Blue Eyed Sun

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Retail

  • Rising Retail Masterclass Speakers Announced

    Rising Retail Masterclass - London 2020

    A fantastic line-up of speakers and topics have been announced for the Rising Retail event supporting the British High Street.

    Rising Retail is an exciting Masterclass for independent gift shop retailers and leading experts to come together to share best practices that they can then take home to improve their businesses and enhance their high streets.

    The event is being held at the Shard at London Bridge on Monday 1st June 2020 from 09:30 - 16:30. Places are limited to just 35 lucky retailers and are only available to those who pre-book. To secure your place before it sells out click here.

    All of the speakers and topics have been carefully selected and curated to help retailers discover golden nuggets that they can implement in their businesses and communities to help them thrive. It's an opportunity to make a difference in your life and for those around you.

    Rising Retail Speakers 2019 Rising Retail Speakers - Marianne Shillingford, Kat Maclennan, Nicole Davidson, Kate Cowie and Karen Kirby.

    Trends - What’s coming and how to take advantage

    Marianne Shillingford, Creative Director of Dulux in the UK and Ireland, discusses 2020 global colour and design trends and how retailers can apply them to keep their customer experience fresh and on trend.

    Visual merchandising - How to create exciting shopping experiences

    Visual merchandising expert, Kat Maclennan, from Dot To Dot shares actionable tips that independents can use to drive footfall and increase sales by creating exciting shopping experiences for their customers. With over 20 years experience with leading brands including adidas, Reebok and Radley London, Kat will help you connect the dots.

    Lessons from the top - Tips from majors that indies can benefit from

    Freelance fashion buying consultant, Nicole Davidson, shares tips and tricks independents can learn from major retailers. For over 15 years Nicole has worked with a range of retail brands including Topshop, Next and New Look.

    Staff - Recruiting, motivating, and retaining great retail teams

    Kate Cowie Co-Director of Utility, a group of independent gift stores in the North West,  and HR Expert, Karen Kirby, discuss how to create winning teams within retail. Karen from Greenshoot HR has over thirty years of experience in Human Resources. 

    Rising Retail 2019 - Speakers Rising Retail Speakers: David Robertson, Livvy Drake, Frances Jardine, Louise Welsby and Tim Hughes

    Making Mistakes  - Classic mistakes Indie Retailers can learn from

    Independent retailer David Robertson from JP Pozzi shares mistakes he’s learned from over 30 years of working in retail. An inspiring speaker, columnist and retail consultant, David’s sharing will help you to avoid classic mistakes yourself.

    Going Green - How retailers can reduce their environmental impact

    Livvy Drake, from Sustainable Sidekicks, is a sustainability and behaviour change consultant and co-presenter on the podcast: Woke and Confused. Learn how you can reduce single-use waste in store and through your supply chain to help your business benefit from the consumer drive towards environmental change.

    Instagram - Retailer tips for growing sales through social media

    Frances Doran, Co-owner The Bottom Drawer Portadown, and social media expert, Louise Welsby from Buy From, discuss how Frances uses her Instagram account to grow sales and drive footfall to her store.

    Social Selling - How using online groups can boost sales

    CEO of Digital Leadership Associates, @Tim_Hughes1 literally wrote the book on Social Selling and is ranked Number 1 by Onalytica as the most influential social selling person in the world. Learn how to boost your retail sales and footfall using groups on social media and simple social selling techniques.

    Rising Retail 2019 - Speakers Rising Retail Speakers: Ed Goodman, Marriott Lusengo, Frances Andy Adamson and Jenny Spivey.

    Google My Business - How to boost footfall to your store

    Marriott Lusengo, CEO of the London School of Digital Marketing, shares the benefits of using Google My Business to create and manage online listings that boost footfall and sales for your retail business.

    How to build an engaged community for £50

    Digital Marketing expert, Ed Goodman from Social B, explores how to build an eco system of people and businesses online (and on a budget) that can impact engagement within your local community and encourage your high street to thrive. 

    Negotiating - how to cut costs and save money as an independent

    Independent retailer and co-owner of Calliope Gifts, Andy Adamson, who used to be the head of supply chain at Borders will be discussing negotiating with retail expert, Jenny Spivey, ex-buyer of John Lewis. Learn how to save money with your landlord and suppliers.

    Secure your place at this Retailer Masterclass

    Read more about why this event was created

  • Rising Retail: A New Possibility for Retailers

    Rising Retail Event 2019

    Rising Retail is an exciting new networking event for independent retailers to share best practise with one another. The current reality of the high street is a constant onslaught of one thing after another. While there are lots of great examples of retailers who are bucking the trend and continuing to thrive, many more have sold or shut up shop. 

    How It Is

    Right now, the uneven playing field of business rates for bricks and mortar stores versus online marketplaces like Amazon, the lack of parking in some towns, lower footfalls, changing consumer habits, staffing issues and financial challenges are a constant challenge for most independent retailers.

    Many of us are ill-prepared for a looming Hard Brexit and have no idea of how it will affect our businesses. Meanwhile, online sales growth and social media platforms continue to evolve. Many retailers have been left behind with these new technologies. They often don’t understand them, are inadequately prepared and unsure of what they are doing and the effect it is really having on their sales.

    We are all guilty of sticking with what we know, even when it is no longer working in the same way. Trying new things can feel daunting, especially when we don’t really know what we are doing. The answers aren’t always easy to find online and consultancy can cost money that some simply don’t have.

    The Predictable Future

    Without some action being taken, all the above point towards more independents quitting or being forced to close in the coming years.

    The upshot of this is struggle, pain and hardship. Decreased motivation and energy follows and there’s an inevitable negative series of knock on effects on the lives of friends, family and loved ones.

    Moreover, the physical landscape of our high streets will morph into homogeneity and every town will lose its uniqueness. Retailers will also tragically miss out on opportunities that are presenting themselves through the internet, social media, conscious consumerism and early signs of a return to localism.

    Another Possibility

    Imagine the possibility of a vibrant gathering that translates into real footfall and sales for retailers both in store and online in the UK. Picture High Streets coming alive again and transforming into vibrant communities. Envisage happy business owners, motivated staff, engaged customers and inspiring mindsets. Seem like a far fetched fantasy that is unachievable? I believe that there may be a way.

    How?

    I spend a lot of time talking to retailers. I’m obsessed with learning about what challenges they face and what challenges they’ve overcome in their businesses. I love the conversations we have because I learn so much about both my customers and my own business at the same time.

    Even after having run Blue Eyed Sun for so long, there are still business basics that I sometimes miss or forget. There are also new things to learn all the time about technology, the market and our shifting patterns of behaviour.

    For me there’s no better way to learn than from people who are on the ground constantly working with tools and techniques that improve aspects of their lives and businesses; figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

    Together, our shared knowledge is more powerful than anything we can achieve for ourselves. This has led me to seeing this new possibility, a way of taking action in the face of the issues at hand, a way of growing our businesses in any climate. It came from thinking about how we can improve our businesses in achievable, actionable increments. A variety of things one can do to create a series of five percent improvements that have a compounding overall effect.

    Golden Nuggets

    I spend a proportion of my time every year sharpening my saw. It’s no good hacking away at your goal with blunt instrument. You have to work on yourself and on your business if you are to grow. We are creatures of habit and a growth mindset has to become habitual for us if we are to move beyond our current business reality.

    To do this I read books, listen to podcasts, engage on social media, speak with others and attend events. I find events to be most powerful because they create clusters of interactive conversations around a subject area. They prompt discussion and allow for questions and answers that are not the same in any of the other formats. 

    When you go to events you often come away with a single golden nugget that transforms your life or your business. A new insight. A new way of seeing. Some small thing that makes it completely worthwhile attending and has huge leverage for you going forward.

    Rising Retail

    After almost 20 years in this industry I want to give back to the independent retailers that I love so dearly and have been such an important part of my own good fortune. I love bringing people together and I love learning. I am lucky enough to have know many fantastic talented retailers who have inspired me over the years and want to bring them all together to create something really special and valuable for those that attend. 

    So, I am creating an event in October called Rising Retail that will inspire and nurture the creativity of retailers to take their businesses to new levels and reignite the imaginations of the communities that shop with them. An event full of golden nuggets.

    The Format

    The idea is to have 10 speakers over the course of a single day, each speaking for around 15 minutes with time for questions and networking. Each talk will have up to 10 golden nuggets that have contributed to the measurable success the speakers have had in specific areas that other retailers find challenging. They will share actions that you can take to achieve similar results. 

    Actionable outcomes are really important, so that it isn’t just another event that one attends, takes notes at, feels good about and then does nothing with. We want this event to have a profound impact on the business owners that attend it and the communities that they return to afterwards.

    If an event is usually worth it for attendees when they unearth one golden nugget, then having up to 100 key learnings will be a treasure trove for retailers who who join in. Even more valuable will be the conversation that occurs between retailers on the day.

    The networking sections between talks and at lunch will be an opportunity for us to share inspirational stories and develop new ideas. My dream is that we create new ways of tackling some of the seemingly insurmountable challenges. We all have something to learn from each other, we can do more together as a group than as individuals and these parts of the day will, no doubt, turn out to be just as invaluable  as the main talks.

    The Outcome 

    Rising Retail will be an event that will ignite a retailer’s lost spark. It will excite and energise. It will create new possibilities for all of these who attend.

    This project will only be as strong as the retail community members that rise to the challenge and share with one another what works and doesn’t work, what we see as achievable and how to go out and get it. 

    So, what about you?

    Your  Vision

    What do you see as possible for your retail business, your team, your customers and your community? Does any of this resonate with you? Would you like to join me? I’d love to hear your stories and your answers to these questions:

    1. What are the top three challenges you face in your retail business right now?
    2. What challenges you’ve overcome so far that others could learn from?
    3. Who inspires you in retail?
    4. What retail opportunities or trends excite you for the future?

    Thank you for taking the time to read this. If it has at all connected with you then please contact me and share your answers to the questions above and your interest in attending or sharing at Rising Retail. Email me now at jeremy@blueeyedsun.co.uk

    The event will be held on Monday 1st June 2020 at the Shard in London. Book your place here.

    Seven Habits of Highly Effective Retailers

    The Rise of Customer Experience in Retail

    Five Ways to Improve Your Retail Business

  • The Rise of the Ethical Consumer and how Retailers need to Adapt

    Rise Of The Ethical Consumer

    The Rise of the Ethical Consumer is a recent trend that is having a profound and rapid effect on the current retail landscape. Over 14 million viewers were shocked to witness vast swathes of plastic waste in our oceans in  David Attenborough’s BBC documentary ‘Blue Planet II’ with the majority galvanised to take action in the war on plastic. 

    Dubbed “The Blue Planet Effect,” a report by Waitrose found that almost 9 out of 10 people (88%) who saw the final episode about the effect of plastics on our oceans have changed their behaviour as a result. That’s over twelve million people! The numbers will be even greater still when you consider the widespread proliferation of the shocking footage and images continually being shared online via social media.

    Being mindful of how we consume has become a priority in today’s world. Our health, the health of our loved ones and that of the planet are changing how we shop. We are becoming more conscious of what we buy, where it comes from, how it’s made, how we will use it and how we dispose of waste.

    Sixty percent of us now choose a refillable water bottle and coffee cup more than we did. Sales of reusable coffee cups, water bottles, bags and the like have been booming as a result. Millennials are a key driver behind these changes. With their spending power soon to be greater than all the generations ahead of them they are not to be ignored.

    They great thing about Millennials is they love to share stories around these issues. If you get it right they will lift you up. Get it wrong and you will suffer online. So, what can you do to adapt to the changes that are happening?

    I firmly believe that you cannot encourage change in others without truly understanding the change yourself. Practicing what you preach helps you realise some of the challenges involved. So before we go through some simple steps, you need to commit to change yourself.

    1. Refuse

    Refuse unnecessary packaging in your personal life. The biggest one for most of us on a daily basis is food packaging. Our plastic food packaging uses around 800,00 tonnes of plastic per annum, less than a third of which is recycled. Choose food that isn’t wrapped in plastic and ask your supermarket to remove it. Styrofoam does not biodegrade, so refuse it whenever possible.

    Ask your customers if they need a plastic bag. Retailers who use this phrase see lower consumption than those that ask their customers if they want a plastic bag. You can also help your customers by offering reusable and non-plastic alternatives.

    If you can’t eliminate plastic then try to…

    2. Reduce

    Laminated products are not recyclable so try to cut back on them. Tetra Pak cartons that we drink our juice and milk from are the worst culprits. Switch to soda stream, filtered tap water and glass bottled milk rounds to help cut back on these.

    As an example, the card industry is making huge strides to reduce the use of polypropylene bags by going ‘naked’ or switching to compostable bags. Blue Eyed Sun are trialling both options this year with rollouts planned for 2020. The major supermarkets have recently been making the switch leading to massive reductions in single-use plastic consumption.

    3. Re-Use

    Switch from single-use plastic-lined coffee cups and plastic water bottles to reusable alternatives. Use a lunchbox instead of buying plastic wrapped sandwiches at lunch. Carry a reusable shopping bag with you when you shop (always take them with you to the supermarket). Reuse boxes from your deliveries when you ship to customers.

    4. Recycle

    Recycle whenever possible. Clean your used plastic before adding it to the recycling as food contaminated plastic cannot be recycled and can even spoil other clean recycling in the bins. Donate items that are not being used to charity. 

    Understanding the Ethical Consumer

    If you want to understand the Ethical Consumer best you need to start living like one. Don’t try to be perfect, just take a step forward in the direction you want to go. In time you will realise what’s important to you on this new path and be closer to your customers as a result.

    Business and the Environment

    What Consumers Want from Retailers

    The War on Single-use Plastic and how we can all Help

  • The Rise of Customer Experience in Retail

    The Rise of Customer Experience in Retail

    Last month I had an ‘experience.’ It was fun, exciting, inspiring and adventurous. It was sexy too and stimulated my imagination. It gave me everything I wanted and more. It opened my eyes to new possibilities. Before you ask, no, it wasn’t that. It was something quite different, although we I may blush a little when I share some of my customer experience in a retail store with you.

    As modern retail adapts and evolves, one key area of focus is the 'customer experience.’ John Lewis launched its tech incubator J-Lab to find new was of improving the experience of the in-store shopper as a way of retaining customers and drawing them in to spend more. Last year they trialled an after hours ‘private shopping’ service at their Cheltenham store, where anyone spending £10,000 or more could have the entire store to themselves. 

    My experience was slightly less glamorous, but totally unforgettable. It started on a day out in Camden, which I have not visited for many years. The area attract 28 million tourists a year and the labyrinth of shops and stalls is a retail experience in itself. Wandering around Camden Market and particularly the Stables Market with its ornate wooden doors and equine effigies was an adventure and full of interesting things to buy and eat. It started when a friend coaxed me through a shop entrance flanked by two giant metal robots, with a silver sign above the door that read Cyber Dog.

    Cyber Dog

    Greeting us with a friendly smile as we entered was a girl dressed in cyber goth attire that was a cross between Blade Runner and a Japanese manga creation. In fact most of the store assistants were spectacularly dressed and made up in bright neons, facial piercings, tattoos and futuristic haircuts. 

    The heavy bass of dance music reverberated throughout the store which looked like a spaceship with life size cyborgs and silver robots in cryogenic pods high up on the walls. At the far end of the ground floor an escalator took us down into the bowels of what felt more like a night club than a shop. 

    As we descended the beat got louder and the lighting darker. Everything was bathed in ultra violet light to show off the fluorescent garments and items available to purchase for your next big club night. At the far end of the cavernous underground space, with his booth up on stage and backlit by bright neon stripes, a DJ hunched over the decks with his headphones propped over one ear.

    The basement was made up of different caves to explore. It reminded me of nights out at the End or Fabric in London back in the day. It was fun being in this shop. Things got even more interesting as I scuttled nervously through the adult section and emerged the other side only to turn an even darker shade of crimson when I spotted a woman pole dancing on a small stage in the corner. It caught me by surprise. I grabbed the nearest item to me and headed for the tills. It turned out to be fluorescent yellow thong. “For a friend,” I gabbled at the assistant.

    I later discovered that there are other platforms in the shop where clubbers dressed in store gear are hired to dance above the customers. Aside from my dubious shopping choice, the experience was unlike anything I’d seen before - and this from someone who spent a year of his life partying I mean studying on exchange in Amsterdam.

    What impressed me most was that Cyber Dog understands what it is, understands its customers and goes all in on their commitment to provide them with a retail experience unlike any other. 

    Translating the Experience

    So what can we learn from this experience that can be used in other retail stores?

    Your High Street

    Councils and city planners can definitely do more to encourage fun shopping areas like Camden that are filled with independents, have atmosphere and draw tourists in. The Shambles in York and the North Laines in Brighton both attract bring shoppers from miles around for the experience. Encourage yours to do the same.

    You can work together with other local retailers to create events like the Christmas light experience in Holt or late shopping hours on certain occasions, like House of Cards and other retailers on St Mary’s Street in Wallingford do. 

    Window Displays

    Lights and window displays are a great experience for customers. Gorgeous Hair Boutique in Hove has the tiniest shop with the most incredible window displays. I’m sure customers love seeing them and talking about them. Christmas windows at Selfridges have attracted visitors for years. The next part of their experience is entering the shop.

    In Store

    What does it feel like for customers when they walk into your store? Are they greeted by a staff member at the door? How does the store look from where they are standing? What are the sights, sounds and smells? How do the staff appear? What are they wearing? Is it in keeping with your brand? Do they smile or are they on the phone or gossiping?

    Are there any demonstrations in store? You don’t have to have your team pole dancing in a corner to generate interest, there are plenty of other ideas you can put in place. Christmas gift wrapping classes, greeting card personalisation or even calligraphy demonstrations are a few I know of.

    What is the layout like for your shop? Are the shop fittings tired and worn out or are they inviting and enticing. One of the loveliest shop fits I’ve seen is Arrowsmiths in Broadstairs, where the owner was smart enough to keep the Victorian wooden glass cabinet displays fitted by the chemist that first opened the shop. You can put anything anywhere in that store and it looks good.

    The Oyster Gallery in Mumbles zones their two upstairs rooms by colour and the rooms are laid out like dining rooms filled with products. Organising the colours like this helps customers to imagine how the products might all look and work together to create a feeling.

    The late Lynn Tait always invested heavily in a Santa’s Grotto experience at the Lynn Tait Gallery for the children of Leigh-On-Sea. The kids had a wonderful experience and the parents spent money in the shop. 

    Senses and Feelings

    What sort of music do you play in store? Is it the right experience for your brand? What about smells? Cafes in shops have a head start on others, but there are oil burners with pleasant fragrances that can have positive effects on the experience customers have of your shop.

    Even the things you say have an effect. A reminder that the customer has made a lovely choice helps to alleviate buyer’s angst. Even asking the customer if they found everything they were looking for today adds to the sense of a helpful experience and can increase sales.

    You might think you are already doing a great job, but ask yourself if there is anything extra special you would do if Tom Cruise’s rep called you to say Tom wants to visit your store. How would you make his experience incredible? Free coffee? Private shopping? A free gift wrap service? As marketing expert Geoff Ramm says, “create OMG experiences for your customers.” And as I always say, “Make them shareable.”

    Are you Shareable?

    When customers love the experience you give them, they want to share it with others, so make it easy for them too tag you and drive virtual footfall to you by setting printing your social media accounts on your till receipts, bags, etc. Don’t just put the Instagram logo, make it easy for them by using your @handle. Use calls to action that tell customers why they should follow you on Instagram.

    Change is Coming 

    There is undoubtedly a shift happening towards experience over products. Millennials are said to treasure experience over things, we are all conscious that the we are consuming more resources than our planet can handle. Our abundance of stuff is causing us stress and there is a growing trend towards minimalism. With it is an awakening of consciousness where many are discovering that our happiness and the happiness of those around us does not come down to material goods. By creating incredible retail experiences and selling useful products that people want to buy, use and keep, change is an experience that we can all look forward to.

    How to Future Proof Your Retail Business

    Seven Habits of Highly Effective Retailers

    The Importance of Brand Story for your Business

    Customer Experience - Cyber Dog

  • Eight Changes in Retail Technology

    8 Changes Retail Technology

    There are some remarkable changes happening in retail technology at the moment - some of which have already made it into our everyday lives and some which might be on their way to mass adoption in the coming years.

    Here are eight interesting examples of changes in retail technology:

    Pepper Robot Retail Technology

    Robots and AI

    Softbank have been testing a humanoid robot called Pepper in thousands of retail sites. Pepper is fun, speaks 19 languages and is designed to recognise principle human emotions (by analysing facial expressions) and respond accordingly.

    Virtual Shopping Retail Technology

    Virtual Shopping

    Customers can scan a variety of products on a display wall at trains stations and airports and their order will be waiting for them when they return home. Early adopters include Home Plus in South Korea and Tesco, Ocado and John Lewis in the UK.

    Amazon Echo Retail Technology

    Voice

    Voice recognition software has been getting more and more powerful. Amazon Echo and its virtual assistant, Alexa, make it remarkably easy to order almost anything by voice from the comfort of your home.

    Self Service Checkout Retail Technology

    Self-Service Checkout

    Mostly used by Supermarket chains, we’ve all adapted to scanning and paying by ourselves at self service checkout tills. Customers are able to move at their own speed and retailers are able to reduce staff overhead.

    Amazon Go Retail Technology

    Amazon Go

    Amazon have been testing a bricks and mortar grocery store concept in the US. Using their app, you simply walk into the store, grab the items you need and just walk out. There are no tills and payment is taken from your account on exiting the store.

    Payment Tools Retail Technology

    Payment Devices

    Companies like Square, Paypal and iZettle now offer solutions for anyone to be able to retail from anywhere. You can attach a variety of devices to your mobile device and take credit card payments.

    Contactless Retail Technology

    Contactless

    There are now over 100 million contactless bank cards in the UK. We are using them, our watches and our phones to make faster payments for small purchases. Alibaba have recently started debuting payments by facial recognition with 'smile to pay' tech at KFC in China.

    Amazon Drone Retail Technology

    Drones

    Amazon have started making small deliveries by drone with their Prime Air service. Waiting times for certain products are reduced to as little as fifteen minutes from the time of ordering online in the comfort of your home.

    These changes in retail technology can seem daunting for small independent businesses and whilst we won't necessarily want robots manning all our stores in the future it is interesting to see which changes will be widely adopted and which won't. This is turn will give us insights into how consumers like to shop and how we independent retailers can adapt to meet key customer needs.

    Read more on the opportunities and obstacles on The Digital High Street

    How to get more customers to your retail business

    What do consumers want from retailers?

  • 5 Ways to Improve Your Retail Business

    5 Ways To Improve Your Retail BusinessI'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

  • How retailers can start selling online

    Selling online for retailers

    At Autumn Fair this year I chaired a panel on ‘Lessons learned from journeys into ecommerce' with two independent retailers who are successfully selling online. I was so impressed with the ways that my two panelists had made sales without spending big money on expensive websites that I thought I’d share them with you:

    Low Cost Digital Marketing

    On the panel were Alice Wheeler from Wonderland near Glasgow and Claire Rose from Miss Claire Rose in Harrogate. Both have bricks and mortar stores and both sell online. It’s worth following them on their social media pages, which have been a big part of their sales success. You can find them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram via their websites.

    Both retailers have purchased their web domains and used free or low cost software like Weebly to get simple, responsive (shows well on mobiles) websites up. The sites show where they are, what they sell and have easy shopping cart software which enables them to take orders. This isn’t the bulk of where their sales come from though.

    Social media is an important part of how they sell. It really is as simple as taking photos of what they have on offer (often just using the camera on their phones) and posting them straight to their social media accounts. Their followers then like and share them across a larger audience than the retailers initial fan base. Customers will often order just by messaging them on these platforms.

    Selling on Facebook

    If you look at Wonderland’s Facebook page, for example, Alice has photographed images of products underneath which her followers will post comments. As customers ask questions, Alice then engages with them quickly (You can set your phone to alert you when customers message or  comment). The more engagement she has the higher her posts show on other FB news feeds and all of the Facebook friends of the customer potentially get to see the interaction.

    The median average number of Facebook friends is 200. Imagine the equivalent scenario in your shop. Someone browsing and asking a member of your sales team questions would have up to 200 people watching the interaction and seeing what you are both doing. If it’s a product that sells well you are very likely to get additional sales from this interaction.

    What’s important is that it’s all from the hip and quick and easy for Alice to do. She doesn’t prep high end photos in photoshop. She doesn’t put text on the image with pricing, colourways or dimensions. Less is more. You want engagement and you want customers asking questions and interacting on your page.

    If someone chooses to purchase they might then message Alice via Facebook Messenger. Payment can then be taken quickly and easily by Paypal or later if collected in person.

    Shipping to Your Fans

    Both retailers offer to ship their orders to customers for a small fee and use their local post office for shipping. As the volumes increase they can look to outsource this aspect or talk to suppliers about drop shipping. For now though they are up and running and selling online.

    One of the key things that struck me was how powerful a small local fan base of your shop is. Obviously you have to stock products that people want at a price that’s right and displayed in a attractive way. Once you get this right your fan base will grow and you need to build this base on social media. You don’t need lots of followers, just focus on people who love what you do.

    Your raving fans are easier to sell more to, give great reviews and constantly refer new customers to you. It’s better to have 100 good followers like this than 10,000 you paid for that don’t care. To get going it’s useful to encourage friends and family members to like you on social media. Then make sure your social media details are on your bags, till receipts, website and marketing.

    Negative Feedback

    One of the main fears retailers often have about selling online is negative feedback. The fact of the matter is that you can’t escape this. Even if you don’t have website you may already have negative feedback online. It’s better to engage with customers by being online. Then you can turn it around.

    Another important aspect of meeting customer expectations is to empower your team to be able to make decisions and take care of customers. At Blue Eyed Sun and with our wedding website www.IvyEllen.com know that if they can fix a problem for £50 or less then they can get on and sort it. That way they can act quickly to post out replacements for damages or missing items without causing our customers and delays or further frustration.

    Free Listings

    TripAdvisor was cited as a great way of dealing with feedback head on. It’s not just for hotels and restaurants, you can also register your store. Encourage your core fans and friends to write some good reviews to get you going. Because people use TripAdvisor to plan their trips (including where they will shop) you can increase footfall to your bricks and mortar shop. If you have not registered your store on there yet, it’s free and worth doing.

    Miss Claire Rose also links to her TripAdvisor page from her website which has over 70 positive reviews giving added reassurance to new customers.

    Make sure you also list your shop on Google so that it shows up on Googlemaps for keywords on products you sell. It’s free to do and again you can get reviews of your store on Google so that more people visit you online and offline. Visit www.google.co.uk/business to get started.

    Instagram

    Claire also uses Instagram to present a Smorgasbord of delicious product that she stocks in her shop. Images have to be nicer on Instagram and the app has a range of filters to help you with this. Using hashtags like #greetingcards will get your post seen by a wider range of people than just your followers because people use the hashtags to search for images on subjects they are interested in. Followers who like products can message you to order and like your photos to increase your marketing reach.

    Getting Started

    As anyone who retails online or offline, business is an ongoing exercise in improvement. What I found most inspiring about hearing from Claire and Alice is the way they just got on with it. So, if you have smartphone, what’s stopping you? If they can do it, so can you. Often we can hold ourselves back by trying to be too perfect. Their success shows how selling online can be as simple as setting up a Facebook page.

    9 tips for social selling

    How to get started with digital marketing

    10 things to do before using social media for business

  • Using the 5 Love Languages in Retail

    5 Love Languages RetailAfter 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

     

  • 18 ways retailers can maximise their January Sales

    January SalesMajor 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 glassesDr 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

  • How to get more customers to your retail business

    How to Get More Customers Retail Business

    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

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