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It's
not what you think. . .
A
recent Canadian survey* found that despite the millions
of dollars spent on celebrity advertising, fashion magazines
and other marketing, 52% of shoppers get their fashion
inspiration directly from retail stores. The influence
of friends and word of mouth account for another 27%.
That is to say that 79%, a huge majority, of your shoppers
count on the advice and influence offered in your shop(s).
In turn, you depend on you and your employees giving
that advice to draw customers back to your store. Those
statistics may illustrate the key to your store's success
and growth.
The
survey continued to uncover the various motivations
that spurred a customer to buy. What was it -- fashion,
fit, service? The largest response, a full 40%, of both
men and women said they felt more attractive and confident
wearing fashionable clothing. Meanwhile, over 25% admitted
they wore some trendy styles because they were in fashion
-- even though those styles did not look good on them.
Knowing
your customer and serving him/her accordingly should
structure how your business operates. It would be wise
to find ways to instill fashion knowledge into your
sales people. Share with them what you've seen as trends
when buying, subscribe to a couple of fashion magazines
to have in the store and have fashion discussions as
a part of your team meeting. All these are ways to keep
your client base happy and growing. For more ideas,
consult with your Winning@Retail consultant.
*"Fashion
Victims", Viet Nam Airlines "Insight"
magazine, Oct/Nov 2005, p. 68.
Keeping an Eye on the Business
Here
is an interesting adage to consider: Almost every part
of every business will become obsolete. It is crucial
to implement a methodology, such as Winning@Business,
to identify when these transformations are occurring
and to implement changes to keep the business alive!
There
are business processes that have lasted many years that
may no longer be the only ones suited for your particular
business; they need to be re-evaluated and compared
to other workable solutions. A couple of examples are
instituting incentives for performance and taking markdowns
to clear out old goods. These may still work but there
are other alternatives that may work better for you
now.
Some
processes become obsolete because of market demands
or by evolving expectations of the workforce. One example
that illustrates these forces is management by tyranny.
Too
often business owners or executives spend money to prop
up ideas or products that have gone bad. Winning@Retail
can help a retailer identify the trends that are fading
and must be replaced. Winning@Business provides a process
for businesses to establish the measurements needed
to determine whether business practices are becoming
obsolete.
Make
sure your business has the right objective measures
in place to know how effective all your actions and
products are!
Another Shining Star
Style
Channel features a show called "How do I Look?".
It's basically a makeover show to help people be more
stylish and look good. Recently, the contestant was
taken on camera to the Lisa Klein boutique in Los Angeles
to work the fashion magic. Lisa Klein is a client of
Errol Chavkin in LA. Congrats to LK and EC!
Quote of the Day
"Remember
that the six most expensive words in business are: 'We've
always done it that way.'" -- Catherine DeVrye,
business writer
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