Intimo più mare n° 200 - Luglio 2015

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
A recent conference held at the Who’s Next fair by RSO concept
dealt with the subject of How to differentiate oneself in today’s retail
landscape in order to obtain better performance in the future.
“RSO concept is concerned with training, exclusively focusing its efforts
in the field of retail”, explained Sophie Pereira during the conference.
“Our approach is based on two observations. Currently, the traditional
retail community, assailed by both the nagging financial crisis and
competition from on-line vendors, finds that it has to reevaluate its sales
and services strategy. There also exists an unfortunate lack of knowhow
on the part of the sales personnel. According to an Ifop survey
commissioned by the fédération française du prêt à porter féminin
only 4% of consumers have faith in the sales staff while shopping”.
In order to respond to these new needs RSO concept has come
up with different approaches for different problem areas, such as
managing the sales tactics.
“In other words, in addition to having developed training approaches
focused on the actual world of retail sales and conducted by expert
industry members in the fields of fashion and retail,” added Sophie
Pereira, “we have included an exclusive specific contribution of our
own, namely image consultation. Having conducted numerous studies,
we observed that knowledge regarding styles of clothing and the
different human morphologies, together with sales techniques, tend
to generate a significant advantage, a powerful increase in terms of
sales indicators.”
But just what is image consultation and sort of impact does it have
on sales?
“Image consulting is a form of assistance in terms of improving the
image of the store,” explained Sophie. “It renders more credible and
improves the image in order to more effectively communicate. It takes
into consideration the personality, the environment and the context
in which the whole retail process takes place. In the specific context
of a retail store, it enable customers to acquire greater knowledge
about what is most flattering for them, in particular, regarding the
most appropriate style of clothing, the selection of colors, shapes,
fabrics and prints, not to mention the best choices when it comes to
the important issue of accessorizing.”
Just how does one make effective use of these elements?
“Careful and objective observation of a customer’s morphology plays
a crucial role when it comes to providing effective service,” explained
Sophie. The people working in a shop have to become aware of how
important it is to observe a customer while she is shopping and making
a purchase decision. Every effort must be made to provide the sales
staff with new tools which make it possible to increase store sales.
It is also necessary to make the most of the sales team by offering
an exclusive special service, such as custom-designed consultation
based on an accurate analysis of customer morphology.”
What are the benefits of image consultation?
“This practice transforms the shopping process into a session of
customized coaching,” explained Sophie. “Basing the sales choice on
a customer’s individual look (shop by look), taking into consideration
the customer’s figure and making the most of it is able to help the
customer overcome psychological complexes.”
And what is the effect on sales?
“For the customers, surrounded by an array of products that hard
to take in, customers confused about matters of image, the main
objective it to identify the customer identity (customers often feel at
a loss when shopping), explained Sophie. “By means of customized
consultation a shopper feels valued and flattered, assisted in the
task of achieving what she dreams of being. In this way one is able
to generate customer loyalty, creating a unique relationship in which
the customer feels privileged. By adopting this practice it is possible
to build a data band and create a book for each individual customer.
Free consultation is a free service, a key element in differentiating a
store from the competition.
For the sales staff the goal is create customer loyalty, transforming
them into ambassadors for a brand. One must endeavor to sell more
than a mere product, but rather a moment of emotion. Create a relationship
based on the concept of a partnership: encourage the sales
staff to participate in the growth of the store or a label. Train the sales
staff; imbue their job with the character of a career by making them
into experts. Motivate the staff and cut down on turn-over. Be able
to analyze the customer profile, presenting he with a style in keeping
with her tastes, her needs, her dreams and her lifestyle.
For store owners a worthwhile recommendation is to create a customer
data bank; this make it possible to suggest products, offer
reductions and carry out intelligent markets based on the personal
style of the customer.
The basic goal underlying all our various types of training efforts is
to to boost sales, generate customer loyalty and be able to offer new
services, but also to value and motivate the sales team, offering a new
sales technique based on discovering established tastes and putting
the staff into a position to propose new and different items likely to
appeal to a certain customer.”
Another special feature of RSO concept is customized consultation.
“In effect, every store has it particular set of problems and challenges,
as well as its values and, above all, it unique individual DNA,” explained
Sophie. “And it is important for us to adapt and tailor our contents
to suit the specific needs of each one of our customer retail outlets.”
RETAIL STAGING
There are various strategies which represent an investment in the
future and have to do with the image of the store. One of these is
called Retail Staging. It was presented by Sébastein D’Évry, an expert
in the areas of layout and concepts for stores, at the most recent
edition of the Parisian trade fair, Who’s next, in a spaced called The
Retail Expert Club.
“The first two questions which today’s retailers should be asking themselves
are who are we and what are we doing,” explained Sébastein
D’Évry. “Retail business is basically very simple. It boils down to the
ability to convince someone that a product offered for sale is worth
the effort of purchasing.”
Then, of course, there are a whole raft of other factors that come into
play, such as the positioning and structure of the store and identifying
the target customers.
“You have to ask yourself just who you are, how you got involved in
the shop, what your story is and your business experience,” he told
the retailers present at the meeting. “How best to operated, who are
the store’s customers, how often they come in to shop and how often
they actually make a purchase. This entire amount of accumulated
experience and knowledge should be evaluated at the time one opens
a store. The concept of a store goes well beyond questions of decoration.
One must also take into considerations variable like how many
are working in it. Are you alone or assisted by a sales staff? How many
people are there in the store? The sales staff has to assimilate this
new concept and incorporate it into the way they work. The store has
to mirror the personality of the person who has created it. In order to
win over a new customer it takes at least a week’s time. Obviously, in
tourist or holiday destinations, where the public changes constantly
over the entire course of the year, it’s a greater challenge for stores
to develop customer loyalty.”
Each time a customer walks by a store, what can be done to tempt
him to come in? And what can be done to make sure that once a
shopper walks into a store that he will come back?
“The activity inside of a store is the same as the purchase of a house,”
he explained. Already from the first time they walk into a place they
know if they want to buy something or not. When it comes to a store,
first and foremost the space has to be accessible with the possibility of
coming in and going back out easily. The first means of communication
is obviously the window; so it should be carefully studied. There are
those who put on display the greatest number of products possible
in order to show everything that’s in the store. Today, the majority of
stores display samples of everything they carry inside the store, with
the end result that people can’t see anything due to the confusion
of goods. When there is too much merchandise in a window it’s as
if it were empty. Product require space and must also be visually
accessible. A shopkeeper should be able to pull out something new,