Post No.02 in the weekly newsletter series:
‘52 Steps to the Perfect Shop!’
You too can have ‘The Perfect Shop’ by this time next year!
The second stage of preparing our vision for our new shop is to consider the customer, both existing and potential new ones.
Certainly if you are a pureplay entering the physical world for the first time, or you already have shops but are locating in a new demographic area then capturing new customers will be a priority.
Either way, it is important to build into the vision and ‘purpose’ of your new shop, your priorities for either strengthening the positives of your existing good perceptions, or changing the bad perceptions of both existing and potential new customers.
This discussion should be part of the same ‘vision’ workshop for the new shop. However this time you must be armed, not just with your own internal opinions, but with accurate research of the customer.
A danger of retailing is that retailers exist in their own bubble. So important always to have research, and focus groups, so we really know what the customer thinks. Imperative when planning an ‘expensive’ new concept.
It is essential in all new initiatives to ‘look-in’ and ‘look-out!’ To marry our internal skills and expertise with knowledge and data from the outside world.
So armed with our external knowledge explore what are the good and bad perceptions that exist about your brand. Your new shop is an excellent opportunity to either strengthen or change them.
The chart shows some common perceptions, and from experience, ones that clients want to change. Certainly perceptions regarding, cost and value are important to consider. What type and quality of materials will you choose? It’s good to ‘box above your weight’ to add value to what you sell, but there is always the danger of looking expensive. Beware.
Market positioning is also very strongly defined by what customers experience in shops. Mis-conceptions about whether a brand is old or young, traditional or contemporary, dynamic or dull, will come directly from you not getting your new shop concept correct.
Everything from shop design, music, lighting to visual merchandising rhythms & displays, staff profiles and in-store services need to be considered very carefully to ensure that the perception matches the reality of the brand.
Allow everyone involved in the workshop process to contribute their opinions about brand perceptions, having heard the research. Listen intently to existing shop personnel, who already have a finer-tuned awareness of customers.
Let each person explore how what they plan to contribute to the shop will deliver the desired perception.
And so we have defined our vision and our purpose for our new shop. Keep this in your head, by your bed. Live and breathe it through the process of developing your ‘Shop of the Future!’
’52 Steps to the Perfect Shop!’
For everyone looking to improve their physical shops, or thinking of opening their first pop-up or permanent shop.
The weekly newsletters, and the 10 content modules they feature, have been created from my experiences of opening hundreds of shops, of all different sizes, situated across the world, selling just about everything there is to sell.
Every week we explore the sequential process of physical shop development to help you deliver your perfect shop.