4 ways to improve your retail strategy

Malls. A fertile pit of loud advertising and over saturated consumers. The last refuge for ads that don’t bother connecting with their audience but prefer to shout at them. But even with all the mayhem, the retailers that take the time to understand how people shop will come out top.

Apple has become the poster boy for the retail space. With their big, open and inviting spaces, they always seem to draw big crowds. But there are several other retailers that do well in the world of malls and they all seem to do the same things well.

1. Sense of Urgency

My largest complaint with retail advertisers is that they feel the urge to add “a sense of urgency” to their ads. In reality, people walking through the mall do things on their schedule; not yours. If the sale ends in 15 minutes but they are straight broke, they probably won’t partake.

2. Confusing offers

If you are in charge of pricing, listen up. Professional advertisers go to great lengths to ensure that their messages are simple for the consumer to comprehend. They understand that in the retail environment, you have the time it takes for a consumer to glance at your poster to get your message across. That automatically means anything longer than “SALE 50% off” will be a complete flop. No one is going to stop and read “50% off only on select items after a Mail-in rebate and oh by the way if you buy this specific shirt in medium you will get $.50 off our hottest sneaker with a free sticker”.

3. The in-store environment

Your in-store environment, in my book, can do two things. It can have signage that educates the consumer on what they are looking at. For instance, at Bell stores, when you pick up a phone off the wall, the screen next to it automatically flips to information about the phone in your hand.

If your signage is not doing that, then it should be aspirational; Apple does this well. Apple makes you believe that if you get a Macbook you’ll be as cool as the Mac nerds in the store, make professional home movies, create bombastic presentations and flip through the coolest playlist known to man. Call me nerdy but some days I’ll walk into an Apple store just to admire it and the crowd that has come to massage all their products. It’s an orgy of optimism, technology and cool.

4. Empowerment

If you’re in a store, and the sales person is unwilling or unable to help, it is the greatest turn off of all. Most people (ie everyone who knows less about what you sell than you do) would rather talk to a real person than read a sign explaining a product. If that person can’t provide an appropriate level of service, you’re dead in the water and no sign can help you.

You’re number one job, apart from making pretty posters, is to ensure that your sales people are brand evangelists that can help your customers understand why you are worth their investment. Your shirts are organic, your phones are the latest and greatest, your computers make you look cool at Starbucks… Whatever it is, your sales people have to preach it and be able to deliver on it.

Beyond that, there isn’t much I can add other than simplicity is king and if you follow that rule you’ll be ahead of 75% of the pack. Oh and if you really want to succeed, I’d take an hour and sit outside your store to see how real consumers react with it.

Yes you, not your intern.

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