In-store events can do wonders when it comes to bringing more foot traffic into the store. In addition to bringing traffic in and resulting in sales, in-store events are also a great way to generate buzz on social media and nurture relationships with attendees.

Ask for reviews from existing customers! Social proof increases sales in-store and online. You'd be surprised, 70% of consumers will leave a review for a business if they're asked to but you should make it simple and effortless. Fun fact, an equal share even expects to have access to other customer reviews in-store!

Less is more. Avoid tight areas of overcrowded displays. While you don’t want a Spartan-like display, you want to use your available floor space well. Leave plenty of room for shoppers to browse in different segments or areas.

Ever since online has taken over, direct mail can be considered to be a largely untapped opportunity for retailers. As companies have been transitioning to email, direct marketing has been vastly underutilised.

incorporate quotable quotes into your retail displays. Text can be a great way to encourage shoppers to look closer at your products if it's done well.

Attract a new (and different) audience by collaborating with young and hip eCommerce brands looking for pop-up locations.

Retailtainment as the name suggests is the fusion of retail and entertainment — an effort on the part of retailers to provide customers with fun, unique experiences that elevate shopping above anything it’s previously been.

Consider enhancing the brick-and-mortar experience by allowing shoppers to browse your online shop in your physical location. This can be a great offering, especially if you have multiple stores or warehouses and don’t carry all your stock in one place.

Aligning marketing and sales strategies with a cause that gives back in either a social or environmental way can be a huge benefit to retailers. If customer loyalty is a goal, this is an effective and innovative way to secure return business.

Communication is key. Collect customer information, e.g. SMS or email, and reach out to customers frequently to keep them informed about your brand, new products, events, and more.

Create partnerships with other local businesses and explore co-marketing opportunities like co-branded social media campaigns or co-sponsored events.

Customers perceive your window display as representative of your brand and the kind of customer experience you provide. Taking time out and planning its design helps your business.

Building a sustainable brand? Bring elements to your store that your customers associate sustainability with. Integrate items your customers can relate with to underline your brand story.

Create an environment that is family friendly, especially if you are catering for children as well. Make your store an experience for all of your walk-ins!

Everyone loves exclusivity. Host exclusive sales promotions and make customers feel special and valued.

Consider the height and age of your target buyer while placing your products on display. Keeping high margin products at eye level helps to capture attention!

Checkout often takes a minute or two and feels like a necessary evil. Make the most out of this highly personal touchpoint. Conduct 'sprint surveys', one or two simple questions that can be naturally integrated into a friendly back-and-forth. You'd be surprised how much there is to learn about your customers!

You don't have to spend much money on impressive in-store displays. Upcycling, which is the process of recycling old or discarded materials in order to make something new, can be a great way to build unique retail displays.

Are you a small store? Portable displays can help you make the most of your space. These displays are easy to transport so that you can quickly re-merchandise or make space for other items if needed.

It is essential to understand the context in which passerby will become aware of your store. Will people be on foot or will they be in their cars? Think about how much time people have when they stroll, stride, or drive by your store, then design your window displays accordingly.

Customers take action in order to not miss out on something they consider valuable. You can make use of that behaviour by showing limited-time offers in big, bold letters that attract attention.

Make sure to immerse your customers in a particular environment or setting. use unifying themes to tell a story and promote use case rather than the product itself.

Create memorable store experiences that can be shared with friends, family or the public by turning your store into a social media inspiration source. The key is to launch an IG-friendly initiatives that aligns with your brand. Bonus points if you can localise your store experiences and tailor them to the community.

The design of your display window has an impact on whether customers relate to your brand or products. Make use of seasons or holidays that almost everyone can relate to.

Make sure your window display is targeted enough to entice the right shoppers, but not too specific that it’ll alienate potential customers.

Take your Google listing to the next level by displaying your inventory in Google Search and Maps. 

Create displays that encourage people to touch and feel for you products. If your items are sitting on a shelf or a table while still inside their respective boxes, you could be missing the chance to connect with your customers. In fact, one of the things that shoppers love about brick-and-mortar retail is to interact directly with products.

Now more than ever, consumers are turning to Google to find stores and products. Make sure that you’re showing up whenever they conduct a search relevant to your business.

One of the most genuine ways you can delight your customers is to show them that you care about giving back.

Encourage customers to return to your store by granting them discount codes, cards, or coupons valid for a date in the future.

Group, but not to distraction. Use your shop fittings to make visually appealing groupings, but don’t do it to the degree that your buyers are distracted from other areas.

Customers can be driven away if they see a lengthy queue. Consider to 'hide' your queue by placing your registers out of sight.

Consider doing live streams on social media to attract customers to your store or events.

Similar to the 'right hand' and 'eye-level' principles, a shelf has hot and cold spots. Knowing these spots allows you to position high margin products accordingly.

Turn (impulsive) shoppers into retaining customers. Loyalty programs that reward customers for coming back to your store can increase retention. Data suggests that 80% of shoppers are more likely to continue doing business with brands when actively participating in a loyalty program.

You’ll be changing your window display regularly, so devote ample resources on the materials and equipment that you’ll be re-using.

Every store has a unique customer walking path. Once identified, make sure you allow for your floor plan to easily flow with it.

It might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised at the number of retail stores with poorly-lit displays. You’ve put a lot of work in crafting a great looking window, so you need to ensure that everyone can see your handiwork, especially at night.

Creating incentives for customers to refer their friends with discounts for everyone involved can bring in high-value traffic and encourage repeat purchases from both.

Cross-merchandising can increase basket sizes and average order values. The practice encourages product discovery and encourages shoppers to consider items that match their existing purchases.

Holiday seasons present another opportunity for marketing your store. Consider to host season-related events or services to engage your customers.

Eye-catching and relevant displays on your curbside will help incite passersby to visit your store.

What area of your store generates the most revenue? Where do your customers tend to spend the most of their time? Once understood, this is the area you'd like to display your high margin products in.

In an age of COVID-19, instilling confidence in your customers by communicating your health and safety measures is key to driving traffic and sales in-store.

Help shoppers to see your products in action. Create displays that show your products in use or allow shoppers to try them out.

Consumers love to know what, and more importantly who, is behind your products. Meet the maker events are one unique sales promotion that can drive in-store sales.

Your decompression zone is the first 2 to 6 meters inside your front door. Shoppers who are in this part of your store are prone to distractions, which is why most experts agree that retailers should keep the decompression zone simple and uncluttered.

Buy-one-get-one deals are among the most popular discount options. In fact, 66% of shoppers say that 'BOGO' is their favourite type of deal.

If your store is filled with many smaller items, this is a must have. Never expect your customers to bring a bag or basket.

Proactively ask your customers whether they'd like you to check in on them after their purchase to see if everything works their way. Not only does this allow you to gather email addresses, it also indicates that you care and creates a great touch of 'togetherness'. This is extremely important because it increases trust and the likelihood that a customer comes back which is essential to building and establishing brand loyalty.

When a customer returns a product, it can amount to more than just a single lost sale. Depending on the item and its condition, you might not be able to salvage and resell it. Consider hosting regular events dedicated to selling used and returned products at high discounts.

Place essentials at the back of the store and high margin items at the front to ‘nudge’ more customers to buy expensive products.

Statistically, most of your customers are right handed. They have a tendency to focus and lean towards that side, too. Place high margin products to the right so that they are easier for your customers to reach.

Think about perspective. Place items you want your customers to look at first at eye level in your store windows and take into consideration the circumstance in which they will experience your display. Are they just rushing by on their way to work? Do they have time to fully read your message? ...

Be considerate when choosing colours for your product display. Your products' colours should always play a major role in this.

Doing good is good for business. Studies have shown that today's consumers are more inclined to shop at stores that are associated with a good cause.

The movement to 'go local' is the opposite of big-box shopping. The rise of the conscious consumer and the desire to support local products and brands has helped to increase small business revenue.

Cross merchandising can be highly effective at moving stagnant products because it effectively shows customers what to do with the product.

Display your most popular products in a way that draws attention to them, for instance, by placing them on a mannequin in the centre of your store.

Create a feeling of scarcity. Scarcity is a well-known psychological trick to increase an item’s perceived value by making it seem special (or rare) to a customer.

Stay relevant and leverage the old school 'we are open visual tactics'. Experience with a new coat of paint, a brand new sign or awning or flag at curbside. The pandemic has forced many businesses to close. Shoppers won't necessarily expect you to be still around so it won't hurt to remember them.

Avoid to clutter your store and use empty spaces to navigate your customers' view to products of interest. Consider to only have one product of each size or variant on the floor.

Create artificial scarcity and provide a temporary boost in your conversion rate by offering limited-time promotions.

If a customer is a casual walk-in, they might not know your brand. Build on a positive store experience and connect with customers over social media. This way, you can stay in touch even after their visit which can be great for retargeting strategies at a later stage. Examples - Attach a QR code to your shopping bags that will take a customer to your social media platform of choice. - Embed specific social media content within PAJO or direct to any of your existing social media profiles. Pro tip - Use services like https://linktr.ee/ if you only want to promote social media.

Position products known to attract impulsive buyers near your store's prominent sellers.

What often sticks with us is a surprise. How about putting your customer a little free extra into their bag upon checkout?

Become a customer yourself. An excellent way to gauge the attractiveness of your display is to take a photo of it. The camera can capture aspects of the display that may seem off and it can shed light on components that you may need to reposition or adjust.

Sometimes, a little thank you is all it takes. Consider to put a 'thank you'-note into your customers shopping bag when wrapping up their purchase.

Position products that go (and likely be sold) well together closer to each other to increase cross-selling. Grouping products is especially helpful when customers are likely to interact with your products directly.

The longer a customer spends time in your store, the higher the likelihood of conversion. Use displays and fixtures to encourage remaining in the shop and discourage exiting.

Consider to display additional product information about your products to help educate customers. Anticipate your customers' FAQ and offer excellent self-service shopping experiences.

The items you anticipate selling easily and most often should be the subject of free-standing and floor displays towards the front of the shop to attract the most attention.

Plants are a great way to bring life into your visual merchandising. They will not only make your displays look better, but can also help create more enjoyable shopping experiences.

A classic! Use point-of-purchase displays and merchandise to encourage customers to add on last-minute 'impulse purchases' as they're standing at your register.

Social proof means showing your customers that other people have bought or want to buy your products. The most obvious example is when an online store offers reviews of a product on its page. A recent study suggests that 70% of shoppers expect customer reviews in physical stores, too.

Guide your customers' eyes to products you'd like to promote. Use visuals (signage, displays, etc.) with high contrast to create awareness. Consider different colours e.g. paint as a cheap alternative to technical equipment.

The power wall is referring to the wall in your store your customers will see first, usually straight after entering your store. Use this area to display high-margin products and group items for cross-selling to give room to rather slow-moving items, too.

Your displays should go beyond showing off your products; they should tell tales that pique shoppers’ interest and encourage them to come inside. Do this by selecting a theme, and finding stories in line with it.

Write down brief guidelines that outline the language and tone you'd like your customers to associate with your brand. Do you want to come across as e.g. friend or educator?