At the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, Jens Bauerle from Global Brand Vision shared his views on how to create an exciting shopping experience. Below are four steps to take using your assortment and store design.
Step 1: direction—what do you want, what is your goal? Bauerle says, “if you don’t know where you are going you end up where you are”.
Step 2: assortment—this needs to be exciting and meaningful. Ask yourself, are we on trend? Is the core and seasonal product mix working? Does the store presentation reflect who we are? Do we offer enough or too much choice?
Step 3: filling in the gaps—this is where you define a project plan, coordinate trends and categories.
Step 4: create the theatre—here it all comes together. Make sure you dedicate the right amount of space to each product, your bestsellers will need more space than items that are selling slowly. Create exciting specialty fixtures; use materials and colours that reflect a home environment so customers can imagine what it will look like in their own space. If possible do the same with your product catalogue, this can be used as a worldwide sales tool. Signage is key to navigation, so customers can easily find what they are looking for. Use technology to support the experience.
By Marion Gerritsen
