track which offers work best using promotional codes. With our wedding business, Ivy Ellen, we even have different 0845 numbers in our different magazine adverts to monitor which work best.

Referrals
One of our retailers has built an offline sales funnel leading to her remote store by nurturing relationships with local tour bus companies who literally bring bus loads of customers to her door. She offers the tourists vouchers and finds they almost always spend more money in her shop than she gives away in discounts. Everyone wins. The tourists get a deal and a fun day out, the bus company has happy customers and the retailer boosts her sales. Can you think of something similar you could do in your area?

Social Media
All of these examples can be mixed into and promoted with your social media strategy thereby creating more funnels leading towards sales in your shop. Being overly promotional can drive customers away though. Engage with your customers in a meaningful way. All of these suggestions are ways of drawing customers to you without them feeling like they are being sold to. All will enhance your presence in the market place and help to further your business over time.

To get more customers to your shop, try to focus on what makes your offering important to them. Keeping this in mind, the more useful, engaging and helpful your website and social media strategy the more customers you will find beating a path to your door.

The Importance of Brand Story in your Retail Business

5 Ways to Improve Your Retail Business

Ten Business basics to get right before using social media