book.chapter Dream big

To build a successful retail brand requires imagination, courage, and desire. You must think big and translate your passions and talents into an appealing retail concept. Focus on six key areas: being in the right location, having scalability, designing great in-store experiences, connecting with your brand, merchandising well, and providing excellent service. Your personal and business values should underpin these. For retailers, the in-store experience essentially is the brand. Customers perceive your brand based on product range and quality, product presentation, store design, new product timeliness, return policy, employee pleasantness and helpfulness, store comfort like parking and lingering space, and more. Your brand touches customers at every turn. Unlike other industries, retail brands depend almost entirely on personal experience. Whatever happens onsite shapes brand impressions more than anything customers hear elsewhere. Building a great retail brand entails six components. Your first location choice profoundly influences future brand trajectory. The first store becomes your flagship, setting standards and signaling brand identity. Seek a prime spot matching your values with the right neighbors, visibility, and traffic, even if it means higher rent. Avoid lesser locations just because available. Wait for the right inaugural spot; this store must generate buzz. Likely you’ll want your own building, not just a mall space, for consistent exterior branding. Find a location with a distinct identity that draws customers to its sense of place. If the perfect spot isn’t available, wait until one opens rather than settle. Also consider store design scalability. A single location permits customization without regard to replication. But scaling requires visually appealing and modular design that can be duplicated in varying footprints. Most chains develop a “kit of parts” – fixtures to achieve consistent looks in different-sized stores. A design playbook with templates, colors, and layouts maintains consistency while allowing customization. Leverage your first store to build designer and vendor relationships. Quality designers resonate with your values for future stores. Cabinetmakers and other vendors become crucial for multi-store growth. An enviable design delivers your values and great customer experience. When competitors struggle copying you, your unique yet recognizable brand strengthens. Your concept must connect to your values authentically, not just enable transactions. Customer interactions should feel high-touch, not rushed. Make customers feel at home through courtesy and respect. Logical, consistent store elements reinforce authenticity. Additionally, ensure your concept targets enough customers. Capitalize on shifting demographics and tastes like McDonald’s perfecting mass-market consistency. Build on existing consumer inclinations rather than convincing them to want your offering. For example, a bank could redefine itself by adding services like tax preparation, copying, events, and financial advice. Infuse banking with a personal touch to develop a new, lucrative retail concept. Essentially three retail positions exist: exclusive specialty retailers offering one-on-one service at luxury price points, targeted lifestyle retailers blending personalization and volume like Banana Republic, and price/value retailers using volume for the lowest prices. Most new concepts fall between exclusive and discounted, where differentiation brings great returns. Store design stems directly from positioning on this spectrum. Choose a designer aligning with your personality and able to incorporate touchstones – features conveying your values. Know your target audience and include elements they’ll enjoy. Build physical mockups to explain and refine ideas. Stay on budget, with annual revenue around 2.5 times construction costs. Evaluate materials from the customer perspective, emphasizing elements they contact. Allow ample time for snags, as opening takes around 18 months rather than expected. Understand cost/benefit tradeoffs between authenticity and expense without overspending. Merchandising entails placement – put your highest margin items where customers will likely purchase them. Attracted customers still need sensory and emotional engagement to convert browsing to buying. Establish view corridors showcasing offerings. Craft physical pathways taking customers deeper into your store. Present goods tidily and uncluttered. Stores usually have layouts matching preferred customer paths that reinforce branding and expertise. Twenty percent of items drive 80 percent of sales. Merchandising means ensuring those vital 20 percent occupy prime real estate purchased by the most customers. This requires testing rather than formulaic rules. With knowledgeable, service-oriented staff, you can overcome merchandising missteps and other mistakes. Retail success depends profoundly on customer service excellence and supportive operations. Customers understand the tradeoffs between discounts and service. Exceed expectations by providing great service even when unexpected. Treat customers as valued humans, not obligations. Thoughtful, respectful interactions build memorable experiences and connections. Identify service essentials in your niche and support those customer contact points, whether point-of-sale or remote support. The greater the satisfaction, the stronger your brand grows.