Paper Example on Successful vs. Poor Retail Operations

Introduction

The design of a store is an important consideration for the store owner as long as he wants to lire customers from afar. Even though it may be an overwhelming process, a perfect design enhances the physical retail experience of customers. One important consideration when designing a retail store includes the brand's positioning. Brand positioning determines the delivery of the brand's identity and the store's image to the potential customers (Oh, Fiorito, Cho, & Hofacker, 2008). The concept of the store's design is also an important consideration in that the selected characters from the brand enhances the design concept and assist designers in the building of the entire store. Technology factors are also important in that they make the store more exciting and make the customers feel the same when shopping in the store just as they do when shopping online. Finally, the building budget should be considered as well as the time to be allocated for the entire project.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Merchandise presentation is an art of presentation that educates the customer in a way and makes them have the urge of purchasing the store's items. This includes the way that goods are hung and arranged in the store's shelves to make them available to the customer. This affects the design of a store in ways including housekeeping, lighting, windows and shelving. In housekeeping, a customer's shopping experience is affected by the cleanliness of the store. In that case, a retail store should be designed in a way that it can be cleaned easily. The design of a store should be in such a way that light can be used to emphasize the items for display. Through the windows, sales promotions, image building and revealing the latest trends can be made to ensure that customers are either attracted or retained. Designing a store with the best shelves also ensures a high margin and profit.

Conclusion

Having the best customer shopping experience ensures that they become regular visitors of the store. As a retailer, it should be ensured that employees are happy and satisfied as they are the frontline of the business (Schwager, 2014). Ensuring that they are well-trained and offer their best confidence ensures that customers get their needs addressed. Engaging with the customers is also an important consideration to make sure that the customers enjoy the shopping. Some of the channels that can be used include surveys and questionnaires where they can rate and review the experience. Retailers can also offer in-store events for the regulars and sampling for the new customers. At that time, customers can still be engaged hence, improving their relationship and the overall shopping experience.

References

Schwager, C. M. (2014, August 01). Understanding Customer Experience. Retrieved June 25, 2018, from https://hbr.org/2007/02/understanding-customer-experience

Oh, J., Fiorito, S. S., Cho, H., & Hofacker, C. F. (2008). Effects of design factors on store image and expectation of merchandise quality in web-based stores. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 15(4), 237-249. doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2007.03.004