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Create Something Special...
Building a destination is much more than just creating something pretty to look at - it's about creating an area in your store which creates an enjoyable, informative environment in which your customer can get quick answers and idea. Realizing every retailer has a different setting, varying from 'State-of-Art' greenhouse structures which offer indoor shopping to utilizing parking lots on a seasonal basis. Maybe just a road-side stand? The important factor is that buying principles do not change dramatically. Stop for a moment and ask yourself the questions, When you shop, how do you do it? What causes you to buy one item instead of the other? What are your dislikes?
Brake Lights! Cetainly you have customers who are planning on visiting your store, but what about the ones who had no plans to stop what-so-ever? These are the bonus customers which make a large difference to your bottom line.
I do this constantly, I'll be on my way from point A to point B and something will catch my eye! I just have to stop and see, sometimes to the extent of driving further down the road to locate the quickest turn-around. Now let's not go crazy and cause any accidents, but by all means, show your customer what they are looking for. In lamens terms: That knock your socks off landscaping that none of their neighbors can produce, hopefully featuring a variety or color, they have never seen before. The Wow! Quick Story: On my deck at my home, I have some simple, built in window boxes, one summer I grew Supertunia®s in these. As you know with Supertunia®s, they just simply flower from head to toe with beautiful, vibrant, large flowers. They had grown to the ground that summer (approx. 4 ft. down) and were looking spectacular. I can not even begin to tell you how many persons walking and/or driving buy stopped to ask me what they were. One gentleman noticing me working in the yard, - stopped his vehicle by the end of my drive. As he walked towards me, I was certain he was going to invite me to church, instead his question was "What kind of shrub it that you have growing that flowers like that?". So...with that point made: If you have entrances - Landscape them, on a building - add window boxes, beds- utilize them. Before we end this section, possibly I should point out that the customer may not have been driving by your store by accident, possibly for some odd reason, they were looking for you? Hmmmm, how could that be? There are several great opportunities you can set up in advance to cause this...
You'll find that all these extra efforts will pay off greatly. Where do I go? Ok...they are at your store..now what? Where should I position these displays (very important)? As a retailer, you have to consider your product. Ask yourself if you are selling a product that the customer has to have or if this something that they may only buy spontaneously?
For instance, it drives me a little crazy that grocery stores place the Milk in the furthest, opposite corner of the store. As a consumer, I just want to run in, grab the milk, and be on my way - however I am always willing to go to the milk section because it's what I have to have. I even grab the shopping cart because I know I will be picking up other items along the way, and don't want to try and carry all this without a cart. With this principle in mind, layout your store so that they have to go to a key item they are looking for and will pass other (high margin) items along the path. Quick thoughts before we get to deep into the layout...
7 Principles Allocating Retail SpaceOnce you've decided on a layout for your business, turn your attention to space allocation. If you already have an existing store and absolutely do not want to change anything - reconsider. If customer traffic and/or low levels of add on sales are a problem - do not be afraid to freshen' it up. Seven fundamental principles should guide you: 1. Show everything to everyone. You might say, what in the world are you talking about? How am I going to do that? In reality this is nearly impossible, but of course this is about your goal, a guide to what would be perfect. The more merchandise customers see, the more they will buy. You want to design your store to entice customers to visit all departments (Perennials, Annuals, Shrubs, Containers, Soils, Fertilizers, etc) or at least to see what the store has and return another time. You can accomplish this objective through strategic location of signs, special values, stairs, and certain merchandise. 2. Premium locations, where inside customer traffic is heavy, to the most profitable items. High-markup and impulse items should be very visible. I would not place your standard bedding flat of marigolds where a shopper can just pass buy and grab a flat. Standard betting items like these can be found in most any garden center, and offer the customer variety, but with low margins. Proven Winners® offer great margins for retailers and fit this Premium description perfectly. 3. Discourage shoplifting. Keep small, expensive items under lock and key, use convex mirrors where blind spots cannot be eliminated, and install video monitors. By keeping everything wide open, salespeople can observe everyone in the store. 4. Experiment to stay exciting. To accommodate changes in layout and merchandise displays, you need to have fixtures that are movable and adjustable, so keep this in mind when you're buying display benches. I would strongly encourage you to invest in some benching offered from Proven Winners® for your premium displays. We have had great feedback from many retailers regarding the number of turns achieved just do the added presentation. 5. Locate related lines next to each other. Consider creating mannequin displays inside and outside of your store by combining Proven Winners®-ColorChoice® Shrubs - Proven Winners® Perennials - & Proven Winners® annuals together. Break through the trend of having an outside Shrub area, where statistics have shown only 20% of your garden traffic every visits. Bring the shrubs into an area near the mannequin so that the shopper can find exactly what they need in the immediate area to create this wonderful combination. Have great looking containers near buy along with all the garden tools, Proven Winners® Soil & Fertilizer, etc. as part of the overall display. When in a department store you'll see the mannequin dressed in the finest outfit with all the components located on the surrounding tables, in all sizes and colors (Shirt, pants, tie, socks, etc.)
Download Soil & Plant Food Information - Info Page 1 - Info Page 2 6. Locate related departments next to each other. All segments of your gardening items should be located next to each other in some form or fashion. You may have store that offers many products not related to gardening (directly anyway). Hey if you offer Milk, could you just imagine the customer walking through your Proven Winners destination to get it? Please keep this in perspective, just wanting to encourage you to think outside the box. 7. Give the most important lines the best locations in your store. Play the winners. Anything that is moving fast should be exploited in every way. Proven Winners® plants sell faster than any other plant brand due to the great package, and the tested and trialed outdoor garden performance for the consumer. Gardeners continue to come back year after year looking for Proven Winners®. Yes I am biased - do not take my word for it. I have grown these plants for many years and am sold on what they can do - Please feel free to find out for yourself.
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