The Brick-And-Mortar Store: Creating A Personal Experience
It’s something that’s been forgotten about in the modern day. As it’s easier for customers and businesses alike to go online, we see the impact of this in the city centers around the world; stores are shutting up shop and making the move online as a way to survive. But, if this is how so many businesses are doing it now, does this mean that the brick-and-mortar setup is extinct?
It’s not. In fact, retail is making a comeback due to one important component, the experience.
So if you are considering setting up a brick-and-mortar store, what are the essentials you need to think about?
The Right Ambassadors To The Brand
It’s not just about getting a team that’s passionate about the business, but it’s about having people on board that inherently understand what you’re trying to accomplish. We see it all the time, those that are working a Saturday job and have no interest in being there. When we want to cultivate people that are ambassadors of a brand, not only do we have to compensate them effectively, but we have to nurture their abilities.
What can be difficult to achieve these days is the right caliber of worker that can engage on a more human level, as opposed to online. But the right team can help everyone work together in this aspect, so everyone can improve.
Creating An In-store Experience
Much like designing a website, it’s about how the space can be navigated. It’s not just about how it looks, but it’s about how it feels. You can design a space to communicate the brand and the styles, but you also have to think about making the customer’s journey throughout the store easy and effortless. Like that little trick where you place candy by the cash register because this spikes impulse purchases. When you’re looking to create an in-store experience, it’s as much about getting the right flooring company to implement the best material as it is the positioning of the products. It’s all got to work together to create a sensory experience for the customer.
Work With The Customer
And while we can do everything in our power to subconsciously nudge customers in the right direction, we’ve got to be open and receptive to any criticisms they have of how we operate. If our experience has been online, we thrive on detailed messages, but when the customer wants to complain about us to our faces, this can be quite a shock.
Whether it’s online, over the phone, or the person, we have to work with the customer to reach a satisfactory conclusion. And if we manage their expectations, and we get the problem solved but we overcompensate, we may guarantee their return custom.
While retail is coming back in physical form, it’s still an arena for the bigger brands, while the up and comers are still keeping themselves exclusively online. It’s a challenge for any new business to open up a physical store because it can be argued that there’s more money to make online. But let’s face facts, people still need to go somewhere to buy things, it hasn’t died out just yet!
© New To HR
