Making the Most of a Small Boutique

Boutiques are usually located in small retail spaces. Making the most of that space can have a real impact on the success of your business. Selling what you want to in your boutique can be challenging because there is usually just not enough room to fit everything. You can cram it in, but it takes away from the atmosphere and appeal, which is exactly why people want to shop there. However, if you go at it in the right way, then you can really maximize the use of the space that you have and make everything more visible than it was before, optimizing the shopping experience for your customers.

Do you have a lot of crowded garment racks? If they get too full or if you have too many of them, they can really make your boutique look like a sea of things that nobody wants to dig through. Garment racks are great for displaying clothing, but you don’t want to fill them completely up or put them too close together. People don’t like to be back to back with other shoppers while they’re digging through to try to find their size. In fact, people don’t like to dig through even to look at what you have. So, you need a space saving solution.

This solution is slatwall. You can install slatwall panels on every wall of your store. This one change can change your entire store. By using slatwall, you can display your clothing and accessories however you like. You can have them facing outward. You can have them lined up on a hanging bar. You can use hooks, shelves, brackets, whatever you need. Slatwall accessories are very inexpensive and are very versatile. You can move them around anytime that you’d like. This can help you to uniquely display new or promotional items and accommodate more merchandise.

By using the vertical space, you free up floor space. Using slatwall is a versatile, cost effective option for creating space. When the vertical space is used, you can start using more of the horizontal space by using longer brackets and deeper shelves. You won’t even notice the tiny bit of extra space that it uses. You can make your displays more dynamic by hanging mannequin forms directly on the wall. You can fill in holes by spreading out your brackets, shelves and bars. You can make more room by fitting things together more tightly. You will have achieved what every retailer strives for, and that is to always look fully stocked and never crowded, despite how much you have to display.

You can truly make your boutique into the area you’ve imagined without sacrificing the amount of merchandise that you sell or having to upgrade to a larger retail space.

About the Author: Ron Maier is the Vice President of S & L Store Fixtures, a leading online resource for retail displays, including mannequins, dress mannequin forms, female mannequins, slatwall and slatwall panels. For more information, please visit http://www.slstoredisplays.com.

How to Design a Store Display

Designing an effective and dynamic store display takes some practice and probably a little research. Use these tips to give you ideas and guidelines to follow. Using these tips, you should be able to purposefully create your own boutique or retail displays with your goals in mind.

1) Remember to think about what looks good. It sounds silly, but aesthetics are very important. Your displays give people an idea of what your store is about. They are making judgments about your store from the moment that they lay eyes on it. Think about what they need to see and feel to be inclined to make a purchase.

2) Customers need to trust you. As soon as they see your initial displays, by the door or in the window, they have made a decision in their brain about what they expect inside. If you have a lot of huge bright sale signs, they expect less customer service and lower prices. If you have delicate displays full of detail and personality, they expect to be treated as a unique individual, respected, and appreciated. They even expect higher prices and are willing to pay them. If your racks are in disarray or cram packed with tons of clothing, then they will see you as a company that doesn’t care about their shopping experience. They will be going in with a bad attitude, almost looking for one more thing that’s wrong to give them an excuse to leave.

3) Think about what grabs attention, and what will help you to make sales. People like to see clothing displayed in a way that they can imagine themselves wearing it before they decide to go try it on. People develop connections with their clothing, almost like a relationship, and they want their clothing to say something about them. For this reason, giving them a way to see themselves in the clothing is a very powerful tool. The most powerful display method in history is the mannequin. Now maybe you can understand why! You can also use mirrors, have plenty of dressing rooms available, and urge your staff to tell someone when they think that something would look good on them. Remember to be honest about it, people don’t like empty flattery. When they shop at a boutique, they expect honest fashion advice.

4) If you don’t have room for a mannequin at every display, think about using slatwall. Slatwall is comprised of multiple slatwall panels and you use slatwall accessories to display your merchandise. You can spread everything out so that customers can directly see what all you have to offer. You can use lightweight molded mannequin forms to display clothing on the wall, all while saving space on your sales floor.

About the Author: Ron Maier is the Vice President of S & L Store Fixtures, a leading online resource for retail displays, including mannequins, dress mannequin forms, female mannequins, slatwall and slatwall panels. For more information, please visit http://www.slstoredisplays.com.

Get into your Customer’s Head

Having a deep understanding of the expectations and motivations of your customers can really give you an advantage. You may be surprised at what it takes for a person to decide to buy something. There is a deep process of affirmations that must be met before someone will decide to part with their money. Using this knowledge, you can design your store around the customer’s needs. You can train your staff to provoke the feelings that a customer must have before they decide to buy. Customers are savvier than you might think, and there really isn’t a way to ethically “trick” someone into buying something. But, it doesn’t hurt to point out the things that you know they need to consider before they’ll decide to buy.

First, they have to like the type of merchandise that you sell. If you are a small retail store, like a boutique, then you have a real advantage here. Smaller stores have to really focus on one specific target market. They can really get close to their customers and learn how they operate. They can create long-lasting relationships with customers that larger stores simply can’t. Make sure that you are using this huge retail advantage. Develop relationships with your customers. Keep in contact with them on social networking sites, publish a newsletter, or send out monthly mailers. By getting to know your customers and their tastes, you can make more educated decisions on what you decide to sell, really focusing in and becoming an expert in one area.

The next thing to think about is your knowledge. Customers have to respect you and get respect in return before they’ll be comfortable buying something. Let them know that you have a knowledgeable staff. Make sure that your staff is trained well on specific products and brands. Offering unique knowledge or benefits of your merchandise to customers will keep them coming back and help them to feel like they are in control and making an informed decision for themselves.

A lot of people shop for relaxation or for the excitement of buying new clothes and accessories. They get excited because the things that they find will help them to define who they are to others. Whether their style is sporty, eclectic, refined, or totally unique, they feel the need to define themselves with their clothing. Making their shopping experience what they hoped it would be will help you to sell them the items that make them feel good about themselves.

Make sure that you display everything where the customers can easily see it. Using slatwall is one way of displaying all of your merchandise facing outward, towards the customers. People can see what types of things you offer simply by walking by. If they don’t have to dig through a rack or sift through a table, they can simply look and see multiple items that you sell. Slatwall panels are useful for making use of odd spaces in your store, making free-standing displays, and helping you to carry as much merchandise as possible without distracting customers from what you have to offer.

About the Author: Ron Maier is the Vice President of S & L Store Fixtures, a leading online resource for retail displays, including mannequins, dress mannequin forms, female mannequins, slatwall and slatwall panels. For more information, please visit http://www.slstoredisplays.com.

Great Customer Service

Good customer service is a must in a boutique. One bad review can have a great impact on a small business. Customers look for customer service while they shop, especially if they are in a boutique. Concentrating on customer service should be one of your main objectives. Customers’ reviews will help you to grow your business, spread the word about your store, and lead to more. These tips can help you and your staff to consistently provide the excellent customer service that your clients crave.

Get to know your customers. Recognizing them when they come in and hopefully remembering their names can make them feel special, like they are a part of your boutique. Boutique shoppers are unique in the sense that they are there to feel special. It’s not very often that they shop in boutiques for necessities. So, ask yourself why they are there. What do they hope to gain from their shopping experience? Do they wish to feel pampered or closer to the local culture? Do they want to find unique apparel and accessories? Providing the right kind of products is only half the battle. Your image is everything.

The image that a boutique portrays will help to give the shoppers the feeling that they are after when they go there. The way that they are treated is equally as important. They want to feel special, respected, and needed. Personal greetings are remembered and can make the customer feel valued. Help your staff to realize that this is the goal of your store. They shouldn’t be hanging around the counter talking to each other if a customer comes in. They need to greet, help, be friendly, and try to go above and beyond the call of duty whenever possible. Your boutique’s success could depend on it.

Keep in touch with your customers if you can. Inform them by mail or e-mail of special promotions. If possible, include a personal note. Giving that extra effort can gain you life-long customers. They will surely brag to their friends about how much they love your store and how helpful everyone is.

One thing that customers say is unique about boutique customer service is that they can actually get good fashion advice. It should be much different than browsing a big department store where decisions are completely left up to the customer. Your staff should be able to ask enough questions to figure out the customer’s style and make suggestions to them. After they try the garments on, the staff should be able to tell them if they think they need a different size, color, or design. This personal touch is appreciated by most people and can encourage them to come back for more advice.

Presenting your merchandise in a way that is easy to explore is also important. Your staff shouldn’t have to help someone by digging through mountains of clothes. Use modern retail fixtures, like slatwall and slatwall accessories to evenly distribute your merchandise in an easy to navigate manner. Slatwall panels are great for using oddly shaped areas that would otherwise go unused. They help the customer to be able to leisurely browse and look around without feeling cramped or overwhelmed.

About the Author: Ron Maier is the Vice President of S & L Store Fixtures, a leading online resource for retail displays, including mannequins, dress mannequin forms, female mannequins, slatwall and slatwall panels. For more information, please visit http://www.slstoredisplays.com.