“The 12 Gifts of Retail Christmas” for a Happy New Year
On the eleventh day of Christmas VM-Unleashed gave to me… No.11 “The Most Commercial Ways to Group & Display my Product Stories.”
Whilst retailers are successful through selling individual options it is the presentation of product stories that attract customers and present a proposition that is appealing to customers.
Product stories will be a balance of category displays, coordinated themes, coordinated categories, silhouettes and hero product display.
Delivering the desired and required customer proposition is essential to communicating your brand position on price, quality, authority, fashionability and a range of other essentials
If your store fails to deliver your proposition giving the customer an incorrect perception of your brand and offer this can undermine your trust and relationship with your customer.
- need to know what the customer really thinks of your store proposition?
- is the customer perception what you intended?
- what elements of the store give the strongest favourable perception?
- what elements of the store give the most negative perception?
- where should you invest to improve the desired & required perception?
This is how we help…
Store Proposition & Customer Perception Audits
“How can I assess if the visual elements and customer touchpoints of my store are effectively communicating my desired proposition?”
Overview:
Detailed measurement and assessment of the client stores’ visual elements and touchpoints, cross-referenced against their individual impact on the customer perception of the store proposition
- Definition of the desired perception of the proposition, from…
- ease of shop
- assortment authority
- product inspiration
- fashionability & freshness
- femininity & warmth
- product & promotional dynamism
- trust & customer centricity
- assortment value & price
- omni-channel credibility
- retail professionalism
- …plus others designated by the client
- development of the “Proposition index” for individual and families of visual elements and touchpoints
- calculation of the strength and focus of the proposition perception based on the actual contribution of the different visual elements & touchpoints from across a number of client stores
- assessment of the success in delivering the desired perception
- assessment of the strengths/weaknesses of the different elements and touchpoints and the opportunities to communicate the desired proposition perception more accurately
- the option to measure and compare the strength and focus of competitors’ perceptions
- the option to compare how competitors communicate their proposition through the touchpoints they use, and how they deliver them
Benefits:
- Identifies how well the stores are communicating to the customer the required & desired brand & product proposition
- identifies the “delivery gap” between proposition and perception
- identifies which store visual elements and touchpoints should be used to change and strengthen perceptions
- identifies focus of investment on store visual elements and touchpoints
Process:
- Selected client store visits and best practice competitor stores
- Interviews with HQ stakeholders including marketing
- Interviews with store staff and “snap-shots” of customer comments/reactions
- Available customer research on store feedback & brand perception
- analysis, answers and action plan
Aggressive actions (from a potentially long list…):
- modify store touchpoints that deliver a wrong perception of the proposition
- increase the location, visibility of touchpoints with a strong brand image
- rank with the “proposition index” the most important store touchpoints delivering the correct perception
- invest in these store elements that deliver highest perception ROI
- re-arrange store fronts, first 1/3rd store and department fronts to give the desired perception of the proposition
For more information on how the store proposition and customer perception audit can help.
Please get in touch. We’ll be happy to help & advise…
+44 (0)7967 609849
tim.radley@vm-unleashed.com