OUR TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR RETAIL SUCCESS

Home Who We Are+Our Team What We Do+Our Services Our Work      Jewelry+Museum      Fashion+Specialty      Hospitality+Clubs+Spas      Commercial+Shopping      Merchandising+Packaging      Branding+Graphics Press Releases+Articles Testimonials+Our Clients Contact Us Careers

Retail success by Design®
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . not just icing on a cake
▪  ▪  ▪  ▪  ▪  ▪  ▪

1. STUDY TARGETED CUSTOMER  AND CUSTOMER NEEDS
   Do your home work. Establish yourself of WHOM you want your customer to be and in simple terms, establish what like and what they don't, learn about their shopping habits, their family's activities interests, etc. It is easy to say you want everyone to be your customer. But, keep in mind that, aiming for just everyone to be your customer will lead to that everyone becoming someone else's customer and none yours!

2. LOCATION - LOCATION - LOCATION
   This is the one that will make or brake a successful retail store facility. Building a new free standing retail store or a store within a larger facility, such as a shopping center, must be  easily identifiable and accessible to your customers. Life is short as it is and most consumer avoid making their lives more complicating than what the are. So, make your store easy to be found.

3. TRAFFIC FLOW CONTROL
   Carefully study the flow of traffic in the immediate surrounding area of your store location by identifying the major attractions that draw your targeted customer to and establish their traveling direction to and from. Make sure the front entry of your building or your store is facing the oncoming traffic. Accordingly, your store design and merchandising display settings should follow the same direction. Your store should be "calling" upon the on coming traffic attracting them to it.

4. MERCHANDISING
   The most important aspect for a store to be successful is the proportional mix of the right brands that will be attracted to by the targeted consumer base. Upon realizing the type of a retail store facility you want to start, identify the the brands of the merchandising you will want to sell along with the price points your targeted consumer can support. With a limited budget, avoid direct competition with other area retailers of the same kind as such can easily lead to a price war and business losses. Keep your merchandising departments clean, organized in departments or groups and keep their presentation simple per the KISS principle.

5. ENHANCEMENT OF MERCHANDISING THROUGH CREATIVE STORE DESIGN
   Compliment your merchandising departments by surrounding them with appropriate color finishes. Your store design must relate to the merchandising sold and vice versa. Create a theme and a positive atmosphere. Learn all about Feng Shui and create positive energy throughout your store. Be creative in your design; i.e. in a bookstore create a small lounge with comfortable seating encouraging customers to sit, relax and enjoy reading one a book; or in a kids clothing store, dedicate a small area to an a children play/activity area while parents do their shopping!

6. LIGHTING
   The second most important aspect to a successful retail store. Make sure the appropriate lights are used and that they are directed in the proper angle towards the merchandising displays, hungers, tables, in-store photography, wall murals, signs, posters, etc. Using the right lighting will make your merchandise items look and show their best and to look the least of the cost you are pricing them for.

7. SECURITY + THEFT PREVENTION
   Although this is the third most important aspect for a successful store, still, it should never be discounted and shortchanged in your budget. Extremely high ticket items should have a high care and displayed behind locked cases or glass armoires. Install an active security camera system outside the store entry and inside the store in key locations fully visible to customers. Keep your security camera system's recorder in a location remote from your store.

8. WELL TRAINED AND WELL TREATED SALES ASSOCIATES
   The sales associates are the best asset for a retail store to be successful. Any retail business can not and will not be successful without the proper support of a well trained, well informed and well taken care off sales force of associates! The associates as an essential part of the operation of a retail store should and must be well trained in all departments of the operation, merchandising, security of a store. Create an incentives program that encourages team effort and not individuality among your associates.

9. BRANDING - GRAPHICS
   DON'T BE JUST ANOTHER RETAIL STORE IN YOUR MARKET. Make sure your store stands apart from the crowd of retail stores in your market. Have your store customized to your particular brand you created and uniformly organize your displays, packaging and merchandising displays accordingly. A simple but well planned and organized brand identity will help your targeted customer base to identify you and remember you well becoming your ambassador and non-commissioned sales force at large!

10. MARKETING - ADVERTISING
    You already established your brand identity of your store and you feel great about it. Now it is the time you follow it up and make sure that your targeted consumer market will get to visit your store the earliest possible. Advertise...advertise...advertise. Based on your marketing budget, that is not to exceed 5% of your gross sales, try to use the most available mean in your community to get your message out and keep your store's brand on the forefront. Whatever media mean you decide to use for advertising make sure the branding and message of your store stays consistent.

HAPPY SELLING

Our business is retail planning and design. Our strength is the success of our work.^©