4 Local Advertising Ideas For Retail Stores and Businesses

Investing in local advertising can prove to be a smart investment that results in more customers, sales and ultimately profits. As a retail store owner, you need to constantly promote your business through various platforms. It's no secret that retail stores rely on the sales from local customers; therefore, common sense should tell you that local advertising is the most effective. Here, we're going to reveal 4 local advertising ideas that's sure to give you the most bang for your buck.

#1 - Radio Commercials

Even with all of the technological advancements of satellite radio and MP3 players, most drivers still resort to their local radio stations. You can use this to your advantage by promoting your retail store on a radio commercial. Contact some of the various stations to request a report of their user base along with commercial rates and requirements. Ideally, you want to run a commercial on the radio station that your customers are most likely to listen to.

#2 - Mail Advertisements

You might be surprised to learn that placing flyers on mailboxes is illegal. Thousands of companies risk fines and even lawsuits for this type of promotion. A smarter method of advertising is through the local postal service. Most USPS offices have advertising options for small business owners to use. You can pay the office to have your flyer or advertisement sent out to a given area, which is a highly effective form of local marketing for retail stores. Either call or visit the USPS office in person to ask them about their mail advertising options.

#3 - Television Commercials

Of course, we can't talk about local advertising options without mentioning television commercials. As the old saying goes -- a picture is worth a thousand words -- holds true in retail marketing. As long as you have the capital and resources to create an launch a television commercial, this is definitely one avenue you shouldn't overlook. Not only will you receive direct sales from it, but you'll also increase your brand exposure, which is a huge benefit of television commercial advertising.

#4 - Sponsorship

Another local advertising idea that's frequently overlooked by store owners is sponsorships. Little league baseball and other kids' sporting events will display your store's logo in exchange for a donation. It's a win-win scenario that increases your store's exposure while helping out youth organizations. Call around to some of the youth sports organizations to see whether or not they are looking for sponsors.

Boost Your Sales This Labor Day Holiday

Labor Day is more than just a holiday of recognition and appreciation to all of the hard-working Americans in this country, it's also one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year. The only day of the year that receives more shoppers is Black Friday. Whether your store sells clothing, jewelry, handbags, sporting goods, memorabilia, collectibles or practically anything else, you should take full advantage of this holiday by encouraging customers to come in and shop. Labor Day is the perfect platform for showcasing new products, sales and other promotional material.

So, when is the official Labor Day holiday this year? It falls on the first Monday of September, which happens to be 2nd this year. With exactly one week until this shoppers' delight holiday, store owners need to make preparations now to gain the most benefit from it. With a little bit of work and dedication, however, you can turn your store into the perfect shopping environment for Labor Day crowds.

One type of product that seems to work exceptionally well in retail stores during Labor Day is school supplies. This is the time of year when children everywhere are saying goodbye to their summer break and hello to the new school year; therefore, parents and families will be out in full force this Labor Day holiday in search of school supplies. If your store receives a lot of young shoppers, then perhaps you can offer school supplies this Labor Day. It's a simple yet highly effective way to generate more revenue during this federal holiday.

It's a good idea to go through your store and update all of the displays with less summer items and more winter items. Labor Day is a symbol of change, with the seasons beginning the transition from summer to fall. As a result, customers will likely be on the lookout for cold-weather clothing and items.

Of course, you should also offer plenty of 'attractive' sales and promotions on your store's typical product inventory. Labor Day shoppers expect to find exceptionally good sales on this holiday, so bring them in with huge discounts and deals. Advertising a "40-50% off" sale is sure to draw shoppers into your store. Another idea is to give away free accessories or items with a certain purchase. For instance, if a customer spends $100 or more in your store, perhaps you can give them a free scarf or hand bag.

How To Improve The Shopping Experience In a Retail Store

There are several steps retail store owners can take to improve the shopping experience in their stores. Whether you run a grocery, convenience, sporting goods, clothing or practically any other type of store, you should constantly work to create a more customer-friendly atmosphere. This will naturally encourage shoppers to make more purchases while improving the overall mood. In this post, we're going to take a look at some simple and effective ways to improve the shopping experience in a retail store.

Add Music

Music is a simple addition that will have a dramatic impact on the shopping experience in retail stores. Many owners seem to overlook the importance of music, which ultimately creates a less enjoyable atmosphere. You don't have to blast the music so customers can no longer talk to one another, but you should play some soft melodies in the background. It's a subtle touch that both customers and your employees will appreciate. If you haven't done so already, check into some of the satellite radio services to see which ones are best suited for your store's clientele.

Keep It Clean

Of course, keeping your retail store clean will also improve the shopping experience of customers. There's nothing worse than walking into a store only to find products strewn across the shelves and floor. Even if you find the product you are looking for, you'll have no idea how much it costs. Go through your store and pick up any missing or misplaced product on a regular basis. It's not a bad idea to designate an employee to cleaning up the store once every couple of hours.

In addition to picking up product, you should also get into the habit of thoroughly cleaning the shelves and windows in your store. For whatever the reason, retail environments seem to naturally attract a lot of dust. Allowing this dust to cake on the shelves and windows will lead to an unpleasant shopping experience. You can prevent this from happening, however, by running over your windows and fixtures with some paper towels and cleaning spray.

Offer Assistance

Helping customers locate specific products in your store will naturally improve their shopping experience. It's frustrating when customers are forced to walk around in circles trying to find a product. And if they can't find it, there's a good chance they will leave. You can keep customers in your store, however, by offering them assistance. See if they need help locating any particular item. It's the small things such as this that raises the bar for other retail stores to follow.

3 Ways To Expand Your Retail Business

Expansion is the key to improving revenue in the retail industry. Only running your business from a single 'local' location will ultimately limit your store's earning potential. If you wish to create a successful long-term business, you must constantly look on the horizon for ways to expand. Expanding your business will open up a whole new world of possibilities, allowing your business to grow into a larger, more successful entity.

#1 - New Store

Of course, one way to expand your retail business is to open up a new store. Don't get me wrong, this requires a fairly large amount of capital and resources, but opening up a new store can prove to be well worth it in the long run. Just think -- you could be earning twice the revenue, if not more, by having an extra store in place.

The most important thing to remember when opening a new store is to choose an appropriate location. The location of a retail store can either make it break it. Ideally, your new store should be located in a populated area that's near a highway or major road. If customers have a difficult time locating it, your sales will suffer as a result.

#2 - eBay / Amazon

Another highly effective way to expand a retail business is to sell your products on eBay and/or Amazon. These are two of the hottest marketplaces around for selling goods and products. Taking advantage of just one of these marketplaces can yield a huge increase in sales.

There are a couple disadvantages associated with eBay and Amazon, one of which are the fees. You can expect to pay around 5-9% in selling fees. If your profit margins are small already, the fees along can make selling on eBay and Amazon not worth your time. Do the math ahead of time to determine how much profit you'll actually pocket from selling on these marketplaces, and then decide if it's worth it.

#3 - Website

A third idea for expanding a retail business is to launch your own e-commerce website. You won't get the same amount of traffic as eBay or Amazon, but you also won't have to cough up 5-9% of your sales in fees either. Even if you have little-to-no experience in web design, you can outsource a company to create an e-commerce site for you. The cost of a site will depend on a variety of factors, but it shouldn't cost more than $750 for a fully functional e-commerce site for your retail store.

Display Tips For Retail Sporting Goods Store

Running a retail sporting goods store is no easy task. Along with the normal business-related hurdles, you'll also have to find an effective way to display your merchandise. Because of the unique shape and structure of sports equipment, displaying it in a store requires a different approach than traditional retail products. However, with a little bit of work and some ingenuity, you can effectively display your sporting goods in a functional, aesthetically pleasing manner.

Slatwall For Sporting Goods

Slatwall is a highly effective way to showcase smaller types of sporting goods. The subtle hardwood finish seems to naturally flow with most retail sporting goods stores. Of course, there are several other styles and finishes to choose from. Regardless of your sporting goods store's interior design, chances are there's a style of slatwall to match it.

Owners can easily move their sporting goods around on the slatwall thanks to its convenient "hooked" design. Just move your products around on the slatwall so there's no empty room. This is a huge advantage that will ultimately free up valuable space in your store. It's important to note, however, that slatwall is really only effective for smaller products. Larger items, such as football pads, will require a different form of display.

Sports Mannequins

You shouldn't overlook the use of sports mannequins in your retail store. These highly versatile display tools will show your customers exactly how the product looks and works on the human form. Instead of using traditional apparel mannequins, though, you can use ones that are made specifically for sporting goods (see image above). For instance, you can use a golf-swing mannequin to display a variety of golfing products, including clubs, visors, shirts, shorts, caddy bag, etc.

Sports mannequins are perfect for use both inside the store and in window displays. To get the most benefit out of them, you should constantly change and update their appearance. Allowing the same sports equipment or gear to remain on your mannequins will gradually reduce their effectiveness.

Rolling Racks

You can still use traditional rolling racks to display jerseys and other sports apparel. Not only are rolling racks inexpensive and easy to use, but they also take up a minimal amount of space. Just remember to create a strategy for your store's floor plan before adding any new rolling racks or other items. Maintaining a clear path for customers to navigate will result in more sales and ultimately more profits.

Tips On Creating a Back-To-School Merchandising Display

Summer vacation is now over for most children living in the U.S., which means a new school year is right around the corner. In fact, numerous counties have already begun their 2013 school year. As a retailer, you can use this to your advantage by creating back-to-school merchandising displays containing all of the necessary supplies students need for their upcoming school year.

Acquire School Supply Lists

The first step in creating a back-to-school merchandising display is to call around to the various schools to you'll know exactly what supplies their students needs. Because this varies from school to school, you'll likely need to make several calls. Nine out of ten times, however, the school system will post their supplies online for parents and students to access. When you are calling the different school systems, ask them whether or not their supplies are posted online.

So, what's the point of accessing supply lists for the schools around your area? Well, you can create an effective merchandising display based around the supplies that students actually need. This is a win-win scenario, as students can easily locate all of their necessary supplies. You can even make copies of the school supply lists and hand them out to customers in your store. Customers will be more than grateful to find their school supply list available at your store.

Think Outside of The Box

In addition to carrying all of the items on the school supply lists, you should think of other items that students will need throughout the school year. Lunchboxes, for instances, are an essential item that students will need. Offering a large selection of lunchboxes for boy and girls of all ages will prove to be a smart business strategy that pays off in the long run.

Gridwall and Slatwall

Both gridwall and slatwall are two highly effective forms of merchandising displays for school supplies. Most basic school supplies are fairly lightweight; therefore, retail store owners can hand them on a hooked panel of gridwall or slatwall.

It's important for retail store owners to properly maintain their back-to-school merchandising displays. When a flood of eager customers come in to shop, some of your product will likely end up in the wrong location. Allowing your merchandising display to turn into a cluttered mess will send the wrong impression to customers about your store. Try to get into the habit of organizing your back-to-school display at least once every other hour if not more.

Employee Engagement And How It Affects Retail Businesses

Employee engagement is a hot topic in the retail industry. As companies work to reduce their worker turnover rates while improving performance, the issue of engagement continues to pop up. When employees aren't driven to put forth 100%, the company suffers as a result. And unfortunately, few companies are operating with a high percentage of "engaged" employees.

So, what exactly is employee engagement? While some companies may have their own definition for the term, the easiest way to describe it is the measurement of enthusiasm, determination and motivation of employees to perform their job. It's important to note that employees may continue to show up to work even if they aren't engaged. Instead of going above and beyond the call of duty, however, they may lack the enthusiasm and drive to perform certain obligations of their job. Regardless of what specifically for your retail store sells, you must work on improving employee engagement; otherwise, you run the risk of losing customer, sales and tarnishing your brand name.

The key to improving employee engagement in a retail business lies in motivation. Far too many store owners and managers believe that sending a paycheck to their employees is enough to keep them motivated. While it may be enough to prevent the employee from quitting, it's not enough to motivate them to excel. Think of how you can encourage your store's employees to work harder and more efficiently. One of the most effective ways is to set reachable short and long-term goals along with various rewards. For instance, if your employees are able to gather a certain amount of zip codes or email addresses from customers at the checkout register, then perhaps you can throw a lunch party. Another idea is to hand out gift cards as a bonus for employees who sell X amount of product in a given time frame.

Along with higher sales and profits, engaged employees will also result in better customer service. It's no secret that customer service is a critical in the retail industry. If you aren't friendly and polite with each and every customer that walks through the door, your sales will suffer as a result. Thankfully, engaged employees will naturally put more effort into customer service. You'll likely see more employees greeting customers immediately when they enter and leave the store, and they may also take the initiative to help customers locate the items they are looking for. It's the small things such as this that really set a retail store on a higher level above its competitors.

Protecting Retail Apparel With Garment Bags

If you own or manage a retail apparel store, you should consider investing in some garment bags. These versatile accessories will offer a valuable layer of protection against dust, dirt and other common forms of damage. Unfortunately, far too many apparel stores overlook the importance of garment bags. This ultimately leads to damaged product and higher shrink, both of which are disastrous for a retail businesses. To learn more about why you invest in garment bags, keep reading.

Protects Garments From Dust

Regardless of how much time you spend cleaning your store, dust will inevitably accumulate in certain areas. This may not seem like an issue, but even small amounts of dust can ruin certain materials. Dust is especially problematic in storage and shipment areas. So, how can you protect your garments, and profits, from the damaging effects of dust. The answer is simple -- store them in a garment bags. Instead of hanging your garments on a rolling rack and leaving them in the back of the store, you can secure them in a protective garment bag. The peace of mind knowing that your store's apparel is safe is well worth the minimal price of garment bags.

Convenient Hanger Area

Most garment bags are constructed with convenient hanger slots on top. After placing the shirt, dress or garment on a hanger, you can then zip the bag up around it. Store owners can then hang the garment bag on rolling racks or similar devices thanks to the convenient hanging area. There's no need to lay the garments down once they are placed inside a bag. Of course, this is just one of the many benefits offered by garment bags.

Prevents Wrinkles

Yet another benefit of garment bags is their ability to prevent wrinkles. Let's face it, customers are naturally less likely to purchase wrinkled garments; therefore, it's in your best interest to store them in a manner that reduces the chances of this from happening. Taking the time to place your garments in a bag will keep the straight and wrinkle-free.

Logo/Card Slot

Depending on the particular model, some garment bags are designed with built-in slots for holding logos or cards. This allows store owners to personalize their garment bags using their own promotional material. You simply slide your card or logo design directly behind the soft plastic cover where it will remain visible for everyone to see.