20 retail tips

    The easier you make it for a customer to make a purchase, the more money your store will make. With this in mind, the Callaway Apparel team at Perry Ellis provide twenty tips on how to sell more apparel. 

    well merchandised store often comes down to common sense and good organisation. The basic idea behind visual merchandising is to have an inviting store that captures the attention of your customers and provides an easy and stress free shopping experience. Having a clean, well-lit and well merchandised store is a benefit to you and your customers. You should see an increase in sales because your customer will be able to find what they want and what they need more easily. It is important to invest time and money in making your store stand out. With apparel offering the highest margin for golf pros here are twenty tips, specifically about how to make more money through this area.

    Display apparel on a slat wall or free standing unit to ensure you have the best fit for your shop and the space you have, not what is best for the other members or the supplier.

    When displaying think about add on sales and display the product in outfits. For example, polos on top, trousers and shorts underneath, belts and sweaters alongside – match colours so the customer is seeing the whole outfit.

    Show all hanging products like polos, trousers, shorts and outerwear on hangers; ensure the hangers match the brand or are brand neutral. Make sure they face the right way.

    4 For products like sweaters or club branded product, try and fold these instead of hanging. This ensures they will have a premium feel about them and they will last longer on the shop floor as they will retain their shape better.

    Make sure that trousers and shorts fold and hang in a uniform way so they look the same; this ensures that it is easy for your customers to identify the sizing and leg length if you offer different sizes.

    6 Invest in a folding board or, if you don’t have one of these, a pack of A4 printer paper, which is just as good!

    Hang in size order for the customer’s convenience – add extra sizing tags to the hangers if you have them.

    8 Know the supply of your product – if something is out of stock, know which products you can and cannot reorder from your suppliers.

    9 Know the different fits that suppliers offer – US fit verses European fit – and let the customer try on the product if you have the facilities. If not, is there somewhere where you can create a small changing room?

    10 Let the customer see, touch and feel product: you wouldn’t let a customer go out of the shop without testing a wood or iron before buying, so let them have the same experience with their clothing!

    11 Change displays regularly – make use of the seasons and key holidays; Christmas, Father’s Day and so on.

    12 Show off the Wants – don’t highlight what the customer needs, they are already in store for those. A customer responds to what they want.

    13 Group products by brand or by type so there are clear categories in store for the customer to identify.

    14 Put your newest, or most expensive product straight in the customer’s point of view as they enter the store. Display the product at various heights but ensure they can touch and feel everything – a key selling point on apparel is ‘hand feel’.

    15 Grab the customer’s attention – use a window display or focus point on the display area to draw attention.

    16 Make the most of your lighting: if you can add artificial lighting then try and highlight from above the product with spotlights. If you only have natural lighting, or standard ceiling lighting look carefully where you put what colours; don’t put dark colours stories in a windowless corner.

    17 Have clear printed signage showing by brand or product group, so people know where to go in the store.

    18 Rotate your brands within your store – if a customer hasn’t been in the shop for six months you don’t want everything to be in exactly the same position that it was before.

    19 Monitor sales of best and worse selling products – look at where the worse selling products are displayed, move them around and refresh the display to see if this improves sales.

    20 Ensure all products are priced and all prices are printed. Add extra sizing tags on hangers if this makes it easier for the customer to identify the sizing.