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Virtual events for brick and mortar stores

da

Traditionally, this is the season when brick-and-mortar stores plan the most events. To attract new customers, enable Holiday shopping, and run tantalizing discount events.

How can you get the most out of this period during a pandemic? How can you quickly adapt to varying degrees of lockdown and/or limitations? I have been collecting ideas for a few months and what follows is a practical guide for independent stores.

My advice is to rethink your traditional promotional events, turning them into virtual or semi-virtual events that allow people to participate without compromising their safety.

If you had been planning to run a product launch party, or a promotional sales event in your store, this Fall/Winter, do it virtually.

If the pandemic conditions in your area will allow it, you will still be able to integrate the virtual event with some in-person activities, but it’s important you set yourself in the most appropriate frame of mind.

Face change with a long-term approach

You should not approach rethinking your events as an emergency and short-term solution. On the contrary, you should strategize a long-term plan for events, that is effective and efficient no matter the pandemic situation.

Don’t plan based on a supposed comeback to normalcy (whatever that might mean). By planning this season as the first one where consumers will change their relationship with stores, you will be ready to serve them better even in the future. It’s not just common, it’s also a smart response to recent research that highlighted the impact the pandemic had on consumers’ behavior, and how there’s a trend of this impact stabilizing.

Just read this paper McKinsey published last August: Meet the next-normal consumer. McKinsey and Oxford Economics highlighted consumers are increasingly drawn to:

  • choosing e-commerce over in-person shopping;
  • sticking with brands they already know;
  • shopping less frequently, but buying more;
  • picking stores that are local to them;
  • prioritizing sustainable options.

The future is now

Let’s be clear, your customers will come back to your physical store. But it’s likely they will do so only if you’ll be able to nurture a satisfying relationship with them even when restrictions prevent them from visiting.

Whatever resistance you have to this vision of the future, there is no denying planning virtual events has many advantages for a physical store:

  1. it allows you to reach and engage people who are not local but who have been a fan of the store;
  2. it allows you to accommodate more people than your limited store space would have allowed.

Goals are the same, you just need to adjust how you achieve them

Furthermore, changing the way you plan events doesn’t mean giving up on your goals. You can still plan events that will attract new customers, or engage the ones you have, or launch a new product line.

Your needs and goals do not change, you are simply finding new ways to nurture the relationship with the customers you want to attract and engage. For example, you could run a televised home shopping feature through your Instagram stories from your store. That would allow your customers to virtually visit your store and shop from it with your assistance.

Everything you need to plan a virtual event for your store

If you haven’t set up an ecommerce yet you might be scared of a switch to virtual promotional events. Clearly an ecommerce would provide a seamless virtual shopping experience, but it’s not vital right now.

The basic checklist of things you need to plan effecting virtual events in your store has three items only:

  1. a steady online presence with a proprietary website (built on the foundations of an SEO strategy) and your Google My Business page. The latter should be frequently updated, especially as far as your contacts, opening times, and reviews are concerned;
  2. any social media profile with a “live” tool and possibly a linked products catalog. Instagram is the easiest one to use, but consider your client base and whether Facebook might a better option, depending on which generation you are targeting;
  3. virtual perks. To ensure people will attend your event you will need to provide added value that needs to be virtually deliverable. For example, you could provide a virtual consultation (Trinny London started doing this during the first lockdown in the UK), or a discount code that can be redeemed online as well as in person, or even a gift you can post to your customers.

Useful tools

Once you’ve taken care of the basic check-list of things you need to make your virtual event happen, you need to collect a few tool that will ensure your event is a pleasant experience.

Start with these three:

  • a good quality camera and a tripod. You could make do with the latest model of any smartphone, but if the event requires you to move around your store you might want to have somebody else filming you with a stabilizer;
  • a lavalier microphone to make sure your voice comes out loud and clear. Sometimes smartphone earphones are enough;
  • any data collection system that ensures you adhere to privacy laws (depending on where you are). It should be easy to use and to access online so that people can use it from home or in person. You could create a landing page linked to your website, then have either people fill in their info from a tablet you will provide in-store, or access it from a link sent via Whatsapp or from a QR code. Make sure the wording of your privacy form allows for shooting photos or videos of people coming to your store during the event if you plan to do so.

Integrating virtual and in-person experience

Maybe you’ve noticed all the advice I have provided until now is suitable for both fully virtual events and in-person events that allow for virtual connection.

I encourage you to keep planning hybrid events for a while, to accommodate a range of restrictions. All kind of events can be planned as hybrid, you could:

  • launch a new collection (or new products) to 15 of your most loyal customers, then stream it for everyone else to see;
  • arrange a limited sale (with special prices reserved to registered customers) online at the same time as you have it in-person at your store;
  • strike a partnership with another store in your area, sharing clients’ lists and planning a workshop together. This could be a limited-access in-person event in your store and be streamed on your Instagram account.

And so forth. But let’s dive in one example.

How to launch new products hybridally

The brand of jewellery you sell exclusivally in your town has a new collection out. How can you launch it effectively?

First of all, plan a virtual launch, creating:

  • a presentation page for the collection on your website;
  • product pages for every element of the collection on your ecommerce;
  • alternatively, product pages on your Facebook/Instagram catalogue.

Shoot pictures of every item in a recognizable area of your store, and write product pages making sure you describe every item as completely as possible, thinking of ways to substitute the sensory experience of seeing them in real life. Clearly show sizes, write them down in the description, describe every nuance of color, material, finishing.

Then plan a presentation for a Sunday morning and allow access to registered customers only. Create a limited discount rate for the duration of the event (or the day of), that you will provide to registered customers only.

During and after the event

Make sure you shoot images of the items as they’re tried out, moved around, combined with other accessories. Ensure the in-person experience is safe, and sanitize the space accordingly.

Ask for help from relatives and friends so you can accept orders via phone and/or Whatsapp if you have no e-commerce yet. Start packaging items as soon as the event is over (choosing sustainable solutions) and arrange for delivery as soon as possible.

The week after the event send a thank you note to everyone who attended (virtually or in-person). An email or Whatsapp text is enough, but a postal card will make all the difference. Pick a simple message: “thank you for being a part of <the event>, you’re now officially part of our tribe”. Include a minimal discount code that they will be able to redeem for a long time, or add a pin with the logo of your store.

Even if you should run the event from your own home you will have ensured sales and loyalty from your customers!

Cover photo by Markus Spiske via Unsplash.

How to shape a new in-store experience for your customers

da

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I came up with the idea for this post on a rare outing during the lockdown. Before you rage at me, I was out grocery and meds shopping for my 74-year-old mother, I was wearing a mask and gloves, and keeping a good two meters away from anybody else.

Walking in the city center when shops are closed always ignites musings in me, even on a regular Sunday. I think it’s because I tend to notice shop windows more, and I also have time to explore my own sense of loss and to think of the reasons why I would go in a store rather than the other. At this pandemic time, the same musings took a different angle.

What could you change in your store to allow your customers to experience it differently?

As I was walking along deserted streets, shop windows seemed a bit banal and altogether I missed opportunity, I felt an urge to enter the smaller shops to rearrange them according to social distancing, and so on. Since we’re getting nearer to the time when shops will at least partially reopen, I thought those musings could come useful to some of you.

I only kept ideas that could be implemented without any investment, and by using what you already have, especially your time and the relationship you have built with your customers.

Style your windows so they can speak for you when the store is closed

Start thinking about your shop window as you would have programmed your answering machine a few years back, use your voice, provide useful information, with your usual tone (whether it’s formal or quirky).

Your store window, now on more than any other time, should not simply display your seasonal stock (that people could find elsewhere), but it should house:

  • a carefully curated selection;
  • items chosen from your customer’s go-to purchases, and items that are eponymous with your store;
  • items that are bound to better satisfy the needs your customers feel now.

If you sell skincare, for example, display your best hand creams, and face masks and moisturizers. Dehydration is one of the worse ways lockdown affects our skin.

Don’t crowd your shop window with the products you want to sell but that customers are not currently interested in. If you really must, display those at check-out as a complement for your primary products. For example, if you sell jewelry (real or costume), people will be more inclined to buy items that can be seen during a video call, like earrings and necklaces. Display rings at check out, and offer them to customers who bought hand cream, as a finishing touch to their pampering but make sure they’re made of materials unaffected by cosmetics.

If you were used to writing price tags by hand, maybe with a personal, hardly readable handwriting, this is the time to go the print route or block writing, and to display them right next to the item they refer to. Avoid listing all the prices in a tiny sheet hidden in a corner of the window.

Finally, create a neat sign with graphics coordinated with your brand (Canva.com has great options), listing a few simple rules for accessing your store. Make sure to add a link that people queuing can view while waiting. It could lead them to your Instagram profile, or to Shopify e-commerce you’ve set up during lockdown, maybe one where they can shop and pick up in-store. This way, even those in a hurry will be able to buy from you, without entering the store and arranging for a later pick-up instead.

Arrange for customers to visit by appointment

Especially if your shop is small, customers will not be able to visit exactly as before. Depending on the size of your space you might need to allow one person in at a time, while the rest will need to queue outside.

How can you organize this in a way that doesn’t penalize your most faithful customers? First of all you could grant them priority access. If you have their contact information (even just their Instagram handle), reach out with a message including:

  • a genuine request after their well-being; it’s a great way to re-establish a connection, plus it could lead to asking them “I know you’ve had other things on your mind, but is there anything you have missed from my store and that you would like me to set aside for you?”
  • information about reopening, including times and days, and how to access your store;
  • the possibility to book an appointment, at the time most convenient for them, if they were thinking of visiting, so they can skip the queue.

Once you have reached out to your best customers, you can announce the possibility to book an appointment on your website and all your other channels. Including your newsletter, but you might want to do it there first, while you’re still calling your customers, this way people who receive the newsletter will still feel its value as an access point to exclusive offers.

Your announcement should clarify whether you will be welcoming customers by appointment only (I wouldn’t do that), or if people will also be able to visit you directly, but in that case, they should be warned of potential waiting times. As you will start reopening and experiencing this new way of work, keep track of average visiting times so that you can better warn your customers of waiting times, on your website, your channels, and the sign in your store window.

If people (understandably) tend to linger just for a chat, set a gracious timer for their visit. Explain it to them and seek their collaboration, pick a fun song to mark the end of their allotted time, and if you can and are willing to, allow them to book another visit at a quieter time for more chats.

Finally, if you have pavement space or a parking lot under your control, arrange for a few seats to make the queue more pleasant.

Build on the one-on-one experience, as if you were a personal shopper

Making do with limitations is my favorite approach to hurdles and change- Much better than whining and despairing over things beyond our control don’t you think?

My making do of reduced store accessibility would be to turn any visit in an appointment with a personal shopper. At the end of the day you don’t need much:

  • submit a shortlist of questions to anybody booking an appointment; ask them what they hope to purchase, what kind of need they’re trying to fulfill, how much they intend to spend, what are their likes and dislikes. Ask the same questions to any visiting customer, show them a genuine interest in helping them;
  • arrange for an area of the store where customers will be able to sit and peruse a selection of items you’ve prepared for them according to their answers; take the time to illustrate how each item is the right fit for them, then leave them alone to evaluate their purchase;
  • bring a thermal bag to your store with a bottle of bubbly and single-use cups, and offer your customer a glass of white to go with their experience.

This idea works best if you have a wide array of stock that could disorient your customer, but it will work if you’re willing to step in their shoes and arrange for a selection of items that they truly desire and need. And if you make them feel taken care of.

Never before, now and in the following months, customers will come to you looking for what they truly missed: human touch, attention, and service.

10 marketing actions for brick and mortar stores

da

I inaugurated 2020 in Georgia, United States. AmericasMart had invited Annette and me to talk to the visitors of their January Atlanta Market.

Our event was on January 16 and you can read Annette’s reportage on her blog (and see my pictures from that trip on Instagram in my Highlights). I thought that a time of lockdown it would be useful to revise the content of our talk.

Ten simple tips for brick and mortar shops, to stay relevant online in 2020

The tips below are grounded in Annette’s experience working with brands and stores, in our common editorial background, as well as in my marketing expertise. Finally, we were lucky enough to have our friend Kelli Lamb, editor in chief of online magazine Rue, to moderate the lively conversation with the audience in Atlanta.

We structured our talk to address mostly owners and buyers of independent stores specializing in interior, decoration, and gifts, so you will not relate to this content if you own an e-commerce or if your shop is part of a chain.

I must preface by saying that looking back over my notes now, I am very proud of the advice we came up with, that it is still valid and useful. I hope that this could help your store weather the Covid-19 storm over the next months. More down the line, I will publish another article focused on the customer experience in-store, with more practical advice for a pandemic season.

1. Make peace with constant change

Atlanta Market 2020 Talk - 1 cambiamento

No matter the business model, you have to contend with accelerated change in any market, nowadays. There is no point in coming up with a model that you plan to keep unchanged for years. The sooner you make peace with this, the better you will be prepared to face change rather than surrender to it.

2. Find your niche

Atlanta Market 2020 Talk - 2 nicchia

You must have heard this a milion times, but it’s always worth repeating if there are still businesses and stores trying to please everyone. Customers want to feel like they walk into a space concieved for them.

Furthermore, once you define your niche you will be able to get to work on authentic communication suitable for that public. Your voice is precisely the combination of the tone, register, and content that speak of your customer, far before they speak at her.

3. Apply your style to your brand

Atlanta Market 2020 Talk - 3 marchio

Your business idea will influence your store style, and it is imperative it shows on your brand. That is the fastest way to be found and recognized by the right audience.

Clearly a brand is more than just your logo. Your store signage, the color you picked for its walls, the way you styled your merchandise, your packaging, must all tell the same story, in order to be effective.

4. Think like a concept store

Atlanta Market 2020 Talk - 4 concept

In the world of lifestyle, a store selling just one category of merchandise is missing opportunities.

It’s a complex topic, and it would need pages and hours to fully be explored, but to cut it very short, the experience is a decisive factor in a world where most products can be bought online at a cheaper price. But experiencing is about all our senses, and it plays on different neurological connections, thus it cannot be bound to just one product category.

5. Curate your space to create a memorable experience

Atlanta Market 2020 Talk - 5 spazio

It is vital that your customer has a memorable experience in store, if you want her to come back and not to buy online next what she bought from you. The first element of this that you can shape is your store space.

Design your store with your customer’s experience in mind, trying to make it as seamless, pleasant, and satisfactory as possible. Focus points might vary according to the merchandise you sell, but reception, hang our, payment, and packaging/delivery are always crucial.

6. Style your merchandise with Instagram in mind

Atlanta Market 2020 Talk - 6 allestimento

Even before thinking of a digital marketing budget, you should design a store that your customer wants to photograph and display on their Instagram feed.

Arrange products in appealing vignettes and make sure stock storage is nice to look at as well as well organized. Next, let your customer know they are welcome to take pictures and share them; make it easy for them by displaying signs granting permission and providing your tag. Then thank them, they are advertising you to your target audience.

7. Use Instagram as an e-commerce

Atlanta Market 2020 Talk - 7 vendere su Instagram

Since your customers are already advertising you on Instagram, make it super simple for their followers to buy the products they fall in love with!

Use the Catalogue feature provided by Facebook/Instagram to create a ‘Shop Window’ feature with product sheets displaying neat pictures. Then animate your own feed with inspirational images of your products seen in action, and tag them!

8. Craft a seamless experience

Atlanta Market 2020 Talk - 8 esperienza

The easier it is for your customers to shop with you, the better. So stop forcing them to come to you when they need to restock their favorite candle! Instead, invite them to visit when you have something new to see, just for them.

To do this, you need to create an omni-channel experience beginning in store, but continuing online and with delivery.

9. New shopping experiences

Atlanta Market 2020 Talk - 9 esperienza

The bottom line is, you need to create new shopping experiences that fulfill your customers’ needs. Membership and loyalty programs should provide you useful data to better serve your customers, reminding them only of new arrivals they will absolutely adore, and allowing them to better spend their money.

Coming up with subscription programs to your customer’s favorite products (candles, skincare, stationery), better even if they’re scheduled to be delivered to them around the time they might run out of them, will make them loyal to you.

10. Welcome your customers back

Atlanta Market 2020 Talk - 10 benvenuto

Finally, as soon as it’s possible, open up your store to unique and truly engaging events. Give your customer a reason to come back to visit you, beyond seeing what new products you have.

What do you think of this advice? Do you own a store? Have you tried doing any of this already? If you feel like it, DM me on Instagram to tell me about it.