PHOTOS COURTESY OF NICOLE LEINBACH HOFFMAN
By Nicole Leinbach Hoffman
There is no greater pastime of mine than strolling through stores — preferably independently owned ones — and enjoying the merchandising, displays, signage, store décor, overhead and ambiance lighting, and, of course, inventory.
From the outside into the inside, I love the days I get to admire the hard work of countless souls who bring these stores to life, ultimately delivering shoppertainment to not just myself but many others.
Fortunately, my entire career has encompassed days like this. In the past year alone, I was in New York City, Lake Tahoe, Reno, Cheyenne, Baltimore, Grand Junction, Las Vegas, Nashville, Austin, San Diego, Miami, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Bahamas, and various other destinations that kept me — you guessed it — entertained and educated through the many stores I visited.
From fashion boutiques, various gift shops, and home décor stores to children-focused boutiques, luxury shops, and more, there is never a dull moment. And with each visit to each unique store, I am always impressed, disappointed, frustrated, confused, surprised, intrigued, or even baffled but definitely never bored.
The perk to these visits as well? I get to share great ideas from the various stores I visit with you — some of my favorite retailers whose stores I also love to explore along the way during my travels! My most inspiring retail moments from the past year include the following stores.
The Bridal Collection in Colorado
This past June, I was fortunate enough to become Mrs. Jeremy Hoffman to the love of my life. That also meant doing a lot of shopping and planning for our wedding along the way. Among the many, many, MANY bridal stores I visited was The Bridal Collection in my home state of Colorado.
After visiting so many, I came to appreciate the little things in a big way. Among them? A sufficient-sized mirror to truly capture all angles of what I was trying on.
Now while I realize every store does not need a mirror of that scale, I think many stores can value how mirrors can add to their customer experiences. In fact, I value mirrors as an aid to shopping so much that I also shared pictures from a store in Kentucky I enjoyed last fall, too, where you can see two different mirrors supporting two different shopping opportunities.
As you navigate your own store, where may a mirror make sense? View your store from a customer’s perspective, and it is possible you may be surprised where you need one and have yet to offer this in your store experience.
Boutique in Lexington, Kentucky
For the past few years, I have had the honor of supporting the Kentucky Retail Federation with a mystery shopping experience they reveal to their members each fall. There are truly countless highlights from this each year, but I surprised myself with being so in awe of how one store used its home pantry items to bring inventory to life.
From uncooked rice and dried beans to stocked cans and stacked boxes wrapped in brown grocery bags, there was so much depth and interest to the details of their store. My favorite, however, was how they merchandised earrings and other casual jewelry on top of dried beans in trays. Combined with signage that called to action “Pick Me Up” or “Try Me On,” it was impossible to resist these sensory and fun experiences.
Incorporating moments that offer engagement will always be among my top recommendations, because customers want to feel they are a part of store experiences. Visiting their local big-box stores and other cookie-cutter experiences rarely gives them this opportunity, so stand out in their memories by creating unique and engaging opportunities for them to discover inventory while in your store.
The best part? Leaning into your own pantry, basement, garage, and other already-owned items is a fun and affordable way to bring your store to life. It just takes a little creativity to bring all the pieces of this together.
Salon & Boutique in Grand Junction, Colorado
If you have not sensed a theme already for this “Retail on the Road” story, here is another idea to reinforce it. And it is customer engagement.
Sure, this sounds like an obvious expectation among most stores, but engagement can come in a variety of ways, and some are more memorable than others. In the case of Posh Salon & Boutique in Grand Junction, Colorado, they leaned into the season of fall and used decorative pumpkins as their surprise promotional reveal.
Upon check-out, guests could pick up a pumpkin and discover a savings opportunity that ranged from 10% to 40% off, BOGO 50%, or buy two items and get a third free. With both signage and store associates alerting customers to this fun promotion, it was impossible not to want to buy something — just as my daughter, Kylie, who was a freshman in college at the time, did and received a generous 30% off.
What can you learn from this? Use the seasons to create in-store engaging opportunities. Whether faux pumpkins in the fall, candy canes come December, flower accessories in the spring, and summertime-themed items once June hits, there is endless opportunity here. Using how our friends at Posh leveraged pumpkins, consider how you can make this work for your store as well.
Boutique in Los Cabos, Mexico
This past winter brought a family vacation to Los Cabos with some friends and their children. With ages ranging from 14 to 50+, it was important to think about everyone’s preference of how time was spent. Shopping, for many of us, was an easy yes. For others? Not so much.
Fortunately, off the tourist paths of Los Cabos were more locally visited streets that still welcome tourists to come. In true leisure fashion, these same stores always seemed to have a chair for that extra person who was not quite as enthusiastic to shop or even browse.
If your own consumer audience tends to welcome these guests, too, consider how adding a chair to their experience can help keep them more relaxed and less anxious to leave while whomever they are with — as you can see in the picture of this gentleman’s plus one shopping — can enjoy the store. And spend!
Throw in some publications they can enjoy, possibly a TV for them to view, or simply a lot of coziness for them to settle into and suddenly time slips away. And that is a good thing.
There are always added perks for refreshments offered as well. Whether it is water, a local beverage known to your community like sweet tea, or in the case of Mexico, a cold cerveza, your relaxing guests will stay more relaxed if they settle into comfort — plain and simple.
Retail on the Road in Review
Inspiration surrounds us always. It is up to us to welcome it, though.
In your own travels — whether five minutes from your home or across the world — consider how you can learn from other experiences to bring a positive experience to your store. From customer service to in-store engagement to digital marketing, there is always something to be inspired by. Add your own twist to these experiences to truly make them yours and as a result, help elevate your unique store business through memorable, interactive moments your customers will enjoy.
Nicole Leinbach Hoffman is the founder of RetailMinded.com, a well respected retail industry resource that has been recognized worldwide for its leading business insight since 2007. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, the UK’s Telegraph, CNN, the Today show, and countless other industry resources. Additionally, she has supported American Express’s Small Business Saturday as a spokesperson and is the author of the book Retail 101: The Guide to Managing and Marketing Your Retail Business, published by McGraw-Hill. With a core concentration on small businesses and independent retailers, she welcomes you to connect via Instagram at @RetailMindedWorld and Twitter via @RetailMinded.
