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.

Tip of the Week

Ready for another tip of the week?  Ready or not, here it comes!

It’s not too early to begin showing off your spring merchandise!  If you have it in stock, get it out where customers can see it.

Spring display by Flourish at Cloud Nine Pajamas

Right now, your main focus may be Valentines Day or sale merchandise, but that doesn't mean you have to hide spring!  Customers will be excited to see something new, fresh, and promising of warmer weather, so get it out of the back room or storage.  It doesn't have to be in the most prominent spot just yet.

Happy selling!

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

Tip of the Week

Yeesh!  We've been out of touch for a little while!  Between the craziness of the holidays and a January wedding, you haven't heard from us much!  Here's a photo from the wedding for fun!

We're back and raring to go now, so here is your tip of the week!

If you don’t have a Valentines display, try pulling together a few things by the till.  If you don’t have Valentines merchandise, be creative to take advantage of the season!

Valentines is a fun holiday during the drags of winter, so be creative and pull together existing merchandise in your store with a simple sign for those who might be looking for a gift or decoration!

This store had no Valentines merchandise on hand, so we build this display!

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

Tip of the Week

That's right,

Now those of you that follow Flourishing Retailers can see the Flourish Design & Merchandising Tip of the Week as well!

This week's tip:

Remember to breathe and just focus on customer service this week. You'll have plenty of time to regroup and re-merchandise in the new year.

...Or next week... or any other time.  This week (especially Saturday and Sunday) is likely to be the busiest your store will get, so enjoy the chaos, forget about the day to day, and focus on amazing customer service!

Happy Holidays!

Interested in hearing more from Flourish?  Follow us on facebook, twitter, and Pinterest too!

Lollipop Love - Twisted Tissue Lollipops

I thought it would be fun to include some blog posts about creating props, so I've been waiting for a great prop project to blog about!

There's no sense in beating around the bush, so here it is...  The Twisted Paper Lollipops tutorial!






These Lollipops were created for a tree in Festival of Trees Edmonton (for the University Hospital Foundation), but could be used in a window display, candy shop, or for a party!  All you need to do is use your imagination... and get comfortable in front of the TV while you twist the tissue paper for them.

Supplies:

• Tissue Paper in Various colours, plan for approximately 6 pieces for a small lollipop and at least 10 for a large one
• Strong, sharp scissors
• Glue or strong adhesive of your choice
• Paper Plates
• Chopsticks or other sticks
• Cellophane if desired
• Tape
• Ribbon if desired
• Something to protect your workspace

Start by cutting your paper plates into desired size.  It helps to at least cut the lip off the edge, allowing the plate to flatten a bit.

 

Then begin twisting your tissue, one sheet at a time.  Plan which colours you want for each pop and twist according to how many you think you'll need.  It's faster and easier to twist first and glue later.

 

Next, it's time to get ready for glue!  Remember to protect your surface before adhering the tissue!  Twist the pieces together and begin by gluing in the center of your plate.

Rotate and twist around the glued down center, gluing every inch or so.  I used hot glue which adheres quickly, but beware: hot glue burns!  It's actually really tough not to burn yourself when working with hot glue and tissue paper.  I'd love to hear other adhesive suggestions in the comments section below, just not that double sided tape didn't work very well and I don't recommend it.

Keep twisting and rolling your tissue around (twist sections together and adhere with a dot of glue when you need to attach a new piece) until you reach the end.  Once you've filled your paper plate completely, finish it off with a dot of glue and trim the end.

 

Now you're ready for what comes next!  Some might want to leave them like this, others may want to just add cellophane, and I added a stick.  This gave them the traditional lollipop look and created some stability so that I could wire them to the tree.  It all depends on what you're planning for their end use!

 

I attached the chopsticks to the backs simply by breaking them apart and adhering them with electrical tape in white as you see below.

 

Wrapping them in cellphane is easy, just cut a piece large enough, wrap, and twist around the stick.  Then tie a ribbon around it!

 

I used curling ribbon to tie first and trimmed it down so that it would be easy to cover up.  I did this so that I didn't have to worry about making it pretty, I just needed to think about getting it tight.  Pretty comes next.

 

Next, I trimmed the cellophane at the bottom by giving it small snips and then tearing pieces off.  Last, but not least, tie it with a ribbon!

If I was going to use it somehwere where the stick could be seen, I would have painted the chopsticks white or purchased white dowels, but since the stick would be mostly hidden, a bare chopstick worked!  Boy am I glad I saved them...  Sometimes hoarding pays off I guess, wink wink! 

 

 

Use your imagination for colour combinations and lollipop applications!  Mine were in this tree, but yours could be used anywhere!  Just plan for an hour per lolli...  That's how long it took me, anyway!  If you have any suggestions for adhesives or speeding up the process, I'd love to hear them.  Otherwise, enjoy your new tissue paper lollipops!

 

Do you need ideas for props or displays in your store?  Feel free to contact Melissa of Flourish Design & Merchandising or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest!







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!

Designing the Customer Experience - Capital Ideas

A little while ago, I was flattered to be invited as a panelist to the Capital Ideas event (for the Edmonton Journal) called "How Do I Design a Great Customer Experience?" along with Kirsten Proulx and Jason Suriano!  It was an awesome experience and so much fun, so I wanted to share some of the key takeaways with you!

What's the most important thing you've learned about designing a customer experience?

• The customer experience begins before the customer even enters the store. -Kirsten
• Ensure you greet the customer -Kirsten
• Anything you can do to make shopping easy and exciting for the customer will really enhance their experience -Melissa
• If the product isn't acceptable to my team, then I won't bring it to the end user. -Jason
• I play the role of customer for my team. -Jason
• Tweet: @ABCraftAlert: Customer service starts before your customer even comes in the door - displays, signage, making experience easy to navigate #capitalideas
• Tweet: @Randwulven: #capitalideas If you don't enjoy the experience, why would your customer? @jasonsuriano
• Tweet: @_SoleRevival: Make it easy and enjoyable for people: Put natural "go with" items together on the floor - you said it, Melissa! Great tip. #capitalideas

Examples of a great customer experience

• Teamwork, consistency, branding, and environment help to create a great customer experience.
• Tweet: @ABCraftAlert: Inspire the customer and get them excited about the product. Then mix that with the store owners passion for the product #capitalideas

Dealing with "problematic customers"

• When a customer comes to you with a problem, be grateful that they've provided you with the opportunity to fix that issue. -Melissa
• "I'll often ask my team; so what did we do wrong?" -Jason
• A customer complaint can hurt because it's something you want to do well and take pride in, but I'm glad that the customer acknowledged the problem -Kirsten
• Tweet: @RyanGJMcGregor: Upset clients are not an imposition... They are an opportunity! #capitalideasYEG
• Tweet: @ABCraftAlert: There is no such thing as a bad customer. It's an opportunity to be a problem solver #capitalideas It's bad when you don't hear from them

Applying lessons from past to present

• There are two types of customers in the restaurant industy; the kind that wants you there all the time as a part of the experience and the kind that wants you to be invisible.  That directly applies to what I do now. -Jason

How do you motivate your sales staff?

• Treat your employees the way you want them to treat your customers. -Melissa
• Personally tell your employees that they're doing a great job. -Melissa
• I wouldn't inflict straight commission on my employees. -Kirsten
• The customers generally always come back if you provide them with a great experience. -Kirsten

The "treasure hunt" method of shopping

• The "treasure hunt" method of shopping does not work for everyone. -Melissa
• We have a baby boom in Alberta right now, so be sure to accomodate strollers and busy moms! -Melissa

Measuring the effectiveness of your customer experience tactics

• We watch to see if product sales change when displays change. -Kirsten
• The more sales you can track, the better. What can your POS system do? -Melissa
• Measuring customer responses has gone even more high tech than A-B testing.  We're using the gaming piece as an analytics tool. -Jason

The takeaway - What others had to say

• A "bad" customer is your best customer -Terry
• Responding to complaints online shows that you care -Terry
• Accept who your customer is and go with it -Tema
• Don't make assumptions about your customer, find out what's important to them -Tema
• From a retail standpoint, subtle changes in how you merchandise your products made huge differences at the till -Kyle
• If you have go-with items with a product it makes the shopping experience easier and quick for people -Kyle

Want to see more?  Have a look at some event photos on the Capital Ideas flickr page!  You can also read all of the tweets associated with #CapitalIdeas on the Storify page!  Would you like to hear more from Capital ideas and the panelists on Twitter?  Follow @CapitalIdeasYEG @FlourishDesignM @Henrys_PFT and @jasonsuriano by clicking on their links!