Retailers Need to Re-Connect with their Community

List of 5 Suggestions for Retailers to Engage with their Customers

​Anyone paying attention to what has been happening for the past several years with consumers, retail stores and technology will recognize that there is a revolution going on in today’s economy. The emergence of rapidly changing technology and the pervasive use of social media has produced two distinct courses of action for retailers. They either decide that brick-and-mortar stores are too expensive, ineffective, or just a symbolic flagship used for branding with intermitten sales and move to an online presence, or they improve their brink-and-mortar retail model to appeal to those consumers looking for “experiences” when they shop. Retailers are in better position to apply “Experiential Retailing” than any other retail model but only if they adopt up-to-date practices that will appeal to a growing number of consumers looking for more than just products at the lowest prices.
Here are a list of suggestions for retailers who want to truly engage their customers.

1. Decide what your community is.    ​

Whether you are in a large or small city, determine what your community (not city or market) is. Community is the operative word. This point is very important, as it will be YOUR community and you will want to totally engage this space. After all, you are an important and necessary part of this community!

2. Who should you engage?  ​

First, by “engage” I mean making a deep emotional connection between people in your community and your products. You have to make them really care about what you are selling. Do you want to sell to consumers only? Businesses only?  Tourists? Both? How many potential people are there in your community and where are they? You really have to know your community inside and out.

3. Decide what business are you in.    ​

If you think you’re in the fashion, cosmetics, fresh flowers, travel business… you’re only partially right. You’re in the emotions business. The experiences business. In other words, flowers, cosmetics, perfumes, fashion, travel and related products are what you can use to emotionally engage people within your community and get them to care about what you are offering.

4. Be the expert in your community.      ​

 If you’re going to be successful with people looking for more than just a product at a low price, then you really have to offer more than products.  You have to learn everything about the products you are selling. Their stories. Their meanings. And then you have to get that information to people in your community in as many ways as possible. This process will establish your expertise.
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5. Throw your phones and computers away!   ​

 Ok, that’s a bit over the top. But my point is that taking orders over the phone or computer is not going to engage anyone. If you take an order for a gift you will deliver, then you have to engage the person you are delivering to!  You have to get them into your store where your products, display information at the point-of-sale, and your trained staff will dazzle them! Use the inherent value that quality products have to convince them to make your products part of their daily lives.

Retailers that incorporate these suggestions into their marketing strategies can increase their value to the communities they are in, truly engage their customers, and can look forward to years of increased sales and profits.

Terry Johnson, Managing Partner at Creezy!TheAgency and Retailing and Experiential Marketing Expert
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