We hear from frustrated bricks and mortar retailers regularly, that say they are struggling to compete with online retailers.  There are ways you can wrestle a chunk of that business for your bricks & mortar retail store. 

So how can you compete with these large online retailers? We have put together a few tools that will ensure you are cashing in on all the benefits of your retail store. 

Identify the key features and benefits of your store.  Critically evaluate your store from a shoppers perspective and isolate any issues; 

• Location, have you got an amazing location?  What other retailers are around you, having great neighbours will also assist in your foot traffic.
• Lighting! Good lighting is key to a great shopper experience and showing off your floor stock investment.  Take a look at this article on different types of lighting and how you can maximise yours.
• Steer the customer to the right, may sound strange but a lot of science goes into this.  Shoppers tend to look left when they walk into a store and then move right walking counter clockwise around the store. Often large department stores will place a central display at the front of the store, a wider aisle on the right encourages the shopper to move around the display to the right. 
• Layout of the store and aesthetics, these are very important and can really add to a shopper's experience. Think about your shopper's journey around your store, lead them by placing compelling displays at the end of aisles. Stay away from parallel aisles and create a layout that ideally, angles in from both sides to a central aisle, forming an arrow layout that ends in a back-wall display.
• Have plenty of interesting displays not a continuous line of floor stock, shoppers are much more likely to miss product.  Small room displays that encompass soft furnishings and decorator pieces work best, and can increase incremental sales.  Ask us for help we can give you a floor plan that is optimised . 

E-Commerce website may seem like an obvious thing to do but do it well! There are plenty of DIY tools out there with fantastic function and design we have mentioned a few in the links below. Invest in some expert SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and you will compete with the big players online.

• Adobe Business Catalyst ~ Offers a great all round solution that includes a back end platform that you can also use for HTML marketing and capture customer statistics.
• Volusion ~ Again its a full service site you just choose your plan and the features you require. 
• Shopify ~ Is built for a retail & e-commerce combination even offering a tie in POS iPad application. 
• Magento ~ Comparable to Business catalyst offering a full service web portal and some fantastic templates to get you started.
• These are just a few of the hundreds of options available. Do your research to find the best possible solution for your business.

Technology:  this doesn't have to be expensive or difficult to implement. Take a look at new technology as it is ever evolving and really gives you and edge over the online retailers. 

• iBeacon is the name for Apple’s technology standard, which allows Mobile Apps (running on both iOS and Android devices) to listen for signals from beacons in the physical world and react accordingly. In essence, iBeacon technology allows Mobile Apps to understand their position on a micro-local scale, and deliver relevant content to users based on location. The typical scenario looks like this. A consumer carrying a smartphone walks into your store. Apps installed on a consumer’s smartphone listen for iBeacons. When an app hears an iBeacon, it communicates the relevant data to its server, which then triggers an action. This could be something as simple as a push message [“Welcome to LaForma! New Stock Has Just Arrived!”], and could include other things like targeted advertisements, special offers. Other potential applications include mobile payments and shopper analytics. The potential is limitless.

Social Media regularly under-utilised within business social media is a fantastic way to reach your shoppers for little or no outlay. Take a online class on "how to" if your unsure where to start.  

Tactile real people ~ don't forget you have something online e-commerce sites do not and that is great people with great product knowledge.  A store full of product that your customer can touch and feel, you have created a showcase of your floor stock investment, and given your customers a enjoyable shopping experience.  So make sure add the personal touch to everything you do.

For more information on creating a LaForma concept in your retail store email me sara@laforma.com.au