Rowena Doyle- Marketing Tips

Your Free Marketing Tool:

Windows often very under used?

Take this Window for example.

Before and After:

Taking something simple like Polaroid’s and taking images of the customers wearing the stock and using them to sell the clothing as well, this way you create more than just a nice window!!

The next Generation of visual merchandising is something all stores need to keep up. There are simple ways to create new concepts and also they can be done very cost effectively.

Ladies fashions is now moving into a new type of retail and mostly the Independent stores in Uk, Denmark and Germany are now making some new noise.

Windows are a free marketing tool and need careful consideration to make YOUR store Stand out.

Top Tip 1.

· Keep to three colours max!

1 day workshops are now taking place in Dublin, Wexford and Galway.

Check out the website for more information. www.visualsense.ie. Rowena J

WIN WIN WIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Win:

A free consultation with Rowena Doyle, founder of Visual Sense. Working for over 15 Years in Visual Merchandising
in Ireland, Europe and Australia she will look at your store and help you determine all areas that she feels could boost sales!!
She will look at areas such as your windows, space management, In store merchandising, Music, Interior design and put together
a very cost effective plan for you to implement.


To be in with a chance to win this all you have to do is enter your own store or you can enter a store you feel would benefit from this
consultation. Send an email of why you want your store or a store to receive this service to aoife@irishboutiques.com and also include a image of the store.

Rowena Doyle - Visual Sense

SIGHT LINES.......

Sight lines are what are used to direct a person’s eye. So when a customer enters your store what are your sight lines? The most effective way to maximise impact is to have a focal point at the end of this sight line. For example there is a point in your store that has some interesting display or some image or artwork. The sight line is then measured also by what you achieve with the rest of the shop fittings on their way there!!

Space management is also key to happy shoppers, this is where you draw your customers around your store and guide them were you want them to go, it’s all in the way you place your fittings and fixtures how you merchandise them, there should be a flow in your store and if there is a good flow people will travel to all corners of your shop. Passing by all the products you are showing them and really engaging in your store and your brand.

In a store there are four different types of space:

1. Prime Space

These are your high flow areas, with high visibility. The fronts of fixtures for example.

2. Secondary Space

These are medium commercial value, are used for areas of higher volume lines.

3. Discovery Space

These are the areas which are hard to see, you need to discover them. Also known as blind spots.

4. Service Point

These are your till areas and fitting rooms, usually lots of volume but after the desions have been made. These areas can make or break a sale.

All of these areas should be broken down into a floor map this way you can see were to add sight lines or focal points and were best they will work for you. For more info on floor maps you can email me at Rowena@visualsense.ie

Next week I am looking at POS and signage and how to use them effectively.

Rowena Doyle Top Tips !

Music in Motion

Music can have a huge effect on customers and their behaviour in your store!

WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?

Music has a tendency to put customers at ease thus encouraging them to spend more time in a retail environment. There for the longer they remain in your shop the more likely they are to purchase something, also this is the same with scents, Vanilla works very well in fashion stores. Scent machines are also a huge part of retail.

SO WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC SHOULD I PLAY?

The style and temp of music you provide does contribute to the overall image of your retail store. Just as it is important to have attractive display fixtures, window displays and appropriate lighting, music too can be used to create a pleasant and appealing ambiance for your customers.

Larger retailers spend time and money developing music playlists, So the next time you are out shopping, listen to the music, the ones who are spending the time and money on these playlists, Are the ones who will probably be playing lyric less music and most certainly will not be playing any popular pop.

So the best advice is to leave that favourite CD you own at home. (We all have them, mine is Rihanna and I have it in the carJ) and only think from a selling point and research ideas for playlists. Never leave long gaps were no music is playing, and try not to turn your store into a disco.

And as for the radio, No one wants to hear the news when they are shopping.

A FEW YOU SHOULD TRY ARE:

1. Moon safari – AIR

2. Luftkastellet5 - Great for Saturdays

3. Rodrigo and Gabriela – any album

4. More list available on the website. www.visualsense.ie

These songs and artist are stream line music, not for a particular taste they are mood setters used in lots of retail environments, spa resorts etc. They are the types of music that will let people relax in your store without them even realising why J

Next week......Store layouts, Space management and “site lines” how do they work!

Rowena@visualsense.ie

Rowena Doyle..Visual Sense

Seasonal Events.....Valentine’s Day.

Seasonal events can often be hard to portray in a boutique. Take Valentine’s Day for example I often get asked do I need to make a window for this?

Making a window or promotion all depends on if you feel the effort you put in will add any sales to your till. So if you hang three hearts in your window, will this make an impact and make people want to buy or will it go unnoticed? Many times I feel it’s best to either do something OTT and use it as a marketing idea or just let it pass on by.

Some ideas could be:

1. Use the window to promote a local wedding!

2. Prepare an event to take place in the store for Valentine’s Day!

3. Do something for all the single ladies out there!

Men are meant to buy us ladies a gift for Valentine’s Day and making it easy for them when they (or if they) dare to enter a ladies boutique is key to selling. After working in the men’s area for some years we constantly found straight lines in our displays with no frills and VERY large price signs worked best. We would always also never have any large displays near the offer area and keep it to a location near the door.

I often see stores make a red section somewhere in their store, by adding all the clothing that fits in this category into one wall area or fitting, the trouble here is so many retailers do this that it can become over kill. I would say try something subtle and keep it really clean and simple maybe just some dinner date ideas and if you can add something as a free bonus if they buy one of these ideas even better.

Over the next few months we will have lots of small events such as ST Patrick’s Day, Easter and so on, my advice is unless it relates to your business then leave the frills to the supermarkets J

Rowena

www.visualsense.ie

Rowena Doyle..Spring Clean your Shop!

BEFORE

AFTER

SPRING CLEANING.

The holiday season is over, and spring inventory is arriving. How can you simultaneously achieve the following goals?

Move holiday specific product from your shop floor!

Push clearance product!

Introduce new product!

Planning is once again, one of the most important elements of a successful season. I recently visited a store over Christmas, and on my second visit I noticed that the sale stock was still in the same place. On my third venture out I was walking past and decided to pop in again and saw it was still same layout! I got chatting with the staff and I was told “We don’t have time for merchandising right now and at least this way customer will know where the sale is.”

My response was to tell them, People see it once, then twice and by the third time they are bored. Not making time for merchandising is not making time to maximize sales! I don’t know a single retailer that would say they don’t want to drive sales. MORE

Here are a few ideas:

Make a floor map, think outside the box, think logical, think of your customers and think what I want to achieve for this season.

Categorize your clearance merchandise!!!!!!!! This is the best way to sell off the rest.

Analyze where you will place clearance product vs. full-priced product.

What new ideas can you bring to the floor and window layouts?

Can you move the fittings around?? (NEVER HAVE A STALE FLOOR)

Should you try to create some new focus points in your store?

Re think your space management, are your fittings really working.

A new marketing campaign is the best way to start the year.

2011 will see a new wave of retail; the concepts are much fresher and cleaner than the traditional “Lifestyle stores” the new movement will include simple store layouts, unique marketing campaigns, and stores that offer a completely new shopping experience to the current market!

Visual Sense will be running their successful “Entice, Inspire, Impact” course again this year; they take place in your business so you get to really see how small changes can have a huge impact. For more information please contact Rowena@visualsense.ie

Happy Merchandising. Rowena

Merchandising Tips from Rowena Doyle.....

Get The Right Fit!!!

When preparing for a new fit out think carefully about how you want the store to look and feel, consider the space you have to work with and look around for inspiration. Plan your shop and really focus on your stock, and how best to show it, Lots of stores use the wrong fittings for their products!! Ensure you have enough room to create display areas or locations for visual merchandising that will attract attention, without detracting customers from exploring the rest of the store.

Do customers really notice the difference though? Yes.

They’re never sure why, but they can sense that the shop may feel bigger and suddenly they see items they may have missed before. In my experience I have seen huge reaction to customer’s behaviour once thought and careful consideration has been put into the layout and fit of a shop. Customers want value and choice but they also want it shown to them in a nice environment free from clutter and excess. It’s all about balance.

As soon as you open the door to any business you are inadvertently conducting visual merchandising of some kind, as it’s about the experience you offer your customers. All retailers should look at the way they merchandise; they should have their staff trained in this area so they can give consumers the best service. From shop stores, to fashion to hardware, to even bakery, they all involve visual merchandising techniques of some kind as merchandising is about the whole experience of the store even down to your price signs

SFD is one of the largest shop fitting companies in Europe and Steve Kemp, the Sales Director, has seen his fair share of successful fit outs and some less so.

“Understanding the time the project can take, the preparation is very important to ensure that the store is launched with the best timing at the opportune moment and with maximum impact, it’s imperative that all the building regulations and inspections are carried out at the earliest opportunity before committing to new premises and remember that the right product has to be in for the launch,” warns Steve.

This year SFD designed, produced and installed a groundbreaking new lifestyle store called Iconic in Dubai, and at 70,000sq ft it is completely different from any other stores in the in the Dubai retail scene, aimed at a younger market with high levels of visual merchandising throughout the store.

In terms of favourites, Steve has a few: “There are lots of stores that we think get it right such as the new Luxury department at Brown Thomas & the New Levis Store in Regent Street London, stores that we love are those that push the boundaries such as Anthropologie and a new store called Acne on Dover Street London.

Stores can get it wrong when they become complacent and don’t continually strive to improve; it’s all about delivering the best experience to customer whilst matching the brand expectations to the retail journey to achieve the best results,” he says.

Pop us a question anytime @ Rowena@visualsense.ie