When addressing the issue
of why trends are so important to your store,
it all boils down to one thing; the trend is going to be directly linked to
something that people want at that current moment.

Now, if they know that your store sells those kinds of products, then it is essential that you are aware of this trend so that the products
in question can be displayed
and merchandised correctly
and that they are always available for customers to purchase. In order to explain it better, we will provide
an example.

In a clothing store, trends are going to change according
to the season or even perhaps by what a famous person is currently
wearing.

If we presume
that it is a particular style of shoe, then there is a good chance that people who are aware that you stock those shoes will want to come to you in order to buy them. If you are not aware that a certain style of shoe is the current trend, then there is a good chance that you will be taken by surprise when there is an influx of customers
buying the shoes and before you know it, you are going to be running into problems with an empty shelf.

If we take this example, then you can see the impact on your store, because you want to be known as being the place to go to in order to pick up a certain product that fits in with the trend at the time.However, lack of preparation is going to reflect poorly on your retail outlet as people will go elsewhere to get whatever it is that they need.

Furthermore, being aware of trends means that you will come across as being in control
and that can only be a positive
when it comes to your reputation. Think of it this way. Would you be quite content if your retail outlet was seen as being backwards
in its way of thinking?
Would you want your store to be seen as a place where they just do not pay attention to what is going on?

The answer to that is of course not, simply because of the negative
way in which you are going to be viewed.
Now, if your competitors are not being viewed in the same light, then where are people going to head to next time? The answer is most certainly
not going to be to your store.

5.2   
How to Take Advantage
of the Trends in an Efficient Manner

Obviously the way in which you do this
is going to vary depending on the store and the products in question, so we will take you through a
couple of examples in order to better explain what is going on.

First, by being aware of what the
trends are you can make sure that you have the correct products in place and
more than enough of them in storage.This in itself is extremely important
because the point about trends is that you never know when one ends and another
one begins, so you have to be able to take advantage of them when the products
are hot.

Next, you have to make sure that it is clear that you have the products
in question and that they can easily be located
within your store. This is where having a display
set aside for these kinds of products
will prove to be rather useful because
you want to really be able to push certain
products as much as possible
before the interest
fades away. Also, you have to remember
the earlier chapter
as to what is expected
from you in accordance with consumer behaviour
and if they are coming into your store as they believe that you have certain products, then the last thing you want is for them to spend time trying to locate it. Instead,
they would prefer to be able to find it, pick it up, and then pay for it with a minimal amount of fuss.

The final main point that we need to discuss
here is making sure that each member of staff knows about the trends and that they are aware of the products
in question. This is going to involve
you as the manager passing
on this information as and when required,
and it can be seen as pretty much an ongoing form of training
and staff liaison,
but it is undoubtedly going to be helpful for your store.

Your staff needs to know what the trends are, why they are in trend, the kind of products that people will be looking for, and also where they are going to be located
in the store. Passing on all of this information will make you look professional and clearly that will be a major advantage to you.

What we are saying here is that, as the manager of a retail outlet, you need to be prepared
for these passing trends and to understand not only what they are, but how best to push these products to your customers. It is useful to understand the kind of customers that are most likely to have an interest in the trend so that you can effectively target them and draw them towards the products that they are looking for.

However, we will now focus more on why targeting
customers can be so effective.

5.3    Why Targeting Customers
is so Effective

By targeting customers, we mean the way in which you understand your customer demographics and then tailoring
your store so that the products that perhaps best suit their needs or wants are easier to find and more prominent
than other products.

You can also tie this in with setting up certain displays
for products that you wish to promote that you know will fit in perfectly with their needs.

Now, it is impossible for us to cover every outcome and event within a retail environment, so we will go back to using our examples
to be able to really show how this targeting
can work.

In this example,
we will focus on you being the manager of a clothing
store.

Now, it is going to be obvious to you the kind of customers
that often shop there. This is established by looking at not only the items of clothing
that you have for sale, but also their price point.

The reason why studying your own products
is important is because of the way in which you can determine the part of the market that you are focusing on. If we can take our example a bit further,
then we can say that by studying
your products, you will know if it is for men or women, children,
or for the rich or less wealthy.
This may sound very simplistic, but it allows you to educate your staff on who they should be focusing on when customers
enter the store due to the possibility of increasing sales.

Say you are the manager of a clothing store for women.

Closer inspection of the products
determines if we are dealing with teenage girls and women up to say the age of
30, or if we are talking about the more mature woman. Furthermore, the style of
clothing lets you know if you are talking about casual or more formal
occasions, as this will determine the kind of customer that you will be
targeting. Next, we look at the price points. Are you selling clothes that are
seen as being cheap and cheerful? Perhaps they are designer clothes with a high
price tag and a richer customer base that thinks nothing of spending a small
fortune in a relatively short period of time.

This may initially
sound like a lot of work, but it is going to be worth it in the long term because of the way in which it allows you as the manager to get to grips with who your customers are going to generally be. This is information that is priceless
because it can have a knock-on effect when it comes to how you display the items in the store. By understanding your market and knowing who you are going to target, it does mean that you can better understand the behaviour of the customer
when they enter your store.

Think about this. If you are the manager of a store that sells high end goods and you have customers enter the store that do not portray the kind of individual
that you would expect to purchase from you, then it stands to reason that less effort is put into trying to convince them to spend money.

Now, this may sound rather simplistic and offensive, but in a busy retail environment with limited staff it is difficult to actually be able to provide each and every customer with the same attention in order to try to convince them to spend money. It may be wrong in the eyes of some to make this initial snap decision as to whether or not an individual is worth targeting
merely by a first impression, but the more experienced you are and the better you understand your store, this is something
that will get significantly easier as time progresses.

Targeting your customers
is effective, as it means that both you and your staff can dedicate
the limited amount of time you have on the correct people that are more likely to spend money. Getting them to part with their cash is something
that you have to have as your end goal no matter the hoops you have to jump through to get there.Remember that your targets are the most
important part out of everything that you do as the retail manager and if the only way to raise the target or achieve it is to laser in on certain people, then so be it.

 FACT

 Retail sales reached a total value of £406 billion for 2017

 Source: statista.com

5.4    How to Target Customers in the Best Possible Way

We mentioned earlier
the importance of being able to identify
the kind of customers that you need to target and we will now see how you can focus on them in the hope that they will spend their money.

If we can just presume
that you have already identified the market sector to target and that those kinds of customers
are in your store, whatever that store may be.

First of all, as you already understand the type of customer that comes into your store, it should mean that the store is already
set up so they can instantly see the kind of products
that they would like. It is important
that you, as the manager, check the store every morning to ensure everything
is where it should be so that the business
can begin to work its magic as soon as a potential
customer comes in.

In most instances, the store, combined with the layout and your efficient merchandising, is going to make a huge difference
and allow you to target your customers
in a subliminal way, which is surprisingly effective.

They are unaware
of the psychology that has gone into the positioning of the products
to catch their eye and make them want to know more about them. You will have thought
why clothes stores use mannequins to showcase certain products; they are doing it to target their customers by providing them with a visual medium that allows them to imagine what it would be like for them to wear the items as well.

However, there is more to targeting the customers in an effective
manner than just allowing the store to do its bit. Both you and your staff should also be aware of the main types of customer
who shop there, and the potential need to provide them with some help in order to convince
them to spend money.

The key here is to make sure that you ask them if everything
is ok and whether they need any assistance. After this, you then need to move away from the customer
rather than pestering
them as that will just annoy them and may cause them to go elsewhere.

To help with this section, the following key points summarise
how to target the customer:

Make sure that the store is attractive and set up for them to find the products that they are interested in and for the store to effectively sell itself. Any layout or design for a retail outlet is structured in such a way to make sure that there is a certain flow to it whereby certain products lead on to others in order to complete
the shopping experience. Think about the flow and connect it to your main market.

Make
sure that the products that they would most be interested in are there to be
found and always in stock. There is
no point in understanding your market, knowing who to target, and then not having the products
to complete the deal.

Never be afraid to approach the customer to offer help. This is something that can actually
convince people to spend more money within a store if they feel that they are actually going to be appreciated.

Never try to sell things to the customer on a constant basis. This is more of a warning to you rather than anything else because why on earth would you want to irritate somebody
by trying to really sell things to them unless you have been specifically asked to do so? You have to understand where the line is crossed between being useful and being annoying and this is also something that your staff have to be aware of or else you could constantly run into problems.
This comes down to staff training and making sure that people are doing their job correctly, or else you could run into problems
when trying to help those very customers
that you should be focusing
on.

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