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3 Dots Blog
Here’s Why You Need To Get Serious About Your Own Retail Customer Service And Engagement

Article by Bob Phibbs

Brick and mortar stores have the ability to surprise and delight. So does a downtown shopping area.

The sheer serendipity of walking into a store can present you with random points of view. Couple that with a retail crew trained in the soft skills of how to engage a stranger and you’ve created an engaging shopping experience.

Jeff Bezos said it best: "We don’t make money when we sell things. We make money when we help customers make purchase decisions."

And that’s true for both online and brick and mortar retailers, right? So what’s online’s Achilles heel?

People only buy what they came to the site to buy, and if you’re an apparel retailer, half of them will be returned.

Maybe that’s because Artificial Intelligence (AI) is only going to show them a slew of things they are expecting to see. There’s no serendipity...

And serendipity leads to higher sales.

The question is, when does this become the tipping point where shoppers return to physical stores?

Humans love the random discovery of something new or unexpected. No algorithm can predict what that item will be or when you personally will be ready for it.

But that doesn’t stop them from trying.

Customer engagement is all the rage in marketing circles.

Customer engagement is a connection between a retail sales associate as a representative of the brand and a potential customer.

How you manage that retail customer service interaction makes all the difference.

Many pundits are touting how to really engage a shopper; we are to bring all of the resources of Big Data to brick and mortar retailers.

But does that mean for example that a salesperson is supposed to grab a shopper in the underwear aisle and haul them to the cookware display because Big Data shows they bought a frying pan at the same time they purchased a pair of underwear? Does the kitchenware associate grab a frying pan and run to the customer in the underwear aisle?

Further, will the salesperson who knows your browsing history charge you more like online retailers?

An article entitled, How Online Shopping Makes Suckers of Us All states, “The price of the headphones Google recommends may depend on how budget-conscious your web history shows you to be, one study found. For shoppers, that means price—not the one offered to you right now, but the one offered to you 20 minutes from now, or the one offered to me, or to your neighbor—may become an increasingly unknowable thing.”

Right now the online shopper has the blind belief online retailers are on their side and brick and mortar aren’t to be trusted for low prices. In fact, 71% of shoppers believe they will get a better deal online than in stores.

But that simply isn’t so...

Checkout my recent price check of a vacuum cleaner on Amazon and the price fluctuations that one product has had over the past 30 days.

How do you compete with that?

Well first off-whenever someone states the online price is always lower - challenge them.

That said, you can’t feasibly change all your prices by week, or month, or hour nor can you charge more for the woman who drove a new BMW to your store versus the guy who rode a bike, but conceivably you could online.

Who has the time or the budget?

Oh right, online retailers have the technology that can do that in nanoseconds.  

Your poor website hasn’t got a chance if you think you can compete on price.

And in-store, the less you train your crew, the more price-driven you will become. But because you aren’t adjusting prices in nanoseconds, you’ll probably be charging less than you should.

The less profits you make, the less you can reinvest in inventory, merchandising, training and even yes, Big Data.

Retail is not dead, but brands are dying.

Scott Galloway from NYU Stern School of Business says, “Amazon has declared war — with the backing of 500 million consumers and a lot of cheap capital — on brands. And we will, using our algorithm, find you as good a product for a lesser price. Amazon will figure out in a nanosecond the best deal and most likely trade you into the highest-margin product for them which will be Amazon toothpaste." 

But customers still want and need engagement

You’d think customer engagement would be a priority in brick and mortar stores right now, right?

I was strolling Michigan Avenue in Chicago last month. While most store employees couldn’t say a word to shoppers, there were a few who tried.

At Saks, I was greeted in the men’s designer department, “How may I be of service to you?”

I thought, Get away from me, it’s not the 1800s. Customer engagement is finding a new way to get strangers to talk to me.

At Under Armour I was asked just after I walked through their door, “So, what brought you in today?”

I thought, My feet.

Yes, they were trying. I mean, at least they were using their voices.

When I went into Macy’s, I saw they were trying at customer engagement too.

They had a DJ in the men’s shirt display unit – with no one around. 

IMG_1682.png

Meanwhile, I walked through all of their men’s departments and passed their leftover sale clothes, and no one approached me.

No one.

As an aside, one of my Facebook fans, Shawn Fitzpatrick, reported an experiment regarding in-store music.  Their retail bicycle store stopped playing the music staff liked to listen to and swapped it for "feel good" music like Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Caroline, and Friends in Low Places using an online music service.  They reported a 40% increase in sales over previous week. Seems there might be something to it.

Again, it’s all about the customer experience, not what staff wants. Now back to my experience in Chicago...

While I was on the second floor of the Under Armour shop, a guy entered the golf simulator to swing a ball at a virtual course.

golf in retail store

Alone, he tried to figure out how to use it. I watched for five minutes and he stayed alone.  

That’s the best engagement those retailers could come up with?

Customer engagement helps people feel less alone. USA Today definedloneliness as “the feeling that arises when there is a gap between social interactions you want and reality.”

The most common complaint we still see in survey after survey of shopper pet peeves is “No one said a word to me, “Not enough employees to get waited on properly” or disengaged employees who do not want to serve anyone other than their phone.

That’s because we have an army of retail workers who have become mute.

That’s why you need to give your employees training so they get their own voices back. Once they do, they can become trusted advisors to shoppers.

Because online retailers are now beginning to use technology to try to get you to trust them.

The new Amazon Echo Look will now store pictures of you in your wardrobe and make recommendations for you. The app will provide an opinion based on criteria including fit, color, styling, and current fashion trends. All of the information being collected will also be used to help in providing future purchasing suggestions.

That’s pretty close to becoming a trusted advisor. And that’s pretty close to customer engagement.

But it still doesn’t add the magic of serendipity.

And if brick and mortar retailers don’t use their advantage of unexpected purchases, what happens?

They’ll squander their one big advantage and profits will suffer.

So with all these examples, I have to ask you...

What is it going to take you to get serious about your own customer engagement that leads to serendipitous sales?

Why should a shopper put more effort into shopping than you the merchant puts into creating a memorable – and by that I meanexceptional – experience?

They shouldn’t. But you should.

See also, What Do Shoppers Value and Want When They Walk Into Retail Stores?

In Sum

The way forward in retail will be a combination of stores and online to optimize the shopping experience and retain customers.

Scores of retailers are going to close – but it doesn’t have to be you.

You have to up your service game or you’re going to lose the game of retail. Retail sales training is still uncharted territory for many retailers.

They just don’t value putting money into the one physical thing that can most juice their sales - their employees.

Because of poor customer service and engagement in stores and online shopping’s endless aisles of products, shopping has been turned into just choosing things to use. Not new and different, but more of the same.

When the experience is as bland and boring as I had on Michigan Avenue, more and more shoppers will just let an algorithm choose.

And that’s a really sorry state of the future.

Take action. Hunker down. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Do what it takes now to get it done.

If you’re serious to compete in all of this chaos, let this post alert you to the real risks in retail right now. You have to focus on what the real problem is in your stores so you can fix them, rather than trying to treat the side effects.

I have a white paper that can help you, Bricks and Mortar Retailing at Risk in the Digital Age—From Silicon Valley to Main Street.

I call it my Manifesto because it sums up everything I believe is wrong with retail today (with some more figures to back it up), and how it can be fixed.

Mobile Repair Shop Opens Brick-and-Mortar Store

CARY, N.C. (BRAIN) — Retailer Matt Lodder operated a small home-based shop offering mobile repair services for eight years, and as his business grew he realized he needed a larger space. Lodder recently moved his repair and bike fit operation into a 1,400-square-foot space here.

The Cycle Surgeon stocks bikes from Yeti and Argon18 and continues to offer mobile repair services.

“The customer’s needs are important to me, so I will always do my best to meet them. If they are too busy or unable to come to the shop, I can bring my services to them,” Lodder said. “I offer on-site repairs as well as a pickup and delivery service. If someone needs emergency service, I can offer expedited turnaround.”

Lodder also said his shop’s small size lets him be nimble. “Being small allows me the flexibility to personalize your repair or fitting experience,” he said.

Lodder also stocks clothing, components and accessories. He worked with Holly Wiese and Andy Davis of 3 Dots Design on the store design. 

Published February 24, 2017

Rocky Mountain Retail Camp Recap

Rocky Mountain Retail Camp Brings a Great Group of Retailers Together

I’ve been doing a fair bit of reflecting on our first retail training session that launched last month in our hometown of Boulder, CO. We were lucky enough to have a great assortment of some of the top retailers in the US and Canada under one roof at the same time to share ideas, learn a lot and inspire each other.

It’s always interesting bringing a group of strangers together, from very different sized businesses with different philosophies and personalities. For about 3 minutes, people are shy around each other and then, as people open up, the fun begins. By the end of the workshop, it’s like we all went to college together!

There’s something that happens in this sort of a setting…when people are taken out of their normal routines, with different people, away from their regular daily responsibilities and are focused on one thing…how to improve the retail experience they’re providing and to realize that everybody there shares these same challenges. It pushes everybody out of their comfort zone, to step back and look at the habits that have formed over the years and to be open minded to new feedback and ideas.

Our training session focused primarily on visual merchandising and store layout best practices, with just the right amount of general good retail training. We shared about a million photos throughout the session, including an opportunity for the whole group to assess each other’s challenge areas from photos that were sent in ahead of time.   The whole crew did some hands on exercise in a local retailer based on all we had learned along the way.

Everybody left inspired to make their store a better place and to share what they had learned with the rest of the staff.   We all made some new friends, ate great food, shared loads of ideas and opened our minds a bit more than we had in a long time.   We didn’t sing Kumbaya together, but we did form a great bond with each other and created a resource that will be helpful for years to come as retail needs and consumer expectations continue to evolve.  

Great merchandising always sells more product and by the end of our workshop, this message had become loud and clear to all who attended.   I have clients tell me all the time that they know they should be merchandising better but they just don’t know how or where to start.   Our next session of Rocky Mountain Retail Camp in October is the perfect starting point…come ready to get inspired (and have some great snacks along the way!) We hope to see you there!

Learn more about camp HERE!

 

America's Coolest Running Shoe Walls

We're excited and honored to have several shoe walls we've designed featured in the article below, titled "America's Coolest Running Shoe Walls", from Running Insight.

CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE

Bicycle Retailer and Industry News Launches Minute Makeover Series: Episode One Floor Plan

Published July 15, 2016

by BRAIN Staff

LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. (BRAIN) — Retailers looking for ideas about how to tackle that nagging remodel project, spruce up their apparel departments or ramp their store branding efforts can tune in to Bicycle Retailer's Minute Makeover video series starting Friday.

The Minute Makeover series will cover everything from store layout and signage to effective apparel and accessories merchandising. A new video will debut each Friday through August 12 on youtube.com/bicycleretailer.

Jett Digital filmed the series with 3 Dots Design, Merchandising Werx and G3 Development Group, also partners in Bicycle Retailer's Retail Remodel Projects. The retail design gurus from 3 Dots Design and Merchandising Werx have also announced that they will hold a bootcamp later this year for specialty retailers.

The Rocky Mountain Retail Camp is scheduled for October 5-7, 2016, in Boulder, Colo., and will cover a variety of topics to help bike, run and outdoor retailers take their store from average to awesome. The camp will cover a host of topics and provide hands-on opportunities to learn how to properly analyze their stores and merchandise product, as well as time to dive into problem solving challenges specific to each retailer.

Besides retail design and merchandising, the camp will also cover topics like how to buy strategically, how to improve customer engagement and how to make financial sense of a remodel project. Gregg Frederick of G3 Development Group will cover these segments.

Registration for the Rocky Mountain Retail Camp is open now at rockymountainretailcamp.com. Tuition price includes a two-night hotel stay, meals and ground transportation in Boulder.

Episode One: Floor Plan

Good Merchandising Will Help You Sell Product

The Impact Good Merchandising Has On Your Sales May Surprise You

Have you ever walked into a hardware store or an auto parts store and stood scratching your head, wondering which direction to go to find that one tiny part or piece you need? Maybe you have found yourself in a retail or sporting goods store, trying to figure out where on earth to find golf balls or spikes & poles to set up a volleyball net for your July 4th bash. We have all probably found ourselves in situations similar to the ones listed above or other equally daunting tasks at one time or another.

What is the one thing in all the above circumstances that could make finding that 'needle in a haystack', so to speak, a little less frustrating? The answer is MERCHANDISING! When you walk into a large store, finding something you need or finding a salesman to help you out are difficult tasks. However, with effective usage of signage throughout an establishment, store navigation and satisfied consumers could be as simple as color coding or placement.

Another effective way to merchandise products in a way that may encourage customer purchases is through proper presentation of apparel, household items, sporting goods, etc. on well-designed, merchandise-friendly racks and fixtures. A well-placed wall fixture or specialized product rack, coupled with colorful, eye-catching signage promoting price points and other pertinent information could be the difference between a buyer and a browser!

With so many retail options and different product types being thrown at us through media representation, whether in commercial form, print ads, or internet sales & promotions, sales establishments need to present their best face through well-thought-out merchandising and advertising techniques and budgets. The impact good merchandising has on your sales will not only surprise you, it will make your customers happier, therefore increasing the likelihood of high sales retention and customer loyalty.

 

2015 TRE Re-Cap

Another TRE in the books…

We jumped so quickly in to the holidays after this year’s TRE, I didn’t get to post my thoughts on the event. Here’s a quick re-cap…

The Running Event has come to be one of our most important industry events of the year for our business and along the way, we’ve made a whole lot of good friends as well.

It was exciting to unveil the positive results of the first annual Great Store Makeover to the whole industry on day one of the seminar sessions.   We shared some behind the scenes insights about how the transformation actually took place, all while the winning store, Independence Run & Hike, stayed open for business!   During the Q & A session with the store owner and manager after my presentation, Brion After (store owner), shared that much to his pleasant surprise, not only were his customers patient with the construction mess in the store, many of them didn’t even seem to notice as they hopped over piles of sawdust and equipment throughout the store to get to their favorite shoes or apparel in the midst of the chaos!

  

The Big Reveal video is posted below so you can see for yourself what an impact we had on the store during this transformation.

https://youtu.be/k0NIPqopSEw  

In addition to making this presentation at the show, I got a chance to hear podcast guru and public speaker, Scott Stratten.   He spoke much about how the single most important thing driving your success in business is your relationships. Period. And, Scott, I have to agree with you on that one.   At the end of the day, if a client doesn’t like you, they’re really not motivated to do business with you.   I look forward to listening to more of Scott’s point of view in his regular podcast ; “Unpodcast”

I also gathered lots of insight from running industry veterans during a roundtable session I participated in about “The Store of the The Future”. This was an open forum discussion where store owners shared ideas of how they are working in their stores to drive retail traffic, keep people in their space longer and getting them to continue coming back.

 

Of course walking through the trade show and seeing new product is always inspiring, as is catching up with old friends along the way and sampling the endless culinary options in Austin’s restaurant scene right out the front door of the Convention Center.   Our favorite hole in the wall finds this trip included Stubb’s BBQ and Koriente, a virtual goldmine Asian rice bowl establishment that certainly delivered to all the 5 star ratings it had online.

We left Austin feeling exhausted, inspired, invigorated and ready to dive in to the many specialty store remodel leads we had in our notebooks. Right after we take a nap, that is…

Looking forward to doing it all over again in 2016 in the new venue of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.  Hope to see you there!

Silent Salespeople: Effective Retail Signage

Silent Salespeople: Effective Retail Signage

 

An effective signage package can not only bring customers into your store, but it can tell them where to find what they are looking for, alert them to bargains, and introduce them to new items. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your retail signage.  

1. Outdoor Signage:  The first thing potential customers see is the outside of your retail space.  Keep your store signs clean and maintained to give customers the best first impression of your business.  Their expectations will be based on what they see first.  

2. Department Signage: Large departmental signs placed high above the floor lead customers to the area they are looking for.  Listing a sampling of products in each department helps take your signage one step further to help customers that are seeking particular items.  

3. Directional Signs:  Use these signs to direct customers to the restroom location, and to give directions to the registers.  

4. Service Signs: Tell customers about special services that are offered by your business, such as white glove delivery or special orders.

5. Color and Readability: The most visible colors for text are black, white, and red on backgrounds that are the opposite.  Make sure that letters are large enough for customers to be able to read.  We suggest 1 inch for every 10 feet of viewing distance.

6. Maintenance:  Make sure to care for signage, as tattered, worn, and unclean signs can drive customers away.  Your signs represent your business.  Handwritten signs are mostly useful in instances where there is a special for that day only, as they offer a sense of urgency to shoppers.  

Use these tips to create the best signage package for your business, and you will drive in new customers and draw more attention to your retail space.  

 

 

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