Specialty Retail Blog

Last month I wrote about the changing terrain of marketing success. I introduced the need to build a community around your company based on values in addition to demographics. Management One® developed the Winning@Marketing™ process to achieve that transition. Many readers felt that more explanation would be helpful.

Brands and your marketing are about establishing an image. People long ago started moving away from the old “neighborhood”. They had a need to meld into new communities and environments. Just as the internet changed how we do so many things, it is changing the socialization process too. Today many do much of their socializing online to find their niche and to socialize. Others struggle to find their niche, their identity and the image they want to portray.

What is the image of people who shop in your store? Who in your market “wants to be like them”? Do others want to be associated with them? Obviously very few owners can afford Tiger Woods or Cameron Diaz as a spokesperson for their stores to establish that image. Lots of people want to be in their circle! Other ways must be found to identify and establish the image of someone who shops with you. That is where the internet can be a terrific and potent tool.

What are the images people have of using your product? When you sell something and the customer uses it or puts it on, how does he/she feel? How is he/she supposed to feel? Does that feeling provide an attachment to your store or a community? Some stores have an image of exclusivity and of being expensive. Certain customers may have values where expensive and exclusive items and activities are important. To others, those things may be ostentatious and wasteful. Communities grow up around shared values!

A good marketing strategy that includes e-mail, the internet and well-crafted direct marketing establishes the right image with which your community will identify. That image prepares them for the right feeling when they get the goods home. It catches their interest and motivates them to shop with you.

Sometimes events or values establish a community. Dick Hite, owner of Norton Ditto, an upscale men’s store in Houston , Texas is busy raising money for a local charity. At the store the trunk shows and events are all focused on raising money for that charity. His store, which is reflected in his own values, and the community surrounding it are growing together nicely.

A retail community around your store is about mutual cognitive perceptions. Plant the right seeds and the community will grow. Your marketing needs more than fertilizer (investment) to help the growth! A solid marketing strategy to use that investment wisely is the right move and Winning@Marketing is designed to provide that direction.

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The Role of the GMM

The General Merchandising Manager in a retail store plays a critical role to the key to success. The GMM must coordinate the strategy, marketing and sales for the season with the buyers in order to give the store a direction that will attract customers and build a solid reputation. It is also important that the GMM is able to communicate that information to the Management One® Winning@Retail™ affiliate.

When preparing merchandising plans for a client, we use a high tech/high touch aspect includes input and feedback from the buyers and the GMM at the store.The more the planners understand the direction the store is taking, the closer the plan will be to what is needed to make the strategy into reality!