New technologies—and a less-is-more approach—add punch and power to point-of-purchase displays
Losing a sale: What to say when a customer walks away
BY STEVEN KING “Thank you for your time. This is the first place I stopped, and I want to shop some more and compare…” You just spent the better part of the morning with a customer who is about to walk and leave you empty-handed. This came up when I recently visited a newly launched, […]
9 daily rituals that will increase mattress sales
BY GERRY MORRIS What makes retail mattress sales exciting and challenging is not knowing when the next shopper will enter your store and having no idea what her needs may be. There is no way to calculate the missed opportunities retail sales associates have had because they weren’t fully prepared—or something within the store or […]
TECH CHECK: Update your Goodbed.com profile at no cost
BY GERRY MORRIS While there’s no shortage of websites giving advice to mattress shoppers, GoodBed.com offers a store, brand and product locator with consumer reviews and ratings. A forum enables shoppers to pose questions to experts. Even if you haven’t heard of GoodBed, most retailers are listed in its database of 6,000 mattress retailers and […]
Her Bed Post: Selling to women
Motivating factors While purchasing decisions ostensibly may seem straightforward, those made by women often are driven by profound psychological factors and behaviors. To understand those subconscious drivers, Insights in Marketing, a Chicago-based marketing research firm, developed five female behavioral insight profiles to help retailers comprehend the motivations behind women’s buying habits. The FBI profiles were […]
Profiling your customers
Nielsen survey says… Word-of-mouth is most credible source of advertising Eighty-four percent of consumers around the world say they trust word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family—known as earned media—above all other sources of advertising, according to a new study from Nielsen, a New York-based provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy. Trust […]
Making the most of the vendor-RSA relationship
Industry leaders share insights; strategies to jumpstart partnerships BY GERRY MORRIS Retail sales associate: “Thanks for the doughnuts.” Vendor representative: “Sure. How about that game last night? RSA: “Didn’t see it; had to work.” Vendor rep: “Oh yeah. Well, is there anything I can do for you? RSA: “Do you have any pens or tape measures?” […]
Selfless listening: The value of hearing customers with ‘inner ears’
BY MICHAEL PENNY True listening is selfless. Selfless listening calls for hitting “pause” on your inner monologues and agendas. There is no other way to truly focus your attention on the customer. The good news: It’s that simple. The bad news: It’s not easy. When a customer comes into your store, that person brings a […]
Latinos set shopping trends
Latinos view shopping differently than their non-Latino counterparts, a study finds. For the fastest-growing demographic in the United States today, shopping is a social experience that involves many sources of information, their senses, multiple generations and trendsetting. The survey, conducted by Lapiz, a marketing agency for emerging cultures based in Chicago and an affiliate of […]
Selling to women
Brought to you by restonic® Increasingly, retailers around the country—from Best Buy to Lowe’s—are implementing significant design changes to make their stores more female friendly. Another one followed suit last fall when home and garden retailer Orchard Supply Hardware, a chain based in San Jose, Calif., rebranded its shops to create a more welcoming environment […]
Mattress shopping and fun
Mattress shopping and fun. Consumers rarely use those words in the same sentence. How about selling mattresses? How enjoyable is that? Is there a way to make the experience of buying and selling mattresses more fun? I say yes! I learned about having fun selling mattresses as a rookie sales representative for Serta, thanks to […]