PHIL POND IN THE SHOP WINDOW
Phil Pond, Consumer Insights Manager, Scarlett Opus Ltd In the Shop Window
What is the silent salesperson all retailers have? Phil Pond shares his insights of a hugely powerful sales tool that we just aren’t exploiting.
Displayed at this year’s Flooring Show was a feature billed as the Flooring Shop of the Future. The reference to the future was simply that the shop doesn’t yet seem to exist anywhere in the flooring industry. It was more accurately, a vision of how a flooring shop might look if it was designed by or, much more importantly, designed for the consumer.
When consumers want to refurbish a room or entire house they’re looking for support, inspiration, ideas and perhaps, confirmation. While many people head to the internet and platforms such as Pinterest to gain this, they also need to feel assured that you can offer this as well.
So what’s the most effective resource that retailers all have, but is very often under exploited? That’s right it’s the shop window. This element is what really captured the most attention at the flooring show’s mock shop.
Your shop window is your silent salesperson and has the potential to be your best performing salesperson, every single day. Never taking time off even when the shop’s closed.
The street facing windows of independent Retailers are powerful marketing tools, too often wasted and the first point of contact with customers. If what you have in your shop window is simply the products that you sell then you have missed the point entirely of the window’s job in your company.
In the modern retail world your shop window is a Storyteller; it’s your silent yet most engaging salesperson. It’s often in an unspoken conversation with your window that a customer decides whether, or not, to come into the space where you
stand a chance of helping them to make a purchase.
Your window needs to resonate with customers. It needs to shout at passers-by: “Hey! Inside this place is where beautiful homes are made, great ideas are stored and some stunning floors are stocked!”
If all you have placed into your window are product samples, lecterns or such like, then all your silent salesperson has to whisper is: “This is a flooring shop.”
You need to tell a story in your window that connects you with the fashion, interiors and design world as well as the local shops in these sectors, which do follow the trends. In this way you can let customers know that you are aware of what’s hot and what’s not, what colours are desirable and what the style of the moment is. If you know these things then the customer can have confidence that you are able to help with the scheme they have in mind.
For some ideas why not create a stunning room-set in the window; a family activity scheme, a scene that has flooring in an unexpected place or being used in an unexpected way.
As many customers look towards Pinterest for inspiration why not try it yourself? Flooring retailers not familiar with this online app are missing out on bucket loads of free, relevant business intelligence. On this platform consumers share their aspirations, likes and dislikes, wants needs and desires in pictures. Pinterest will give you a great deal of information about what interior styles are popular and also a glimpse into the future of where design styles are headed.
20 | Winter 2016 Tomorrow’s Retail Floors
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