Flourishing Retailers Tip

Through my travels and Pinterest scanning this past week, my eye has been drawn how retailers are using their vertical space. Chances are your walls are tall enough that customers can’t reach everything; making use of this extra space can have quite an impact on your store’s overall look and feel.

          Your Flourish Tip:

Use the vertical space to deliver a brand message, through graphics, props, or merchandise displays reflecting what can be found nearby.

Empty, unused space above your fixtures can give your retail space the unfortunate appearance of looking empty, low in stock, or simply unfinished.  Sadly, customers can’t reach this space or any merchandise stored within it, so what do we do?

Use graphics driving your brand or image – specifically lifestyle-oriented images showing customers how happy they will be while using the product.  Take a look the next time you’re shopping in a mall to see how corporate retailers have used their graphics.

 

The area above your fixtures can also be used for additional merchandise displays, such as bust forms dressed in garments found below or a vignette containing interesting combinations of merchandise stored nearby.

Probably one of the most interesting uses of the high-up space I’ve seen is to display props that relate to the merchandise: This way you have an interesting display but aren’t using sellable inventory.

What can you do to make your vertical space more interesting? (I would love to see your opinions or ideas in the comments section below.)

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Holiday Display Inspiration - Part One

Well retail friends...  Its that time again!  

In order to compete with our large corporate counterparts the displays should have or should be going up!  So, better late than never, here are a few Flourish photos to get those creative juices flowing!

Baskets in the Park

Baskets in the Park

Baskets in the Park

Baskets in the Park

All Decked Out

Cloud Nine Pajamas

Cloud Nine Pajamas

Cloud Nine Pajamas

Bellies 12 days of giveaways

Bellies 12 days of giveaways

A very sweet tree at Festival of Trees

A very sweet tree at Festival of Trees

A flourishing tree at Festival of Trees

Lexus giveaway at Kingsway Mall

Lite Zone fundraiser at Kingsway Mall

Wrap & Roll at Kingsway Mall

Wrap & Roll at Kingsway Mall

Ceiling hanging at Kingsway Toyota

Service center at Kingsway Toyota

Phew!  That's a lot of pictures!  Stay tuned for even more...

Want a professional holiday look?  Get in touch with Flourish today: website, facebook, twitter, and Pinterest, too!

Preparing for a Trade Show in Style on EMomNowTV Live

Instead of your usual old tip, I thought sharing this with you would be fun!  Last Tuesday, I spend an hour with the ladies of Entrepreneur Mom Now sharing and discussing how to prepare for a craft or trade show in style!

Here's the video:

Major takeaways?

• Have a goal in mind and share it with your team
• Four keys to trade show success:
• Draw attention
• Brand!
• Collect Information
• Act! (Follow up)
• The majority of people look 45 degrees to the right when entering, this is a good spot for a booth.
• The butt brush effect - keep aisles and space open, allowing people to move freely
• Invite people in and avoid blocking off your booth
• Create a clean and inviting booth, consider using props, and be sure it reflects you and your brand!

Want more?  Click here to sign up and have the convenience of receiving the tip in your inbox as well as even more to learn about each tip! 

Want a professional look for fall?  Get in touch with Flourish today: website, facebook, twitter, and Pinterest, too!

Fall Display Inspiration

Well, back to school is upon us...  Kids are grumbling, parents are happy, and everyone is looking for fresh fall merchandise and exciting fall displays! 

It's that time of year to evoke that crisp fall feeling with crunchy leaves and cozy knits in your store.  

If you haven't set your fall displays up yet and are looking for inspiration, here's some of mine.  Enjoy!

Fall by Flourish at Cloud Nine Pajamas

Fall decor balls at Elegant Expressions

Fall Dinnerware by Flourish at Elegant Expressions

Fall Dinnerware by Flourish at Elegant Expressions

Fall Dinnerware by Flourish at Elegant Expressions

Elegant Fall by Flourish for Elegant Expressions

Fall window by Flourish for mbellish

Mabon at Where Faeries Live

Mabon window decoration at Where Faeries Live

Mabon Mannequin at Where Faeries Live

Fall furniture and decor by Flourish

Fall furniture and decor by Flourish

Want a professional look for fall?  Get in touch with Flourish today: website, facebook, twitter, and Pinterest, too!

Tip of the Week

Here's your Tip of the Week:

Take all the posters, stickers, and homemade signage off of your windows so that customers can see into the store or your displays.

The view through the store window at Elegant Expressions.

 

Sometimes it might seem like those signs and stickers bring people in the door, but are they properly representing your brand?  Do they contribute to the look and feel of your facade?  They can lower a customer's percieved value of your store and the product you sell, so make sure that they're up for a reason if you're going to keep them there!

If you really want to keep your signs and stickers up, consider designating one specific area where they're allowed to go and keeping them to that area.  Then, be sure to remove them when they're old or tattered!

Happy Selling!

Have you got questions for Melissa? Check us out on facebook, twitter, Pinterest, the flourish website, or send Melissa an email.

Music and Your Store

An awesome collegue cohort, and client of mine recently emailed me this great question and I just had to share it with all of you!

 

Hi Melissa,

I've been wondering about the relationship between music and shopping for a bit and maybe you can help me. I'm trying to research the relationship between BPM (beats per minute) and retail sales. Whenever I go to the malls all I ever hear is high BPM dance and pop music but I find this irritating  I would assume that all these big chain stores are playing this music because it is proven to increase sales. Maybe it's a stimulant? The one research paper I came across online found that stores that played more relaxed music saw customers that lingered longer in stores and therefore were more likely to purchase more...What do you think?

 

The Answer:

 

I, myself, haven’t read a whole lot of research.  In fact, I don’t think there’s a ton out there.  But I do think that the study you read is among the most accurate.

 

If you choose music that your target market or core customer likes the best, they will linger longer.  It’s also important to have music that doesn’t drive you or your staff members nuts!  If you’re on edge, your customers will sense it. 

 

The truth is a happy customer and a customer who is in tune with the environment buys more, so don’t worry about what the malls are doing because your customers don’t shop there all that much.  The reason we see malls choosing the music they do is that they’re generally trying use top 40 type music to appeal to the masses.  There are also loads of stores in the malls that appeal to teens and young adults and that is the music that they like best.

 

If you really want to focus on choosing music that your customers like best; you could try creating a survey monkey survey (or use a similar software or system) and invite them to complete it or complete it with them at the till!  It could be fun and customers get to feel involved.  Also, I’m sure most branding gurus would say that the music you choose needs to fit with your brand.  If your brand isn’t a teeny bopper, high octane, brand... I wouldn’t worry about pushing the high speed music.

 

Last, but not least, we come to holiday music...  I know it's not everyone's favourite, but it’s an absolute must.  That’s where most of the retail studies pertaining to music have been done and it’s proven to drive sales up quite a bit!  Usually, the chain stores start weaving in the odd quiet holiday song about November first, then after Remembrance day, you’ll hear it every 2^nd or 3^rd song (you may have to make custom CD’s or playlists for your store).  As of December first, it should be all Holiday, all the time!  You will get the odd customer that may complain about it, but even they will be more likely to pick up a couple of Christmas gifts (should that be applicable) because it’ll be top of mind.

 

Here are some links to research I've found!

Association for Consumer Reasearch - Using Store Music for Retail Zoning

Michael Morrison, Monash University - The Power of Music and its Influence

Live Science - 7 Holiday Marketing Tricks Retailers Use

 

And here's a little bit on the Shoppers Drug Mart Holiday music "controversy"

Canadian Retailer Puts Christmas Music on Pause

Shoppers Drug Mart Hits Mute on Christmas Music

 

I gladly welcome all of your questions and comments!  Please add your comments!