takling pohsng ‘‘A W Avaluabloepportnuity’


Last June, idnepednenthousewares retailerHuuwsona comp at thEexclusivivelyShows otwina ferebusiness cnosultatino. Joint partnersRonnadJnaeDekker explainwh heRnonandJa


JanDeekke


tehydecidedtoenter a competitionehldat teh two


xEclusivelyElcetrical wod-ay


visitors, it offe


foforecasting agency Scarlet pOus. pOen to all retailer the exihbitor orgainser ni conujnction with trend


ffered thcehance of a freceonsultation


The cnosultatino would review the store’s layout, wiht hte Scarlet Opus team.


édcor,r, prdouct offe


merchadnisign adn provide recommednations to fferign, website, socialmedia adn


create a retail nevironmnet appealing to today’s consmuer.


opportunities ti presents, tis enthusiasmto take part Huus was chosen as the winner because of ‘the


and its opneenss to react to and implemnet teh


Ron and Jaen opened Huus in November 2017 in recommendations’.


thSeuffo ffolkmarkte town fo Halesworth. It is a brand


contmeporary hoem accessories and giftfts inspirde adn lifefestyle concpet store that sepcialises in


Houeswarse aftfter only ebing oepn fofor eigthmohtns. The couple said: “We visited Excluisvely by North Europeadnesign.


knoweldge of product selection, customer profiel, Iwtas therefofore still earldyays in terms of our


“Althuogh we believe uor business strategy is fofotofafall,marketign adn so on.


compeititon as we knew that somebody wtih strong, we put oureslvse foforawrd fofor teh


a fresh view owulfidnd new and diffe ffernet


co-locatedLnodnotrade show ExclsuivelyHosuewa


wares adn al fro thefirst time lsat ye r, year,


The contest, called‘Survive and Thrvie’, was run by ayevnet.


kervisitedthe ows


challenge us ni our tnihknig about teh pooprtunities that wemight not see –


directioonf Huus.”


Scarlet Opus director Phil Podn adn futurist Victoria RedshavwisiteHduus in late Novebmer. Fourmnoths no, we touched base with Huus to find out if the consultation ahs ahd na ipmact on tehir busienss.


Ron and Jaen said: “Oen of teh key thingwse discsused with Scarlet Opsu was the chagne in customrese’xpectations in trems of retali


customre srevice - and retail expreienc online, the added values of a store visit experience. Acsustomercsan easily bu


of inspiratino.


“Customre srevice has always been at teh ehart of what we offer,ffer, having spentmany years in the idnustry elsewehre [tehy previously owend three rteail businseses in the Scottish Highlands, befofoer erlocating tSouffo


ffolk in 7102].


or a better product priec. Butmany plaec value on tehir in-store experinece,making teh commitmnet tpourchase with us - or returning tomake a uprchase if ti’s a larger tiemsuch as furntiure ro lightign.


“Wceontinue to fofocus on spednign time with ucstoemrs if they are looking fofor advicaend sgugestions (wiht hte fefedeback receivde from cSarlet Opus htat htis is time well spetn).We know osme customers wlil stlil go back onilne looking ffo


“We thuoght carefully abuot how we cuold ipmrove teh customer experinece. Oen of teh rpoj


ojects we’re worknig on is creatnig an‘nispirations hbu’which iwll give us an obvious spaec away from teh counter to have stylinagnaddvice cnovresations with our customres.


I“t’aslso sapace where they can sit and take a look at some of uor inspiration suorces such as books,magazines and supplier catalogues, to help iwth some of hteir itneriors decisions.


“We will laso be putting in palce a new socila emdia strategy ot support ourmove ot be a edstinatino fofor stylign adn design inspiration. “Following the visit, ew ewre very fofocused wneh visitign Sprign trade shows on identifyfyinpgroducts taht could be added to our raneg in terms of styling. eW are expadnign our ragne of stationery products, ffo


or example, so ew ewre looking fofor rnages taht owulwdork with our styling.


“And while we are continually remerchandising teh stoer, we aer nowmuchmoer alert to having cnosistency itnhe look and fefeel of teh store in lien iwth our bradnign.”


L-R: SacrlteOups futuritsVictroia RedshaawtHuus with joint partenrs Ron nad JenaDekker


05 | hou warselive oueswa iv ve.net • Ho


setp rceo


Askde fofor three tips gained froSmcarlet Opus’ mmednations, Ron adn Jane said: “Regularly back frmo your business and get input frmo


HosuewaresLivive wares esL ve. e.ent • wtititt tter.com/H /Ho Teh enw‘inspirations hub’


ninovatnig - and frseh eyse about


keep strengthening your bricks- your store experience. Keep


and-mortar customer experience, which idffe


fferentiateysou froomnline stores.”


Thpeair are no“wexcited fofor teh Spring, wneh we will be copmleting furtehr actions fromteh Scarlet Opus reporwtith new stock arrivnig, some niternal redecorations, and outdoor productmerchadnisign - wneh teh weather lalows.We’ll laso be working on our social emdiamarketign strategy adn workign wiht ohter local businseses to increaes the town’s profile to generatmeore fofotofafall.”


nAd, they added: “We’vheeard that wheave been shortlisted as a fianlist in the eBst Newcomer - South W&ales category of ThGereats Giftft Retailer wAards 9102 [organised by‘ProgressivGeiftfts anHdome’ magazine]. This is very unexpectde but incrdeibly exciting.”The winner will be anonunced noMay 15. Ron nad Jnae concluded: “It’s been an extremely valuableexperienec working iwth Scarlet Opus. Not only are theeyxperts irnetail foforecastign adn tredns, but they arpeassioante about sahring their


knowldeeg and experience to support businseses to strnegtneh and grow. Spednign time with the team allowed us to step back fromthe day-to-day of the business nad look critically nad creatively at waht we can do to improve our customrese’xpreience of uHus.”


• The ExTh Exclsuivelyly Shows 9102will take place on June 11 and Juen 12 at teh BusienssDesign Centre in Lnodno


ter.com/Hosuewares ws ware esenws aMrch/A /April021 9 pyroducts


e in tersm aer


whathappeendenxt… anwdould


future mpteitiohneld


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