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.

Boutique Store Design

In a boutique, image is everything. Boutiques offer customers a unique shopping experience that is rich in interesting displays, decorations, and style. The theme of a boutique can be what brings customers back again and again. Creating an interesting theme is important, but making your boutique accessible, shoppable, and easy to navigate can be just as important.

Have you ever seen a store that looked really interesting, but then you go in and everything is crowded and messy? It can be a big turn-off. Unless I’m shopping a garage sale, then I expect everything to be visible when I look at a display. I want to feel like my size will be there if I like what I see. I like to get an idea of what the clothes and accessories will look like if I put them on, without having to spend all day in the dressing room. I don’t want to feel like I’m squeezed in with other customers, hunting through piles of clothes all day.

Your boutique store design should take the customer’s shopping experience into consideration. You can utilize certain rules of retail display to help you make the greatest impact. You know, being a boutique owner, that impressions are your biggest weapons. You want your customer to feel what you’re trying to convey with your store the second they lay eyes on it. This is, after all, what has made boutiques such a huge success this century.

People want to feel like they are unique, interesting, and important. This drives them to shop the smaller stores, boutiques, or handmade goods outlets. Make sure that your displays are creative and stay true to your store’s theme. Make your customers feel like they are important and like their happiness is your first priority.

Create displays using mannequins or mannequin forms to show them what unique items would look like if they are worn. Mannequins give you a unique edge when conveying a certain message. They help you to create more interesting, personal, and effective displays than you could ever create without them.

Making room for all of this interesting stuff may seem like a problem at first, but really you may have more room than you think. Utilizing vertical wall space can help you to make more room while keeping your displays nice, neat and organized. You can use something like slatwall to affordable and attractively make space on the walls of your boutique. Use slatwall panels in spaces that are oddly shaped. Use slatwall accessories to hang just about any type of item on the wall. You will love how versatile your slatwall is, and it will help you make room for all the displays that you can think up.

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.

Visual Display Tips

Creating displays can help you to nurture your crafty side. The most effective displays always have a theme and seem inspired. Inspiring displays inspire customers to feel as passionately as you about the merchandise that you’re selling. Boutiques are famous for creating memorable displays that keep customers curious about what you’ll do next. Whether you run a boutique or larger retail store, you can use these tips to make your displays more interesting and effective.

1) Do some research before you begin. Surf the web, go window shopping, and look at magazines to get your creative juices flowing. You can get ideas that help you to decide on a theme or a focus for your display. Consider the merchandise, of course, but also think about color to set the mood, the season, the promotion, or the theme of your store. Once you get an idea, the rest will quickly come together.

2) Consider running your ideas past your employees. Give them a theme and ask them for their ideas. Sometimes your employees are your best asset because they see what grabs customers’ attention every day, out on the floor. Hold a contest to inspire your staff to be more involved in the success of the store. You may be surprised at how creative some of your employees may be.

3) Once you have your idea, decide on a budget. Remember that less is often more and you don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune on a display. You may want to buy a few key pieces for the display. Try to buy things that can be reused in the future so that you can get the most bang for your buck. Tables or racks that fold, props that inflate, and decorations that lay flat are easiest to store for future use. Mannequins can be customized to fit a lot of different types of displays and can stay in good shape for many years. Investing in this proven seller is never a bad move.

4) When setting up your display, keep balance and focus in mind. Start by setting up your focal point. Too many focal points will not draw attention like a central focus will. The focus doesn’t have to be in the center of the display. Good visuals are hardly ever perfectly centered. They’re often more interesting if they’re not. A customer may pass twenty window displays with centered mannequins and hardly notice them, and then the one that tells a story and isn’t perfectly centered will be the one to turn their head.

5) Use lighting, signage, whatever you need to draw attention to your focal point. You can even use more mannequins to direct attention to the focal point. Have them looking at the main character or feature in your display.

6) Make room for interesting visual displays throughout your store or boutique. Use slatwall panels and slatwall accessories to free up space on the sales floor. You can use the slatwall itself to create interesting slatwall displays. Using vertical space can help you to better manage your merchandise so that your displays remain the center of attention.

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 Use Retail Promotional Tools

Using the right store fixtures, signage, and retail displays, you can make your products really stand out. Effectively merchandising your inventory can lead to higher sales and can help to communicate your store image to customers. Use these tips to bring your merchandising knowledge to the next level. Each display should be a well thought out endeavor, hitting the mark in all major business planning areas.

1) You decided to carry this product for a reason. Whether it was customer demand, uniqueness, or profit margin, you need to consider what caught your eye when you made your decision. Use these features to convince customers that they want to buy it.

2) Create a display that emphasizes the attractive features about the product. If you’re selling a sweater that is really soft, use signs that bring this to the customer’s attention. Something as simple as a sign that says, “Feel It!” can be a really effective promotional tool. Other features can be pointed out as well. Things like organic cotton, vibrant colors, sturdy construction, or latest trend can be pointed out to customers while they shop, influencing their interest in the product.

3) Use this opportunity to drive home your store or boutique’s brand image. The retail fixtures that you use to display your promotions are almost as important as the products themselves. Fixtures have an impact on what customer’s think of your store; think about this when you are purchasing and using them. If you want to sell something like hiking or camping equipment, you might feel like wood displays make people think of the outside. Make sure that each display and product matches your store image.

4) Consider your target audience when you’re setting up a display. Are your customer’s high end boutique shoppers? Are they looking for a bargain? These things have a great impact on how you position items on display. People shop in boutiques to find unique items or brands. Stuffing a rack or piling a table high with items doesn’t make them feel like they are finding something unique. This is a situation where less is more. You do want to make sure that your store looks stocked and has all sizes available, but you do want your customers to feel like they are getting something that most other people cannot.

5) Make sure that the promotional display stands out, but is not overbearing. You don’t want people to come in and only see the one display. Cleverly position your other merchandise around the promotion so that the customer’s attention is subtly taken in another direction. It could be something simple, like a necklace on a table or an accessory rack near the display. It doesn’t take sales away from the promotional item, but draws attention to other parts of the store.

6) Visibility is the most important factor in your store or boutique. Besides your promotional displays, the rest of your displays should also be easily seen. Use systems like slatwall to display items outward, facing your customers. Slatwall panels, slatwall accessories, and slatwall display additions can be used in a lot of unique ways that help you to put your products out there. Systems like these are versatile and leave floor space available for your more dominant displays.

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 Use Slatwall in a Boutique

Slatwall is one of the most versatile retail display products on the market. Boutiques are in a great position to gain the most benefit from using slatwall panels to merchandise their displays. If you own or work for a boutique, you know that space can often be limited. In a boutique atmosphere, sometimes the décor is as important as the merchandise itself. So, using slatwall systems to help you make the most of your space can be very rewarding. Read on to learn how slatwall could be helping you run your business more effectively.

1) Slatwall is installed in panels. Slatwall panels can be purchased in different sizes to fit the space that you have. You can also have slatwall panels cut to fit your space. This is useful in odd spaces, such as underneath stairs or in other areas where the ceiling slants. It can help you to utilize all of the little nooks and crannies in your boutique. This technique greatly reduces your need for more space.

2) Slatwall also helps you to accessorize. By hanging items that go together in the same area, you can easily show your customers what goes with each outfit. They may not have thought to buy that purse or hat until you put them together on your slatwall display.

3) Slatwall allows you to use more mannequin forms in a small space. Mannequins are the most effective marketing tool available to retailers. However, if you don’t have much space, full-sized mannequin displays may not have ever entered your plan. Using mannequin torso forms allows you to hang the mannequin in the space that it takes to hang a shirt or pants. Simply hang the clothes facing out, dress the mannequin, and hang it in front of the rack. A slatwall display can be very dynamic and effective.

4) Your slatwall will be your best friend when it comes to rearranging displays. The versatility is probably its number one selling point. You can quickly and easily rearrange hanging bars, shelves, hooks, and other slatwall accessories to accommodate your inventory. If you’re running out of something, you can simply space out the other things around it to take up the space. Your displays will always look full and inviting to your customers.

5) Promotions, merchandising, and changing the seasons are so easy with slatwall and slatwall panels. You can replace items and move things around really easily without tearing your store apart. Boutique owners love this because they are usually working alone or with very little staff. You can replace one thing at a time until it’s done without making it a huge undertaking.

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.