While tending to your wholesale business is an important task, it’s also crucial not to forget your retail customers. Their in-store experience keeps them coming back, or could cause them to switch stores for good.
“In general, the emphasis on all products is moving more and more to in-store,” says Paul Pinkus, national director, In-store Marketing and Store Design Industry Group with American Express Tax and Business Services. The company consults with POP display makers and store fixture manufacturers to enhance their business performance and value.
“The brand marketers have recognized that most buying decisions are made at the retail store level,” he continues. “The change in media, in terms of proliferation of TV channels and the ability of retail consumers to filter the messages from manufacturers via television, has made in-store marketing all the more important.”
There are plenty of in-store tips that help improve your day-to-day walk-in business without harming relationships with your professional customers. POP displays, end caps and interactive units come into play here.
‘Screening’ customers
“They are good examples of how you can gear something to both people,” David McBride, president of Taurus Display Corporation, notes about interactive units. If your store offers items for both the end user and the professional, you can buy one touch-screen display with two buttons — one for technicians and one for DIYers — instead of paying for two units.
“If you can get someone to stay in your store, chances are they’re going to spend more money,” he says. “A good example is drug stores. They can fill a prescription in a minute if there is no line, but they make you wait 15 minutes to keep you in the store. You want to give (customers) quick service while giving them simple opportunities to make additional purchases.”
CSK Auto just placed self-serve kiosks, powered by Dell, in more than 1,000 locations. The systems enable retail customers to search for specific product information at the touch of a button. “Accurate and up-to-date search information from our automotive parts database is crucial to the success and growth of our business,” says George Duckworth, director of store support for CSK Auto. These kiosks offer an enhanced customer experience and additional store resources that are meant to complement the assistance that the counter staff offers, according to a press statement.
Directing traffic
Tim Buchholz, vice president of corporate communications at Point-of-Purchase Advertising International (POPAI), notes that literature racks and signage can help direct traffic. If a customer is buying a case of oil, for instance, trafficking materials could point them to the oil filters section, stimulating demand for another purchase. He adds that 70 percent of decisions are made on the spot in stores.
Scott Bennett, director of operations at Bennett Auto Supply, emphasizes the importance of clean, well-lit stores and sophisticated planograms and other merchandising programs for the retail customer.
“You have to display (merchandise) neatly and price it on labels and not the product,” he suggests. “We’ll always grow our wholesale business, but our (retail) customers come in the store now and they don’t make a left straight to the counter. They grab a basket and they shop. We’re seeing great results.”
He also notes the importance of catering to female customers.
“Women are a huge makeup of auto parts customers today,” he says. “They don’t like to go into the dirty old parts store with pictures of Pamela Sue Anderson on the wall. You have to create a friendly environment.” They like clean, open spaces and lots of displays and how-to information, he adds.
Pinkus also notes a difference between retail and professional customers.
“When it comes to distinguishing between the retail and professional consumer, the largest distinction would be on the impulse buying side,” he says.
“If you go into a specialty store such as an automotive aftermarket store, retail consumers are more subject to impulse buying than the professional buyer. Professional buyers will be much more sensitive to in-store items with technical information associated with the products. They are more appreciative of the technical stuff they see in the store.”
