Light It Up - The best lighting type for your store

Lighting is so important to a store's atmosphere and can make or break the overall look and feel.  Humans feel safer in the light and so gravitate to well lit spaces, but harsh lighting can wreck the look and feel of your product.  So...  Which type of lighting will work best for you?

                            Photo by Flourish Design & Merchandising of KEYLIME                        Photo by Flourish Design & Merchandising of Bellies

Incandescent

 

Pros

·    Inexpensive at the outset with affordable fixtures

·    Easy to use, replacing lightbulbs is a breeze

·    Warm light

Cons

·    High energy cost, these are the least efficient bulbs

·    Getting harder to find and buy, some areas have even banned them

·    High heat, don't touch it while it's on!

·    Potential product damage

·    Low lifespan, they need ot be replaced often (high future cost)

Halogen

 

          Pros

·    Slightly more efficient than incandescent (only about 15% better)

·    Low cost at the outset

Cons

·    Still high energy consumption

·    High heat, again... ouch!

·    Potential product Dmage

·    Low lifespan, needs frequent replacement (high future cost)

·    Bulbs are difficult to replace as you can't touch them directly

Compact Fluorescent

 

Pros

·    Middle price point

·    Saves energy, more efficient than the previous two by quite a bit

·    Easy to use

·    Last longer, less frequent replacement

·    Fits into incandescent fixtures

Cons

·    Takes time to warm up, don't be late in the morning or your customers won't be able to see for a while!

·    Cool, unflattering light or pinkish light

·    Pricier than Incandescent and still need to be changed fairly regularly (in comparison to following options)

·    Unattractive appearance as some (including me) don't like the spiral

·    Not available in spot lights and non-dimmable

·    Unstable/flickering light

·    Contains some mercury

Ceramic Metal-Halide

 

Pros

·    High energy savings

·    Great colour quality

·    Fits halogen fixtures (if you were using halogen before, there's no need to replace the fixtures)

·    Long lifespan, low maintenance (low future cost)

·    Different sizes and shapes, including spot lights

Cons

·    Expensive at the outset (cost will be recouped over time)

LED

 

Pros

·    Highest energy savings

·    Can be purchased in dimmable options

·    Available in a variety of colour temperatures, including warm

·    Available in a variety of types, including spot lights

·    Attractive fixtures are available

·    Long lifespan, low maintenance (low future cost)

·    Lower operating temperatures, extremely low likelyhood of damage to your product from light or heat!

Cons

·    Expensive at the outset (cost will be recouped over time)

While most of the headings above link to wikipedia.org, I didn't use it as an info source, I promise!  (It is the easiest most consistent to link readers to for more inormation though.)

Here is a list of sources if you're looking for more information:

• The Philips Website
• 1000 Bulbs
• National Geographic|Green Living

If you have any more questions about lighting or retail design feel free to leave a comment, visit the Flourish Design & Merchandising Website, or send us an email.

Are You Making Your Point?

Let me begin this post by saying I am absolutely addicted to Pinterest and I am especially addicted to posting retail pictures on Pinterest!  I'm so addicted, in fact, that when I went to create those links above, I found myself pinning...



My love for Pinterest and many of the window display pictures floating around is what inspired last week's Tip of the Week and this week's blog post.

FYI - Last week's tip: "When planning store windows, keep the end in mind. What is it that you’re trying to sell or accomplish and are you getting your point across?" 

So many times, very talented visual merchandisers or display people work really hard to create a beautiful window display... that actually doesn't sell anything.

When creating your window display ask yourself a few questions:

1. What is the purpose of this window? OR What am I trying to accomplish?
2. What am I trying to sell to the consumer?
3. How much time to I have to communicate that to them?  (It's really only a handful of seconds.)
4. To Whom am I trying to communicate my message or sell my product?
5. Does this represent my brand?
6. How can I accomplish this in a budget friendly and efficient way?

Seriously, keep those questions handy for window display changes.

Why should a window display have a purpose or be selling something, you ask?  (Or maybe you didn't, in fact you probably didn't.)  Because the primary job of a window display is to bring customers into the store, especially customers who weren't already headed there in the first place.  The second role of a window display is to potentially sell something, that they wouldn't have thought of otherwise, to someone (remember, around half of most buying decisions are made impulsively.)  And... last, but not least, the role of the window display is to communicate your brand, which can be through messaging, images, overall feel, etc.

Often, (especially on Pinterest) we see windows that are decorated with lovely paper sculptures or that have complicated projects in them that the retailer or their team worked tirelessly on.  Remember; these things should have a purpose and generally be in a supporting role to the product you're trying to sell or the message you're trying to communicate.

In a window display, we have very little time to communicate something to passersby or to even catch their attention.  Chances are, they're walking down the street, phone in hand (they could be talking or texting, or any number of things...), they've got cars whizzing by, there are signs everywhere, people passing...  Any number of distractions really!  It's important that your display and message are simple and easy to understand. 

Now, since it's difficult to find original sources for photo credit when using Pinterest, and my post could be construed as criticism (thought most of these windows were beautiful!), I haven't posted any photos of the windows that were amazing, yet not necessarily selling anything.  Sorry for the text heavy blog post!  (Wait...  I can be long winded...  Maybe they're all text heavy?)

Here's a gratuitous window display shot from Cloud Nine Pajamas last spring!  (Yeah, it's an inside view, I live in Edmonton, so in spring there was still lots of snow on the ground causing horrible glare.)  I still <3 it.

Now, know that I'm not telling you you can't do anything.  I'm just asking you to keep the above questions in mind.  If you would like to spend hours creating amazing artwork for your windows, be my guest... and remember to pin pictures after!  Just remember that, ideally, you should be changing your window displays every 4 to 6 weeks.

Happy Selling!

If you have any questions about setting your windows up to sell, to drive traffic, or to combat glare, get in touch with Flourish Design & Merchandising any time!  Feel free to follow us on twitter and facebook, too!

Feel free to comment below!

Using the 5 Senses to Your Retail Advantage

As human beings, most of us are lucky enough to have five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch and smell.  This week’s Flourish tip of the week was all about stimulating as many as possible of those five senses to engage your customer to the fullest.  Getting our senses going is a way to create an exciting and memorable shopping experience for your customer.

Sight

Sight is arguably the most important of the five senses where shopping is concerned.  Customers are attracted to merchandise, first by looking at it.  The overall look and feel of your store can also have a huge impact on your sales and overall image!  

This is why visual merchandising is a career choice for many and why Flourish Design & Merchandising offers the services that we do!  Stimulating your customer’s sight is what draws them into the store, attracts them to look more closely at product, and most often entices them to buy.  Sight is one of the major ways in which we make product selection.

In order to make the most of the visual appeal of your store, ensure that everything is neat, tidy, and in its place.  Clean visual merchandising is often the most effective type.  Combine major displays and features with basic merchandising.  If everything is a “feature” the customer won’t know where to look first.

Don’t forget to include your logo!  Reinforcing the brand identity in-store is so important!

Last, but not least, if you’re not sure of the most effective way to merchandise your store visually, then hire a professional, someone who is educated and trained in visual merchandising.

Sound

Sound can have a huge impact on how we feel while we’re shopping.  The music in your store needs to feel just right to your target market.  Listening to the wrong music choice can have a very negative impact as can music that is too loud or not there at all (it makes customers very uncomfortable).  Know your target market and make your listening choice accordingly.

Consider listening to satellite radio or an mp3 player hooked up to the stereo system as well as music on CDs and other forms of non-traditional radio music.  Avoiding the commercials, talk, and occasionally poor reception is a good thing!

Here’s another thought when creating atmosphere…  What suits the merchandise that you’re selling right now?  Is spring time fast approaching and do you sell outdoor product?  Consider something with nature sounds such as birds or water to make the customer feel more “outdoorsy”.  Also know that holiday music during the holidays is an absolute necessity.  While, as retailers, we often get tired of hearing it, it is proven to increase holiday sales by getting customers in the spirit.

Taste

Okay, so you might be thinking…  How are my customers going to taste the merchandise?  This one may only apply directly to a few of you, but the rest may be able to apply it on occasion!

When you sell food of any kind, customers are more likely to buy if they get a taste.  This is actually the case by a large margin!  You will, most likely, more than make up for the cost of giving away samples in profit you make.  Not to mention, customers feel more engaged and may even buy more of other products in the store!  I always semi-jokingly tell my clients: “If you feed them, they will buy.”

Now, if you don’t sell food?  I don’t recommend tasting soaps, shirts, candles, or any other product!  Instead, on special occasions, feed your customers samples from a nearby local eatery. It’s a nice gift to give to them, you can advertise it on social media and hopefully that local eatery will be willing to sponsor at least a portion of the cost of providing those samples.

Touch

Touch rivals sight for being an extremely important sense!  If a customer can’t hold and feel a product, they generally won’t buy it.  Take a look at the customers milling about your store; they’re always grabbing things, stroking them, and picking them up, aren’t they?  That’s a good thing!

Customers may consider an item based on the way it looks, but they won’t make a final decision unless they can hold it in their hands and feel the texture, finish, etc.  The most important thing when doing your visual merchandising, is not to impede this urge.  Remove from plastic wrap, packaging, and boxes as much as possible.  At the very least, offer a sample of merchandise that is out of the package for customers to pick up and feel.  

In the case of high theft items, some of them simply must be kept under lock and key, often in a display case.  Just ensure that this display case is well-lit and that there is always someone available to pull out merchandise to show interested customers.

Smell

Smell can be a touchy subject!  What about allergies or people with different tastes?  What about conflicting scents?  These are all valid concerns.

I think that the guiding factor with scents is that less is more.  Avoid overpowering scents that will take over the entire store.  Customers can’t escape from them if they’re allergic and there’s a possibility that it will conflict with another scent in the store.

The main thing with scents is that you want to avoid having bad ones in store which is sometimes a possibility, especially when unpacking new merchandise.  Consider using a gentle air freshener or a scented product you sell.  I especially recommend something that generally eliminates odours as opposed to trying to cover them up.  Try to also remove the source of the bad smell right away!

Another creative way to use smells is by using something (again gentle) that works with the theme of a particular display. Think about a display of margarita products, for example. You could add the soft scent of lime by including some fresh limes in the display or even just their zest!  Cinnamon is popular during the holidays and pumpkin or apple pie during the fall. Grocery stores do this, too. It’s like torture when you walk in to pick up some fresh fruit or veggies in the morning and can smell fresh bread or cinnamon buns baking!

Lastly, make sure that scented product, such as candles or soaps, is available for sniffing.  If you keep all of a particular product under wraps, customers will get frustrated by not being able to give it a sniff before making a purchase!  Be sure to include a tester for lotions or sprays of any kind so that customers can give them a try!

The important thing to remember when creating a sensual store (in the purest sense of the term), is that we’re all human beings and operate in similar ways!  If you appeal to common human urges and make shopping easy, you will be successful.

Have you got more questions about the senses?  Get in touch with Melissa of Flourish Design & Merchandising today!  To get updates for new blog posts, like us on facebook or follow us on twitter!

Creating a Sense of Urgency

This week's tip of the week was about reminding your customers of important dates approaching in a relevant display.  This creates a sense of urgency and gets customers in a frame of mind where they will begin to consider everything that they'll need for that approaching date.

For example, a simple sign that reads "Mother's Day is May 13th" on a display of ideal Mother's Day gifts will get the customer thinking "What do I need for then?" and "What can I pick up here?"  It not only gets them looking through the gifts for the perfect one for Mom, but also has them consider other items that may be in-store that would apply!

Do ensure that the sign is professional, simple, easy to read, and attractive and that it is contained in a sign holder or a pretty frame (whichever is consistent with your usual signage).  Some might prefer to give customers a gentle reminder that a holiday is approaching by having the merchandise tell them, such as the photo below.  Just make sure everyone working at the store knows the date for inquiring customers!

Remember, by doing this you're not only increasing sales, but also doing a service to your customers!  Sometimes we need a reminder to not leave things until the last minute.  And... in the case of our example date, Moms probably appreciate it, too!


Questions or comments?  Contact Melissa Walker of Flourish Design & Merchandising today!

Bright and Beautiful, the Importance of Colour

Colour plays and importand role in our everyday lives, but how much time to we spend consciously thinking about it?

As retailers, it's important that we do this all the time, keeping colour top of mind.
Why is colour so important?  We have natural physiological reactions to colour as well as behavioural and cultural reactions.  Almost everyone has a favouite colour, there are colour trends for fashion and for home, and we associate certain holidays with certain colour schemes.  There are people who dedicate their entire careers to colour.  You can find colour experts, behavioural psychologists that study colour, and even an international colour authority!

Obviously you can't please eveyone in one shot, so how can you apply colour to your store in an effective way?

First is colour blocking. 

By gathering items of a same colour together, you can create a display or section that's easier to look at, allowing the customer to gravitate to colours that appeal to them.  It works with regular merchandise, sale merchandise, or even just odds and sodds that you're trying to gather together for an appealing look.

In a display or a section, you can create a colour story, choosing specific colours to pull together for a certain look.  Then block those colours together in certain spots and combine them in others for a great overall look that's easy for the customer to shop.

Secondly, is colour trend.

Many people are very on trend as far as what is in this season and those colours will sell best for you.  So how do you know what's going to be in next season when you're ordering? 

One option is to consult with the International Colour Authority, an organization based in the UK that uses a panel of colour experts to determine future colour trends with great accuracy.  This is an expensive option, but will give you the most accurate colour forecast, far in advance. 

Are you like most of us and don't have the extra cash to spare for a colour report?  Your suppliers may have already subscribed to the international colour authority and be well aware of colour trends for the upcoming seasons.  As they are product developers and importers, it is important for them to be onto trends before everyone else! 
Lastly, use magazines.  You won't always get the information far in advance, but they're full of current trends and trends coming in the near future.  They're even known to set trends, of course!  Whether it's fashion, gifts, or home decor, look to your favourite magazines to guide you in the right direction and keep you on track.  Looking for a higher tech option than magazines?  Have a look at sites like Pinterest for trends!
When all is said and done, your intuition will help guide you in the right direction, just remember that strong colour blocking often leads to strong sales and an organized looking store.  And...  When in doubt, remember that customers shop first by colour, followed by everything else.  When in doubt, consult an expert to help you make the best of your store.

6 steps to Employee Engagement

II was fortunate enough to attend the WiRN (Women in Retailing Network) breakfast lecture yesterday morning with speaker Gemma Giovanazzo.  The topic was the customer experience and how do we inspire our staff to deliver the best in customer service every time?

Gemma is the customer experience manager for Ford of Canada and spoke with lots of experience on how big business develops and ensures the customer experience.

After the lecture was over, I and the two lovely women at my table discussed how employee engagement can translate to small business.  In my experience as a store manager, here is what I can share on employee engagement.

1. Treat your employees as equals.  Ask their opinions, get their feedback, and take what they have to say seriously.
2. Praise for good work.  Lots of employers offer incentives or prizes which is great when you can do it, but what many employees really want is just a simple “great job” or “thanks for your hard work today.”  Try it; it feels great!
3. Take an interest.  Try to remember fun personal details about your employees.  When I was a store manager for a big box retailer, I made a point of remembering everyone’s favourite colour, kids names, and any other personal details that I could.  We also had crayons and stickers as well as little treats stashed in my office for when they brought their kids or grandchildren by.  It was so much fun!
4. Communication.  Gemma said it right; it’s so important!  Keep your employees informed of what’s going on with your store.  Tell them what you’ve purchased, what’s coming in, new sales techniques, what’s happening in the store and in the neighbourhood, etc.  Structured meetings aren’t always necessary, but try to make sure everyone gets necessary messages.  Even consider a communication book in a place where everyone can find it!
5. Feedback.  Whether it’s simply telling them what they’re doing well or asking for improvement in certain areas, feedback is so necessary for an employee to feel engaged in their job.  Set regular intervals for feedback and make sure that if someone’s performance needs improvement in any area, you’re dealing with it right away.  Nobody likes to be doing something wrong and not be told about it for days, weeks, or months.  A simple, gentle conversation is all that’s necessary.  Tell them what they’re doing well and then what you would like them to improve and why.  Finish the conversation by reinforcing that they’re good at their job, but you would just like them to improve in this one area.
6. Education.  Get them out of the store and get them educated.  If you can, send them out to information sessions on customer service, sales, merchandising or anything specific to the products you carry.  Make it an event for them!  Ensure you’re also providing as much product knowledge as possible and passing on and sharing your passion for the product you sell.

There are lots of big expensive steps to employee engagement and lots of large companies invest millions of dollars into ensuring it happens.  That’s not always necessary.  As a store owner and manager, follow these six steps and the result will likely be happy employees who treat the customers as beautifully as you treat them.  

Big thanks for Kendall and Kristi for their great company and conversation yesterday!

Seasonal Merchandise

This week’s Flourish Tip was all about looking to large chain retailers to find out when to display seasonal merchandise.

Think of every holiday or end of season as a big expiry date looming over the merchandise.  After that date passes, the merchandise is no longer profitable to you.  You either need to sell it at a large discount or pay someone to pack it up and then have it take up storage space which you are also paying for!  Not to mention, it eats up inventory dollars for that holiday or season during the next go-around!

With that being said, earlier is often better when it comes to seasonal merchandise and your profits.  Obviously, this is within reason, as you don’t want to have Christmas merchandise in your store in July or Valentines merchandise hanging around in December, but you want to make sure that you’re giving your merchandise ample opportunity to sell before it’s “expiry date”.  

This is where large chains come in handy!  They have the research and experience behind them and it’s worth checking them out for a cue as to when to put out yours!  Visit a nearby mall for stores with similar offerings to your store and make notes about when merchandise is going out!

Here are some guidelines that will help you in the next few months.  If you have fall merchandise, it should be out for customers to view starting in August.  Even when the weather appears nice, people are thinking ahead to upcoming seasons and many want the newest and latest buys!  Christmas related merchandise should go out by November 1st.  If you are a retailer that doesn’t sell much Halloween related product, then once Canadian Thanksgiving is over, it’s your time to get Christmas in place!  Yes, many customers will comment that it’s early, remind them that it’s only a couple of months away!  And many will balance those customers out and start purchasing gotta-have-it items right away.

If you’re still not sure when to get things out, hire an expert!  And remember; adjust your ordering according to when merchandise needs to be in-store after your reconnaissance mission to the mall.  You’ll be happy you did!

Happy Selling! Need help creating amazing seasonal displays? Call or email us today!