Mastering Retail Management and the Shopper Experience

So, what is this concept of "The Retail Trifecta"? It's three inter-linked steps in the retail marketing mix that allow you to create a great shopping experience that lets shoppers linger longer, spend more money in-store and tell their friends about their great experience.

The major point is that if you only get one or two of these steps right, you're missing out big time. You may have an amazing looking store but if the associates are rude or unhelpful, the shopper experience will be poor and they're unlikely to return. Alternatively, you may have a great looking store and fantastically helpful store associates but if it takes ages for the retail systems to process payment, then the overall shopper experience will again be diminished. It's only when you get all three elements right - a great store format, knowledgeable and passionate associates who live your brand, and great technology that makes the shopping process seamless - that you will truly delight your shoppers and see a multiplier effect that is likely to boost both revenue and profits.

Understand the thinking behind appetizing store designs, from the humble convenience store to the most expensive global luxury brand, and everything in between. Light, color, smell and theatre all combine to attract and retain shoppers' attention.

Understand how people who work in stores always make the greatest difference to the shopper's experience. Well trained, knowledgeable and passionate people are the key, and here we look at how to achieve that.

There is no point investing in beautiful stores, well trained associates and then leaving shoppers standing at the checkout. Here we look at how we harness all forms of retail technology to make the shopping experience easy when it comes time to pay.

Having looked at the 3 steps in the Retail Trifecta we now look at each part that goes into building the Retail Trifecta in detail.

It's more than just buying and putting your wares on the shelf or hangers. It's about using your passion and knowledge to find amazing things, then displaying them beautifully to delight shoppers.

Learn how a good location can be made better and a bad location made relevant.

This section is a current and wide ranging resource to see how retailers, and brand owners, draw shoppers into store from the sidewalk.

In this video, Kevin explains the importance of the shop window and shows a number of examples from stores he's visited around the world that illustrate how a good window display can entice shoppers in.

The decompression zone was a phrase coined by retail marketing guru Paco Underhill in his best selling book "Why We Buy." Here we look at how it's done well, and not so well, in different parts of retail around the world.

Looking into and across big stores helps us understand world's best practice in using the "non-selling" space in retail to attract shoppers into store and ease their shopping journey.

This lecture is all about "total shopper immersion" inside a store. A whirlwind tour in photos and video of how the best and worst retailers and brand owners layout their stores.

In his best selling book "Why we buy," Paco Underhill taught us the importance of caring for the "non-shoppers" needs whilst in-store to increase sales. In this lecture, we look at the good and bad in the process.

If you're already online, benchmark yourself against some of the best in the world. If you aren't, then look at how you can benefit from the online world, from simple awareness of your store to a full transactional website.

Recruit, train, retain and reward the associates in store.

Let store associates be the best they can be. One word; Nordstrom.

If you manage or own a retail store, or sell your product to consumers via retail, it's your responsibility to constantly provide up-to-the-minute product knowledge.

"Educate, Test, Reward." The 3 steps to high performance in store sales associates.

Give your shoppers the reasons to visit your store again, or to send a friend.

Technology isn't sexy, but it is one of the most powerful tools in making a shopper's experience easy and consistent.

Don't miss a sale, or worse, create a bad shopper experience. Invest in and use your inventory systems.

Awareness and Engagement at home and instore should be one and the same.

Personalising the shopping experience to create loyalty and advocacy.

If you're doing it, look at how to improve your online retailing. If you aren't yet online, then look at how others in your sector are. Online is important!

Now you've learnt about the shopper experience in the physical retail world, join us on a new course to discover how to master the shopper experience to grow your online business. Since originally producing this course, Kevin has been immersed in the world of online retail and has translated ways to bring the best of physical retail into the online world in order to provide a more compelling shopper experience. And why is understanding the shopper experience invaluable in the online world? Because it will make your online offering stand out from your competitors, it will encourage your online shoppers to linger longer, spend more and tell their friends and families about your store - yes, exactly as it does in physical retail! In this new course, Kevin will share his first-hand knowledge in helping to build customer experience techniques into successful Australian hobby online retailer, Hobby Warehouse (https://hobbywarehouse.com.au) and how they took their learnings from growing this business to acquiring the rights to successfully re-birth Toy R Us (https://toysrus.com.au) as an online-only retailer in the Australian and New Zealand markets. This stuff works! Find out how you can become a master of the shopper experience online to grow your business - just go to our website: https://theroadtoretail.com

Linking the 3 steps in the Retail Trifecta to create that great shopping feeling!

Use the Trifecta tool to measure your professional shopping experience.

Learn the techniques to walk stores and think like a "professional shopper."

The Checklist and Scorecard for determining a store's "Shopper Experience" rating. Use it to assess your own stores and those of your competitors! You'll also find out that there's more to a good score than just a great looking store!

Thank you for taking this course. If you'd like to now learn how to apply the shopper experience to your online business, check out our new course "Master the Online Shopper Experience to Grow Your Business". You can find out more at https://the roadtoretail.com

We've also entered the world of podcasting with "The Road to Online Retail" podcast where Kevin discusses all things online retail.

Check it out on your favourite podcast app or just go to https://theroadtoretail.com/pages/the-road-to-retail-podcast

And if there are any other areas of physical or online retail that you'd like us to focus on, just let us know your thoughts either on our Facebook page or email us via our website. As a student of our course, you can also join our new Student Only group. We look forward to seeing you there.