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Here at Tower Systems we are grateful to our thousands of local specialty retail business owners for their insights, advice and support. This community will our well of knowledge, they enable us to share this with others, like we do here in this place.

Today, let’s talk about the shop window. It’s a vital business asset as it works 24/7. It pitches your business to people often who have never shopped your shop.

Get it right, and your shop window can provide an excellent financial return for a modest investment.

The window of any retail business can tell how serious the business is about business. If it does not regularly (at least weekly) change, has old stock, is dusty or dirty, is covered in signs or presents mixed messages then the business most likely is not doing do hot.

Look at the most successful retail businesses, they have a window strategy. From national groups to independents, successful retailers understand the importance of the window in the overall marketing plan.

As prime retail real estate, the window is a place to be respected, obsessed about and wholeheartedly embraced. Consider these ideas for developing a window strategy:

See your window how others see it. Step outside your business and cross the mall or the street and look at the front of your shop. Spend a while doing this. Go back again if you are not sure what you see.

Look at other windows. If you have competitors nearby, check out their windows. If you have retail businesses you admire, look at their windows too.

Develop a window calendar. Decide on themes for window displays, set dates when new displays are to be installed. Engage all team members in deciding on the display calendar. Be sure to cover off the major seasons for the business. Be sure to balance window time to all product categories in the business. Be sure to build opportunities into the calendar for community engagement – the window is a terrific place for community groups to show off and bring their contacts to your business.

Be single minded. Each window display should have a single message. This ensures greater impact and provides a better opportunity for success.

Strip it back. Retail business windows often have unnecessary items which have been added over time. Strip as many of these back as possible. Leave the maximum space for your themed displays.

Learn how to create stunning displays. Consider sending employees to a visual merchandising course to learn how to create displays. Alternatively, bring in a visual merchandiser to create the displays for you.

Be prepared to do it over. If a window display does not present the business well or reflect your point of difference – from across the street or across the mall – do it over.

Remember what window displays are for. Then window display is for your customers and would-be customers, to get them to visit and buy from you. If a display does not do this then it has failed.

A good window display will drive traffic and sales. The impact will be felt almost immediately. Be brutal in your assessment of success. It is business after all. The business needs a return on investment from this most valuable retail real estate.

A great window display can reinvigorate a retail business and help everyone involved love the business a little bit more.

Now, if you are motivated to change your window – do it yourself, from scratch. Anyone can. No experience necessary!

Across a range of specialty retail channels, Tower Systems is grateful to serve thousands of retailers. Years of doing this, collaborating with them, has helped us developed a deep well of experience and knowledge, which we happily share.

The retail sales counter is premium space in a retail business. Too often, however, the counter is cluttered with products placed there in pursuit of impulse purchases or because there is nowhere else in the store for them.

In some retail settings, the counter itself is redundant. Think about that, because if a counter in your business is redundant, having one makes no sense.

but, back to the topic at hand – making the counter more successful for you.

A cluttered counter mentality often starts with one item which works so retailers add more and more until the counter is a mess of colour and small displays.

Representatives of suppliers pressure retailers to take offers, structuring deals to make counter placement compelling.

The result is a mess of color which rarely changes and is poorly managed in terms of return on space.

A good retail counter is a profitable retail counter in terms of the value of impulse purchases achieved.

At a good retail counter, less is more. By creating better displays without products competing for attention, the featured products have a better opportunity of performing.

Here are some tips to un-cluttering a retail sales counter which have worked in many different businesses.

1. After the business is closed on a day, take all products off and clean the counter – completely off so that the counter is bare. Yes, this is hard work.  But you get to rebuild the counter you want.
2. Rebuild the counter story one product at a time. Consider the product from the customer’s perspective – is it something they are likely to purchase on impulse? Is the product understood? Is the price point attractive? Can they easily access the product?
3. Create zones for promotional purposes. Having zones and clear space around them sets rules which are easier for all team members to follow. Depending on the store, you may have items which children will like more at their level and products aimed at adults at a higher level.
4. In choosing counter products, consider what will be on the minds of customers as they transact their sale. Are there products which add-on nicely to popular products you sell? Are their guilty-pleasure products which they can enjoy while shopping – like premium candy? Do you have small gift items which work in a variety of situations? Do you have gift items which people would be happy to pick up as a gift for a friend?
5. Once the counter is rebuilt, step back and look at this from the perspective of a customer. Are the offers compelling, understood and valuable? Look at the counter from multiple points in the shop from the perspective of the counter being a marketing opportunity and not just a work desk. Are there items which could be removed?  Sometimes, less is more.
6. Change key counter offers at least weekly – more often if your customers visit multiple times in a week. This helps fight against customer and employee store blindness.

By having fewer products at the counter and being more strategic in product placement and display, the products have a better opportunity of being noticed and purchased.

Where many retailers rely on an over the counter sales pitch to achieve the impulse purchase, smart retailers configure their counters to do the up-selling for them. This gives customers ownership of the purchase.

By tracking the success of counter offers you are able to build a good database of what works and what does not work. This can guide future counter placement decisions.

The sales counter is too valuable in any retail business to allow it to grow organically. Take time to manage it and expect good results.

We are grateful to serve thousands off local small business retailers across a diverse group of specialty retail settings. Our work over many years has helped us develop insights that we willing share with local small business retailers. beyond our POS software, we actively support local retailers in myriad ways.

Today, let’s reflect on the bonus, the unexpected.

It is a good rule in business to always give your customers more than they expect.  It shows you value them, go the extra mile and delight in surprising them with good news and good opportunities.

The best way to demonstrate delivering unexpected value is to provide it here in the form of three special reports beyond the scope of what was planned and offered or RETAIL RESCUE.

Before we get to the bonus reports, consider these ideas for adding expected value to customer transactions your retail business:

• Give the customer a small gift, something completely unexpected. Even something as simple as a chocolate can be the perfect thank you.
• Package the purchase in a premium reusable shopping bag. This promotes the business and shows that you do value them.
• Provide a voucher offering a discount if the customer returns in a specified period of time.
• Depending on the nature of your store, give free gift which relates to items you sell. For example, if they buy a men’s suit, offer a free tie or if they buy six cup cakes, give them the seventh for free.
• Connect with another business and offer a gift which is a free item or a discount from their store – they could do the same for your store.

The key to giving bonus rewards like these is to not promote it.  As Nike says, JUST DO IT!

By offering added value at the counter at the end of a sale it comes across as if you are doing something special for this customer.  This will make the gift more valuable than if it is widely promoted.

Giving your customers better value or a better experience than expected will be remembered and talked about.  It will build your business.