Month: July 2023

In the ever-evolving world of retail, it’s crucial to determine whether your visual merchandising efforts are yielding the desired results. Here are some key strategies to gauge the effectiveness of your initiatives and ensure they are paying off:

Define Success

Success can be measured both quantitatively and qualitatively. Consider metrics like sales per square foot, conversion rates, and strategic partnerships established as indicators of success.

Create Metrics to track Early Progress

Establish metrics to track your progress from the early stages. While data from POS systems or door counters can provide valuable rearward-looking insights, find ways to track forward-looking information as well. Look for effective Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that provide real-time decision-making information.

Start Simple

Data overload can lead to analysis paralysis. To avoid this, start by tracking the most important metrics that align with your goals. Focus on key indicators that directly reflect the impact of your visual merchandising in the real world.

Get Help

Seek feedback from the boots on the ground – your store staff. They interact with customers daily and can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of your visual merchandising. Additionally, explore technologies or products developed in other industries that may have applications in the retail sector.

Stay Committed

It’s essential to acknowledge that your initial efforts may not always succeed. Don’t be discouraged by setbacks; instead, view them as learning opportunities and stay committed to refining your strategies.

Customer Feedback and Surveys

Engage with your customers directly through feedback and surveys. Their opinions and experiences can offer valuable insights into the impact of your visual merchandising efforts.

Social Media Engagement and UGC

Monitor social media platforms for customer engagement related to your merchandise. Look for hashtags, mentions, and photos shared by customers, as they can provide real-time feedback on the effectiveness of your visual merchandising.

By implementing these strategies, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of whether your visual merchandising efforts are driving the desired outcomes. Continuously assess and adapt your strategies to create impactful and memorable experiences for your customers.

 

Jeff Lo is owner of TGS Elevate, a visual marketing / merchandising company that provides printing, point of purchase displays, and store fixture manufacturing, and in-store build outs for companies that have 50-500 locations nationwide.

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Launching a new brand in the direct to consumer space is exciting. It’s a crowded and noisy space, yet it’s crucial to ensure that customers will embrace and purchase your products before you hit go. But how do you successfully position your brand in the market and attract loyal customers before taking the plunge? It actually comes down to basics: understand your target market’s preferences, behaviors, and needs, then test it as many times as you need to. Said another way, shoot bullets first, then cannonballs, so you don’t run out of gunpowder. In this article, we will explore a simple approach you can customize as you see fit to assess customer interest and determine if your up-and-coming D2C brand will resonate with your target audience.

Create Your Ideal Client Profile (ICP)

Start by defining your ideal customer. Understand their demographics, preferences, and shopping behavior. Create a detailed profile that includes information such as age, gender, hair color, lifestyle, family status, and other relevant characteristics. In the past, it’s common to give this person a name! This exercise will help you gain clarity on who your target audience is and guide your marketing efforts effectively. If it’s not a skill you currently have on the bench, hire someone or outsource it. Just don’t skip it!

Take a Stand

Based on available data or conducting surveys, take a position on the messaging, style, and overall look of your brand. After all, you have to start from somewhere. Determine what resonates with your target audience and aligns with their preferences. Maybe your space is dominated by cheap knock offs – why does it make sense to go up stream for a more elevated product? Or perhaps the issue with existing products is back end customer service – how would you message your brand differently so that it hits home? Whatever the case, develop a unique brand identity that stands out in the market and differentiates your brand from competitors. To be effective, don’t tell them, show them.

Pilot It

Before fully launching your brand, pilot it in the real world. This is the part about shooting bullets. Offer product testing opportunities with strategic partners, provide free samples to potential customers – whatever makes sense for your product and target demographic to give you the crucial information you need to make a decision. This allows you to gather valuable feedback, gauge interest, and assess if your products align with customer expectations. Similar to creating your ICP, you can also outsource this to take a more direct route.

Adjust and Refine

Based on the insights gained from the pilot phase, further refine your product, and if necessary, brand identity. This might be the hard part for most. We’re all human at the beginning and end of the day, and experiencing negative feedback or better ideas hurts. Honor it, take the time to be clear on your goal of a successful brand, and keep moving. Use the information to develop a compelling brand story that emotionally connects with your target audience. Clearly define the unique value your brand offers and create a consistent brand image across all touchpoints.

Launch!

Once you have made the necessary adjustments, it’s go time!. Implement your refined brand identity, messaging, and product offerings to the people. Leverage strategic partnerships from before, your marketing channels to create awareness and generate excitement among your target audience. Collect and track your progress along the way with Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to monitor the market response so you can adapt accordingly quickly and decisively if needed.

Be Open

Stay attuned to market trends, customer demands, and industry shifts. After all, we’re all playing in the same pond together and you don’t have to recreate the wheel every time. Actively seek feedback from your customers, create surveys, ask questions, and remain open to new information and insights. Once you’re out there, the work has only begun. Keep managing and adjusting post-launch to ensure continued success.

Having real, actionable data about products from your up-and-coming brand is a critical factor for success, and your heartache. By understanding your target audience, developing a compelling brand identity, piloting and adjusting your offerings, and staying open to customer

 

Jeff Lo is owner of TGS Elevate, a visual marketing / merchandising company that provides printing, point of purchase displays, and store fixture manufacturing, and in-store build outs for companies that have 50-500 locations nationwide.

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Launching a high-profile product line for a celebrity brand is an exhilarating and demanding undertaking. With multiple visual merchandising products that incorporate diverse elements such as graphics, millwork, and plastics, all while synchronizing with a live product launch event, the pressure can be immense. In this article, we will explore a real-life scenario where our team faced the challenge of a tight timeline, working with a new client and starting from scratch. We will delve into the reality they confronted, the solution they devised, and ultimately, the happy ending they achieved.

The Mission

Embarking on a high-profile product launch for a celebrity brand, our team was confronted with a complex set of requirements and expectations: a refined finished product with half the time to produce it. The challenge culminated with a live product launch event featuring the celebrity themselves. The stakes were high, and there were a lot of variables to manage!

The Problem

Adding to the pressure, this project marked our team’s first collaboration with the client, who was undergoing a major rebrand. So, not only were the graphics and fixtures coming together for the first time, so were the colors, artwork, and design. Starting from scratch meant there were no pre-existing templates or established workflows, and when seen together it all had to make sense.

The Reality

With only six weeks to deliver the entire project (from design ideation to delivery), our team had to make the most out of each day. Typically, production lead time alone would take four weeks after final approved art, followed by an additional week for shipping, resulting in a total of five weeks. To make up time, we had to compress four weeks of design work into just one week. To make sure we didn’t skip any steps, we adopted a simple mantra: make no assumptions, and over communicate. However, it takes two to tango, so we also needed to make sure the client was on board with making messy progress (which of course, they were)!

The Solution

Our team rallied together to find a way forward. Our client’s creative team went to work finalizing the digital assets quickly, while our design team collaborated with them constantly to ensure it translated to the final product. Our production team evaluated our existing production schedule and utilized machine down time and our prototype line to get the project in line without bumping out existing projects we were committed to. Our project management team called out milestones, deadlines, and created contingency plans in logistics and delivery. By being on the same wavelength as our client, we were able to maximize efficiency every day to rush specific elements without compromising quality or holding up other parts of the project.

The Happy Ending

Despite the initial challenge, both our internal and client team’s tenacity and strategic approach paid off. In fact, we completed the project ahead of schedule! The products shipped early and arrived with time to spare – surprising even our client! The live product launch event went as planned, reception of the products was overwhelmingly positive, and we were happy to be a positive contributor in the journey.

The successful outcome of this high-profile product launch demonstrates the power of collaboration, adaptability, and creative problem-solving. Despite facing tight timelines and starting from scratch with a new client, we harnessed our expertise and were disciplined in our approach to overcome the hurdles we did see, and those we didn’t. By closely aligning with the client early on and making informed decisions, we beat the target.

 

Jeff Lo is owner of TGS Elevate, a visual marketing / merchandising company that provides printing, point of purchase displays, and store fixture manufacturing, and in-store build outs for companies that have 50-500 locations nationwide.

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In today’s competitive retail landscape, a well-executed store fixture campaign can make a significant positive impact on customers’ overall shopping experience and increase sales. To give yourself the best chance of success, a structured approach that incorporates empathy, collaboration, innovation, and iterative refinement is crucial. In this article, we will explore the key steps to developing and rolling out a new store fixture campaign successfully.

1. Gain Empathy for the User(s):

Before embarking on any store fixture campaign, it’s essential to gain a deep understanding of the end-users. Think about their demographic, values, interests, and even give them a name. If this information isn’t readily available, create your own by conducting interviews and surveys. Or, use an outside company to do the heavy lifting for you. The route you take to get the information isn’t important – empathizing with the users is what really matters. Once you have a firm grasp on who you are creating the retail environment for, the better your decision making will be. With that foundation, you’ll be better equipped to meet their expectations and create an in-store experience that will resonate with them to bring them back again and again.

2. Determine Usage and Stakeholders:

Building on the last step, consider how the fixtures will be used in-store. This goes beyond the consumer – we’re specifically talking about in-store sales staff and the visual merchandising team. Engage with both of them to align their expectations and gather valuable insights. You might be surprised at the feedback you get from each level. You might end up with more information than you need – so be clear to differentiate between “must haves” and “nice to haves,” to boil down to a store fixture or campaign that effectively serves its intended purpose. Also, define success at the different levels – some create Key Performance Indicator (KPI) reports (showing metrics that aid in making a decision in that moment) – to set a target for all.

3. Maximize Your Knowledge and Network:

Leverage your personal experience, expertise, manufacturing equipment and network, to form guardrails around the store fixture campaign scope. Also, don’t assume you know all the capabilities of your existing suppliers. Lean on them for ideas, techniques and products they’re producing outside of your relationship. Follow industry publications and trends as you advance towards your goal.

4. Take a Stand:

With a holistic understanding of user needs, stakeholder expectations, and industry insights, take a stand on what you believe is the best store fixture campaign. Be prepared to defend your perspective, backed by your research and expertise. Also make sure it solves the problem and is in alignment with company values (ex: initiative for sustainable materials, or diversity / equity / inclusion). This clarity will serve as a guiding principle throughout the campaign development process.

5. Ideate – Start Drawing!

This is the exciting part where creativity takes center stage. Expand your possibilities by generating many out-of-the-box solutions – think beyond conventional boundaries – you never know where the perfect idea or feature will emerge from. Encourage your team to think freely, and create an environment that nurtures innovative ideas, as opposed to treating them negatively as if they are unobtainable or unrealistic. Consider every possibility, pushing the boundaries of what is considered feasible.

6. Share Solutions and Capture Feedback:

Review the multitude of ideas generated during the ideation phase. Analyze the differences, options, and associated costs of each solution. In the end, the decision on what to produce may likely come to a Return on Investment (ROI) calculation. If you don’t know the amount of the investment (the I in ROI), then you’re missing critical decision making information. Share the proposed concepts with stakeholders, incorporating their feedback and suggestions. Embrace open communication to refine the ideas further, ensuring alignment and buy-in from all parties involved.

7. Iterate New Solutions:

Don’t count on grand slams with every swing of the bat. After all, you need to have runners on base first. Plan to receive feedback, be open and return to the drawing board to refine your proposed solution. Embrace an iterative process and mindset, honor yourself and emotions that you may hear things that you don’t want to, and keep the line moving. Boil decisions based on features, must haves and nice to haves, and evaluate the best option on how to get there. This may be the most challenging and frustrating part, so be prepared.

8. Build and Test:

Having arrived at a solution, it’s time to bring them to life! Build a small quantity of your store fixture campaign according to demographic, geographic location, budget, and scope of rollout. Get pictures and video as they roll off the line to catch any potential issues. See in person and put it through its paces. Conduct testing according to your scope to evaluate each element’s functionality, durability, and visual appeal. Most importantly, does it do what you need it to?

9. Share Solution and Gather Feedback:

After completing the internal testing phase, share the results and feedback on your store fixture campaign with stakeholders and end-users. Seek ground truth feedback from all angles to ensure a holistic perspective, and be prepared to repeat the previous step again. Maintain an open mindset and be prepared to iterate on the solution based on the gathered insights.

10. Rollout!:

The store fixture campaign is finally ready for its time in the sun! Put all your hard work into motion by producing the store fixture campaign and rollout to individual locations. Keep track of what goes where, and compare its performance to the definitions of success defined early in the process.

Developing and rolling out a successful store fixture campaign requires a combination of empathy, collaboration, innovation, and a commitment to continuous improvement. Note what it doesn’t include – shopping around different manufacturers for the lowest price or technique. While most would consider this the first step, it isn’t necessarily. Ultimately however, there are no rules for how to create a store fixture campaign that resonates with users, meets stakeholder expectations, and elevates the overall shopping experience. It’s up to you! So embrace your creativity, learn from feedback, and iterate on your solutions to achieve lasting success in the ever-evolving retail industry.

 

Jeff Lo is owner of TGS Elevate, a visual marketing / merchandising company that provides printing, point of purchase displays, and store fixture manufacturing, and in-store build outs for companies that have 50-500 locations nationwide.

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