Business To Business Marketing Ideas

Reaching out and working with other businesses is a great way to gain new customers while also increasing sales and store recognition. Whether you are a children’s boutique, footwear store, women’s clothing boutique or furniture shop, partnering with like-minded businesses can bring unexpected value to your retail establishment. Your goal should be to think outside of the box with the purpose of partnering with businesses that have customers you believe would also be good customers for you. For example, if you are a men’s fine clothing store and there is a local high end gym in town, working together to offer incentives to each of your customers can bring you each new clients. Likewise, this same men’s store may benefit from working with a local dry cleaner or cigar bar. A children’s boutique may find value in working with a local dance studio, kid’s hair cuttery, movie theater or miniature golf course. Some ideas that can work for any business in partnering up include:

1. Offer a discount to another business through a coupon with any purchase at your business. Likewise, your partner business is doing the same for you.

2. Give an incentive, such as free gift with purchase, from your store at your partner’s business. Again, your partner business can do this for you, as well.

3. Introduce a loyalty program that overlaps with both businesses and rewards your customers with benefits from both businesses, as well.

4. Hold special events that both businesses participate in at each of your retail / business establishments in an effort to get introduced to new customers.

5. Stay loyal to your partner business through referrals and likewise, your partner business can do the same.

When introducing yourself, your business and your ideas to potential partner businesses, make sure to be friendly and professional in your delivery. Your objective should be for them to see the value in a partnership that will not only increase sales, but also provide a trusted friend in your local community of businesses. A phone call or email can make the initial introduction, however a face to face meeting to really nail down the details should take place.

Remember to be creative! The opportunities are endless in how and who you can work with to help your business gain new customers and increased sales!

Shopping With Visual Aides

Magazines. Celeberties. Coupons. Friends. The influence of consumer purchases can go on and on and on and on. You get the idea! Outside of needing something, one of the primary reasons people shop is influenced by visual stimulation outside of themselves. Maybe they like how something looked on their friend – now they want it. Maybe they saw a great purse in a magazine – now they dream about it. Maybe they received a coupon and it is burning a hole in their purse! Whatever the reason, visual aides literally influence why people shop. So rather than ignore this, jump on the band wagon. So what can you do?

Press

Want press? Of course you do. Have press? I hope so! If not, try and get some. By gaining press, potential consumers will learn about your product and ideally, buy your product. Not everyone who sees you or your product in the press will be a customer, but it can lead to conversations with others that may lead to sales as a result. In addition, one press piece can help encourage another press piece and so on. Press helps you. It’s your friend. It’s a visual aide that you can’t buy but will make people want to buy. And consumers? Whether they like the media or not, they are influenced by it. So if youcan, be a part of it.

Store Displays

What are the trends in your area? What is your target market doing for fun? What does your store do to capture all that and more? Using your store to create  visual stimulation through displays can attract new customers and keep old customers coming back. Make sure you keep your store front windows alive and fresh so that customers can be drawn into your store and more importantly, stay in your store. Capture them and keep them engaged visually. Merchandising is a challenge for some and a passion for others. If it isn’t your thing, get help from someone who is good at it because it can make a difference in your sales! Remember, the visual aides in this scenario are your store and your product – make them want what you have to sell.

Employees

While this isn’t true for all stores, the visual impact of your associates often influence your customers. Now don’t get me wrong - I don’t expect beautiful models working in your stores. But I do think well groomed, well taken care of individuals that represent the product you sell will make a difference. Customers see the associates and like it or not, are visually influenced. If you sell clothes and your associates wear your clothes, this is especially the case. Sell art? Your associates need to capture a sense of knowlege and be open for communication. Sell a service? Your associates should be easy to approach. And yes, looks do make a difference here. Visually, consumers will respond to people in different ways. Are your associates visually complimenting your store? If not, have a chat with all of your associates and see what you can do together to make this visual difference. Uniforms, dress codes, body gestures – this will all impact visual perceptions that WILL be made by customers or potential customers… It’s just the way it is.

Don’t ignore the many layers involved in how consumers shop. Visual impressions surround each of us everyday and ultimately will influence purrchases. Make them work in your favor!

Are You Selling Little Luxuries?

Recession or no recession, consumers love luxury. But not everyone can afford it. So rather than dwell on this, focus on how you can introduce “little luxuries” to your retail mix.

Have a home goods store? Highlight throw pillows and explain how a new couch isn’t always the answer but rather how pillows can do the trick. Sell footwear with brand savvy customers? Introduce similiar fashion at a third of the cost of other brands and show your customers pictures so they can see that they can get the same style for less. Have a little bit of everything in your store? Talk to your wholesalers about where you can get a deal from them so that your customers can, too. The idea is that you want to promote these little luxuries so that your customers get what you are telling them. Let them know that luxury comes in all shapes and sizes and if it’s perceived as luxury to them, that is all that matters.

My latest luxury? A marked down top that went from $150 to $45 at a favorite boutique. Sales count, too, here so don’ think that a cluttered rack of sales product isn’t hiding some amazing treats for your shoppers. Make it fun and remind them little luxuries can show up anywhere. Afterall, isn’t that what shopping is all about? We all want to feel like we have found our own little luxury.

The Impact of Store Lighting

Have you given much thought to how your lighting impacts your store? Lighting plays a very important role in showcasing your store merchandise as well as providing a great part of the design in your store. Where you use  lighting and why you use lighting will make the difference of a successful store layout versus an unfinished store layout. A few things to consider when thinking about how lighting can help your store includes:

1. Helps define overall store image

2. Highlights products and helps make them visible

3. Encourages purchases by visual enhancement

4. Helps lead customers into store

5. Allows for more enjoyable shopping experiences

There is no single store lighting formula that you can follow as a retailer to ensure you are using your lighting correctly, but the points above allow you to think about the lighting decisions you have made or need to make. There are, of course, a few more things to consider.

Accent Lighting

Accent lighting should be used according to your overall store assortment. If your store sells higher-end luxury items, it is ideal for you to use accent lighting to showcase these  items. More basic stores that sell a variety of products with less luxury items should use accent items to showcase sale items, new items or items that you believe need to be called out with special attention. The goal of accent lighting is to call attention to a few products versus everything in the store. Use only as necessary yet enough to make an impact on the products you believe deserve this attention.

High Activity Lighting

Have a store that gets a ton of traffic and sells a ton of different stuff? Using light to bring attention to areas versus one specific product should be considered. Think about a back corner that may not get the right lighting with simple overhead fixtures but deserves just as much attention as the rest of your store. Stage your lighting to focus on these entire areas. Don’t forget about tall shelves, back corners, entire display fixtures and all other areas that matter here.

Ambient Lighting

Ambient lighting refers to your overall store lighting, allowing for customers to get a general store overview through the lighting used in your store. An example of this would be one prominent light fixture hanging in the center of the store, such as a large chandelier. This lighting makes the largest overall impact, so make sure it doesn’t change the color of your product or make the store appear offset in store layout.

Case & Shelve Lighting

Have you ever shopped somewhere and had to struggle to see inside a case to view a product? This is what you want to avoid in your own store. All products should be visible, so consider using shelve and case lighting as necessary. Make sure that you do not have this lighting exposed in a place that customers may lean against it or tough it accidently, as it can get very hot.

Finally, whatever lighting plans you decide on for your store, make sure to change them as your merchandise and floor plan changes. The impact lighting will have on your store is as important as all the other steps it takes to run a successful retail business, so please make sure to review and review again these details as necessary.

Return Policies – Is Yours In Check?

Retailers have various return policies from no returns accepted to no return limits. For the most part, however, things are not so black and white – which, in my professional opinion, is a good thing. Setting up clear return policies allows your customers to understand that their purchases must adhere to your policies in case they change their mind. This doesn’t mean they can’t change their mind, but it means they should be responsible about their purchases so that you, as a retailer, can be responsible with your planning and inventory, as well.

Boutique stores often struggle with customers who want to return products weeks after a purchase. Because your inventory is not as deep as larger retailers, such as Macy’s, you typically cannot afford to accept returns too far after a purchase is made due to the fact that the product may no longer be on your selling floor as well as various other reasons.

In addition to controlling your inventory, you need to control your own checkbooks. If returns come in too far after originally purchased, your entire checkbook, so to speak, can get all messed up. We definitely don’t want to see you in a money hole due to returns!

Finally, the reality is that customers try and get away with everything these days. If you sell apparel or accessories, you may know this all to well. For those of you that don’t, here’s the scoop…. Customers sometimes buy things, wear them and then return them. Gross, right? Rude too. But none the less, it happens. Not all customers deserve this bad rap, but it’s because of these customers that we need to watch out for each other. So with these few points to consider, here are a few return policy tips:

1. Allow returns on all merchandise possible for up to a designated time frame. Typically, I reccomend 10 to 14 days maximum. People know within that time if they want to keep something or not, so offering more time just allows for them to push the limitations that you as  a retailer should consider (those mentioned above).

2. It’s okay to accept no returns on some purchases. On sale? Over a certain price? Personal item such as lingerie? Sometimes it’s okay to make a firm “sales final” statement. Make sure, however, that your customer is aware of this before their purchase. I suggest getting a stamp or other identifying factor to highlight this on the receipt and even having them initial your copy of the receipt and their own so that they confirm they understand your policy. A great site for stamps to help control all your retail needs, including a “Final Sale” stamp,  is www.rubberstamps.net.

3.  Identify your return policies in a visible place for your customers to see and review at their leisure. Dressing rooms and the check out areas are both great places to show these details. Double exposing these details is encouraged, too. In addition, when possible have your policy written out on your printed receipt.

4. Tags and other retail labels should be on the product for returns. In my opinion, there should be no exceptions here. You are not Target – meaning, you do not have oodles and oodles of inventory. Respect the inventory you do have and don’t accept returns on product that have the tags removed. No matter what the customer says, this indicates it was worn or used.

5. There are always exceptions. True to life, there will always be scenarios that deserve a little slack. But that is your call… not mine.  As boutique owners, part of the luxury of running your own show is that you can make these choices. Then again, that isn’t always a luxury since you can’t point fingers at anyone else. None the less, you call the shots. Just remember the shots called make all the difference.

Lastly, remember that every detail matters here. Make sure that a receipt is ALWAYS included with the return, as well. In addition, you should address all these details in a friendly, professional tone – it doesn’t need to be as if you are the return policy police. But do be clear so that your customers are clear. This will definitely save many headaches – both emotionally and financially – later for both you and your customers.

Re-Inventing Old Inventory

If  you are like most retailers, you are probably sitting on some inventory that has been around longer than you would like. You know this too well and most likely, your customers know this too. So how can you bring old merchandise new life? Here are a few tips to help you re-invent some products so that it has a new meaning to your overall product assortment.

1. Create gift baskets. Of course, this will only make sense if your store would be able to sell gift baskets. Consider grouping some products together and selling them in a package for one price. Retailers that are best suited for this type of selling include baby stores, gift shops, bath and body shops, accessory stores and general merchandise stores.

2. Re-arrange your floor plan to give the appearance of new products. Sometimes all it takes is moving your floor fixtures around and merchandising your products differently for your customers to think there are some great new products in your store. Time and time again I hear clients tell me they have customers buying things that have been on their shelves for months but because they re-arranged their store, the customer is now seeing this product for the first time. See how this may work for you.

3. Make a trade with another retailer. Have some retailer friends in another city? Reach out to see if other retailers would be interested in trading what isn’t working for you but may work for them for something that they would like to see go from their store, as well. Be creative with how you make this happen. Many retailers find great partners in retail friends through doing this, but it is usually best suited for retailers outside of your own community. If you don’t have retail friends like this, try and make some at your next trade show. They are great for a variety of reasons! And stay tuned – Retail Minded will be introducing a way for retailers to connect very soon!

4. Make your products an incentive with other purchase. In other words, have a table/rounder/bin of products you are looking to finally get out the door that are available at a discount with any purchase. Make the discount worth their wild, though. 50%, 60%, 75% off…. price to sell here! Sure, you may come out even or at a small loss – but the alternative is excess inventory sitting in your store and making no money at all on it… plus suggesting to customers that your product isn’t selling. No one likes to shop at stores that has a slow turnover of inventory (with some exceptions).

5. Merchandise your products in a new light with other products. Have a shirt that just isn’t selling? Layer it under this season’s hottest vests and see what it does for it. Think of new ways to sell old product through merchandising them with other products rather than highlighting them on their own.

6. When all else fails, ebay it. Craigslist, ebay and other online sites can give relief to retailers. Consider how this avenue may be right for you.

At the end of the day, the goal is to get your inventory out your door. If you are holding onto Fall 08′s products or older, you really need to figure out a way to sell them now. Start talking with retailers about a trade that will be ready and done for Fall 09. Re-invent your floor space through merchandising. Create package deals to sell old goods. Whatever you do, make it happen. Yes, easier said than done – but not impossible. Have ideas yourself? Let us know!

Merchandising Your Cash Wrap Area

If you are a retailer with a free standing store, listen up! From my personal shopping and professional retail experience, I have found that 99% of retailers do not use their cash wrap retail space to their advantage. In other words, they are losing the possibility of sales because they don’t merchandise product by where their customers “check out”.

Think of your local grocery store as an example here. When you are waiting in line, what do you generally do (beside trying to keep your kids in the cart, unload your groceries  or look for coupons)? For the most part, you look at the magazines, candy, and other little goodies that can be so tempting for an impulse purchase. Now maybe you hate that you grab an US Weekly every now and then (at least I hate that I do this), but the point is that you grabbed it and guess what? US Weekly, the company, is happy! They just made yet another sale. And so can you if you merchandise accordingly near your point of purchase area.

The idea when merchandising near your cash wrap is to encourage customers to buy something they weren’t planning to. This means that the retail value of this product should be low, ideally under a couple dollars and no more than ten dollars for most stores. Of course, there are exceptions here. If your product assortment is of higher retail value, than your point of purchase products can be higher than ten dollars, but they should be among the lowest price points in your entire store. Another thought – make sure that the products are small so that they don’t take up too much space in your cash wrap area. Finally, don’t clutter this space with so much stuff that your customers have no room to put their purse down, sign a receipt, and most importantly, lay their items for purchase down for you to ring up!

In review, consider these three points when merchandising your display area:

1. Merchandise a variety of products that will be tempting for your customers to buy last minute and on impulse. Examples include jewelry, lip balm, greeting cards, accessories and candy. Of course, this all depends on your overall store assortment!

2. Make sure price points of products merchandised on or near your cash wrap display are inexpensive. This will give your customer the quick thought of “yes I’ll get this” versus “too expensive – I don’t need it”. We all like a little extra something, so suggesting these products to your customer as they are standing in front of you about to check out is always a good idea. Just don’t be too pushy! No one likes that.

3. Don’t clutter your space so much that customers aren’t comfortable when they are preparing for check out. It’s no fun to have to sign a receipt with the paper half off the counter because there is no room. Give your customers space.

Finally, be creative. Each store has their own space, their own product, and their own approach towards display. Embrace all of this when deciding on how to merchandise your cash wrap the best way possible for your store.

10 E-Commerce User Friendly Selling Tips

Whether you have a traditional, free standing retail store with an online site to support it or just an e-commerce store, the tips below can help increase how long customers stay on your website, support sales growth, and improve the overall design of your e-commerce website. As a result, you should see more returning customers and more sales. This is, of course, the goal… Right?

User Friendly Selling Tips

1. Don’t use animation in your home page. It slows down the page and some shoppers lose patience when waiting for animation to finish loading and doing it’s thing.

2. Show new products, sale products, or featured products on the home page. This will offer a sneak peak at some of the exciting things you have for sale. Change this often, though! That is key to keeping returning customers returning!

3. All products for sale should be within 2 or 3 clicks from the home page. Don’t make your customers get “lost” on your site or have them work too hard to find what they are looking for. Make it easy.

4. Support all products with an accessible, visible “buy” or “add to cart” button. By offering a buy or add to cart button next to each item, customers won’t lose their urge to shop by the frustration of having to find out how to shop.

5. Offer a great search option on your site. Customers who know what they want can quickly type in what they are looking for. Customers who don’t know exactly what they want can type in key words. This is a win for everyone. In a sense, it’s your own personal store associate directing your customer to what they want!

6. Never, and I stress this, NEVER make customers register to shop to buy an item on your site. This will lose customers, period. I don’t care if you want more names for your mailing list – get over it and move on.

7. Give payment options. Visa, mastercard, PayPal, money order. Online merchants offer a variety of solutions for easy online payments. Make sure you offer more than one.

8. List any costs associated with purchases clearly. This includes tax, shipping, and anything else that you may need to charge your customer. Do not have hidden fees EVER. In addition, list all details pertaining to your privacy policy and security for purchases made.

9. Avoid a long checkout process. By eliminating mandatory registration, tihs will certainly help. In addition, summarize the details you need in a concise, clear, professional fashion.

10. When the deal is closed, give back to your  customers by offering a coupon or incentive for their next purchase. And of course, thank them for their recent purchase!

Finally, remember to update your site often. This includes highlighting products on your home page, changing prices to accomodate sales, and incorporating new, user friendly features that will keep your customers happy.

Social Selling Through Social Marketing

Social marketing has left a permanent impression in retail and wholesale marketing. The question is no longer ”what is social marketing” but rather “how do I social market my business”.  With so many options, it can be overwhelming to get started. The goal, however, should never get lost – which is to sell as a result of social marketing, therefore known as social selling.

Social selling is when sales are completed as a result of social marketing. It does not represent the hits you get to your site from your social marketing, however. It ONLY represents the sales that take place from the hits from the social marketing. Have I lost you yet?

Social Marketing 101

First thing is first – in order to gain social sales, you need to be actively participating in social marketing. This means you should have profiles on such social sites as Facebook, My Space, Twitter and LinkedIn. You should determine which sites are most valuable to you and your business by understanding which sites you will not only use the most, but use effectively. Personally, I don’t believe you have to do them all but you should be a part of a couple to be effective. That said, the more the merrier. But it takes time, so be realistic with how much time you have to dedicate to social marketing so that you don’t create profiles that just sit there.

In general, to be effective with social marketing you should do the following:

1. Update your profile often with news about your business, photos if applicable, contact information and general profile information as necessary. Do not create a profile and then just let it sit without updates. Update it. Tell your audience about news of your business, what is new to your store, recent merchandisnig changes, exciting plans for the future and more. That’s key.

2. Be involved in your social marketing. If you have a profile on My Space and don’t use it, it is no longer a social marketing tool for you. You must be proactive in using the individual social sites you sign up with so that you gain recognition from your profile.

3. Most profiles will allow you to invite or be invited to gain “friends”, “followers” or “connections”. Don’t just wait to get invited – invite away!!! Look around the site to find who you believe your business and yourself would connect with, then reach out to them. This is how new people learn who you are.

4. Sell yourself, not just your business. Whether your are tweeting or posting updates on Facebook, get a little personal with your connections. This is what makes social marketing social. You don’t need to tell the world about your lousy afternoon at work due to being in the red from too many returns, but you can let them know you are having a bad day. This makes you real and utlimately, more approachable. Find balance in what you share about your business, promoting sales, and sharing details about yourself.

Making Sales Through Social Selling  

For many of you, the opportunity to sell your business via e-commerce is great. Which is why social marketing is great. But in order for it to really be effective, you need to make sales from it. Otherwise, it’s a lot of time without a lot of value (unless you do it for fun, in which case this is more personal than business).

To help increase your opportunity for social sales, here are a few tips:

1. Announce new product arrivals or any other worthy news and monitor how much your traffic increases to your site as a result of your announcements. This allows you to also see sale increases during these times. It’s important to understand the relationship of sales and social marketing so that your time is spent wisely.

2. Offer incentives to your followers on your social sites that would make them want to shop with you. Give coupon codes for purchases made during a specific time frame, for certain products or just because. Track the purchases made as a result compared to your total number of followers.

3. Make sure your design details, check out choices, and the general user friendly options that your site  has are easily understood by your customer. If it’s complicated, messy in appearance, lacks professionalism or doesn’t “wow” your customer quick enough, you are losing your chance for a social sale.

4. Know your competition and what they are up to. Online retailers are opening up everyday and as a result, it’s a tough market. Are you making your store stand out from the rest?

5. Allow old fashion communication to enter the picture. Social marketing is an extension of plain old socializing, which in shopping is part of the fun! People are familiar with this and some are even more comfortable with this. Include your phone number and email address as options for customers to connect if Twitter and Facebook isn’t their thing.

You should be open to the both the fun and the challenges of social marketing to allow for social sales if you want to be successful with online retailing. It’s tough, though. And competitive. Not only does your product need to be great, but your website needs to look amazing, as well. A balance of everything can equal to a wonderful reward of social sales, though.

If you have social selling ideas that have worked for you, we’d love to hear from you! Please comment below.

Going “Green” In Your Store Space & Initiatives

Going “green” has left some people with the impression that you need to spend money rather than save money. Whether it’s in your home or for your business, the truth is that going green can be an efficient way to keep your pockets leaner while also providing support to our environment. Specific to retail, there are a few things to consider to help you get started in making your business green.

Cut Costs & Boost Efficiency

Doing your share to save the planet while also saving you money doesn’t have to be hard. Here are few simple first steps:

Reuse & Recycle – As a retailer, there are always opportunities to reuse things as well as recycle things. For example, retailers receive many boxes with packing materials that are often just tossed into dumpsters at the end of the day. There are times, however, when you need to send things out to customers or pack up purchased items to prevent possible damage. Rather than invest in your own packing materials, reuse what you receive from your own shipments. Often I hear from retailers that this looks messy, however I encourage you to simply explain to your customers with a note included in the packing that your store is dedicated to helping save our environment, therefore you reuse and recycle when possible. Another idea would be to use the boxes you receive for seasonal merchandising items, such as holiday displays or product fixtures rather than buy plastic storage containers.

Take a look at your specific store waste and see how you can better use it or when necessary, recycle it. If you have paper that does not include store sensitive material on it, then save it for kids to draw on while their parents shop or you could also use it for your own notepad. If you find people want to constantly toss their beverage containers away in or near your store, offer a recycling container for this. You should definitely recycle what you can’t reuse within your own store, as well, including paper, cans, and anything else possible.

Lighting – Investing in efficient lighting for your store should be addressed from both a presentation perspective and an environmental perspective. Consider how and why you use lighting, then determine which lighting methods will both support your presentation needs while also considering effective green lighting procedures. Energy saving light bulbs often cost more upfront than regular light bulbs, however you save money in the long run because they last longer and your energy bill should be less. Using energy efficient lighting is not only earth friendly, but pocket friendly, too, in the long term.

One of my favorite sites for lighting purchases is www.ecolightinguniverse.com. In addition, Energy Star offers a retail program designed for retailers that supports both lighting and other energy issues. You can check this out by visiting http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=retail.bus_retail.

Eco Products - Whether it’s the paint on your walls, the floor you stand on, or the insulation keeping you warm, there are eco options that you can consider when planning for your retail space.

PAINT

Did you know that indoor air is three times more polluted than outdoor air? Here I was thinking we were safer inside than outside with all the junk in our air from car exhaust, factories, and more! Consider painting your store with eco minded and non-toxic paint that will not only be better for the environment, but better for you. Many local hardware stores sell earth friendly options, so consider supporting your local neighborhood in these purchases.

FLOORING

There are some fabulous flooring options that also respect our environment. In addition, many of these options support high traffic areas, such as that of a retailer. A favorite business of mine that supports this is Eco Timber. Founded to both provide beauty to homes and businesses while also protecting the earth’s forests, Eco Timber respects the highest environmental standards in place for flooring. Their product is sold at various retailers across the country and their website can link you to these retailers by simply providing them your zip code. Visit www.ecotimbers.com to learn more.

INSULATION

Traditionally, fiberglass is used to insulate buildings. Over the past few years, however, eco friendly options have become widely available, allowing building planners to consider the environment (and their health since fiberglass is known to cause health problems) when considering their construction. A few options? Recycled denim, wool, icynene, and nanogel.A great article for detailed information on these options is on Inhabitat.com. You can view the article by linking to http://www.inhabitat.com/2006/08/10/lets-talk-about-insulation-baby/. Here, you will learn about each of these options and what may be best for your specific needs.

Finally, there are many, many more options to consider to help your business become green. Retail Minded will review more of these practices and share other suggestions with you in the future. But to help get your green foot wet, please consider evaluating how you can reuse, recycle, control energy, and eco support your floor space. If you have other green ideas that you use in your retail store or wholesale business, we’d love to hear from you! Please share your ideas and thoughts in the comment section provided below. Thank you!

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