Because retail involves a constant battle to find new ways to engage customers we thought we’d talk to an expert about how New Zealand stores can use innovative marketing and new trends to raise their sales.

Valentyna Melnyk is Associate Professor at the School of Communication, Journalism & Marketing at Massey University and spends much of her time visiting and researching countries around the world. Therefore she knows what works and what’s fresh in the world of retail marketing.

So we asked her what the main trends were at the moment and how to capitalise on them.

Main trends and ways to engage customers

“I think there are two big trends now. One that it is now more about appealing to emotions/entertainment from the store environment. And the second is the quality of personal interaction,” she said.

Valentyna says the emotional component “has been very much ignored” in New Zealand marketing for a long time. However, we had a “head start” when it came to personal interaction. That’s “because it is a small country and we do value one on one interactions”.

So first of all, appealing to the emotions and the senses. How can the way you kit out your store affect the way your customers feel?

Valentyna says there’s a growing trend for many stores to opt for straightforward sensory tricks. Examples are using scents to represent what they’re selling or for decorating their stores in brighter colours. Those feel “more warming and comforting”.

But she added that it’s vital for stores to match their approach to their stock. After all, warm, sensual colours may work well for clothing and the smell of freshly baked bread is a guaranteed attraction for a food store. But neither helps sell IT.

Examples for good ways to engage customers

Valentyna says that Vodafone is a good example of a retailer that’s working well with the new trend. That is by breaking down the barriers between the customer and the product. Because, in the world of hi-tech phones and tablets, it’s all about being able to touch and handle the new designs. Therefore you can see how they feel and what they’re capable of achieving.

“When you’re talking about Vodafone, they want something with more tactile stimulation. As a retailer, you really want the customer to try to hold the phone and remove the barrriers from the need to ask. So they often have stands where you can just try to hold the product to get that sensory feeling.”

The way a store appeals to the senses is a great way to set it apart from the growing trend towards online shopping. Here customers are becoming used to parting with their money without ever handling the products.

A second way where bricks and mortar stores can fight back against online shopping is by offering a more personal experience. Valentyna says New Zealand is perfectly placed to capitalise on what’s a growing global trend for more interactive customer service.

New Zealand as a leading country in retail environment

“I think these trends are just starting from research not so much from retail experience. So they are still yet to penetrate into the retail environment. But I think New Zealand is definitely better; probably the best country in the world for having a personal approach to people. I travel a lot in my work and I haven’t seen a country which would be more likely to have this warm personal type of interaction. Maybe in the Pacific Islands but certainly not in bigger countries in Europe or the US.”

In practical terms, this means more than a friendly smile and greeting. It means developing a rapport with your customers and gathering information on them. That’s how you can understand their individual preferences and can respond to their personal requests.

“I keep advising from little stores upwards. Know your customers and give them a sense that they could chat with you and give them the sense that you value that interaction. Then you are helping them with their specific shopping goals. This would be a very strong point for smaller retailers. Other larger retailers just wouldn’t be able to match. That’s just because of the nature of the different retail environments.”

Other ways to incorporate customers

Again, the practical ways that you can incorporate this trend into your store involves working alongside the type of stock you sell. For example, in food retail if you can discover via data collection that certain customers at a specific time of time are usually time-poor – say, during their lunch hour – then you can adapt your marketing accordingly by moving ready meals and takeouts to displays at the front of store.

Or if you know your clients’ birthdays, anniversaries or special events and you’re in clothing retail, then you can target them with ideas. For example for a new dress for those specific occasions. Hence you ensure those dresses are in stock when they are able to browse.

Even the way your store is laid out with point of sale, display cabinets, shelving and other retail displays can be designed to appeal to them. Those offer advice on alternative uses for products or ways in which different products can work together.

In retail’s constant battle to attract customers Valentyna says that New Zealand is already a world leader. It is appealing to the new trends of emotional and sensory engagement, and personal interaction. It’s now simply a matter of putting what comes naturally to us into practice.

For more information on how Mills Display can custom-build or find a simple solution to your business’s efforts to engage with customers, contact one of Mills Display’s experts via email, Livechat with us on the website or phone our Auckland showroom on 09 634 5962. Also, take a look at our 8 innovative retail merchandise display ideas for you.

Enquire Now with Mills Display

If you want Mills Display to help your business get a unique look by sourcing the best retail display products from around the world, message or LiveChat us via the website or call us on 09 634 5962.

Follow us on Facebook and Google My Business for our latest products and NZ Retail updates. Also, take a look at our 8 innovative retail merchandise display ideas for you.

What’s the point of spending a fortune on merchandising and great stock if your customers can’t get it to your point of sale easily?

Shopping baskets and the stands which allow for their efficient distribution are an absolute necessity for any size store where you’re looking to make multiple sales and you don’t want your customers juggling their purchases while looking at other display cabinets or trying to ferret around for their Eftpos card.

So here’s our 10-point guide to why introducing them into your small store, or adding them to existing trolleys in a larger store can help change your customers’ retail experience for the better.

1. Efficiency:

   Shopping for things like groceries, produce or small goods needs to be a swift, efficient process and shopping baskets keep the aisles clear of queues of trolleys as well as giving your customers the option of just a couple of items or a few items for that special recipe. The swifter the customer’s experience the more likely they will return and the better you can monitor and control your point of sale queues.

   

2. Ease of use:

   Mills Display’s range of baskets can be either 20-litre capacity (320mm x 420mm x 230mm depth) or 26-litre (320mm x 470mm x 260mm depth) meaning they have room to stack hard and fragile articles alongside each other without any risk of damaging produce before it’s paid for.

3. Versatility:

   As well as the usual carrier baskets, Mills Display also stocks baskets fitted with telescopic handles and casters so they can be pulled around. Again, this saves space around your aisles compared to trolleys but allows customers who can’t or don’t want to carry their purchases around the store, to have them contained right up to the point of sale.

4. Store guide:

   Having a stand for your baskets at the front of the store next to the entrance keys your customers in to the shopping experience – and having a similar stand next to the checkout means they can move through the point of sale quickly without having to look for somewhere to leave a trolley.

   

5. Comfort:

   As well as the baskets with telescopic handles and wheels, our range of baskets has been designed to be carried comfortably without the risk of the handles pinching customers’ hands regardless of the weight of goods inside.

6. Trust:

   Our shopping baskets are manufactured in New Zealand and have been independently tested in New Zealand to show that the 20-litre baskets can carry more than 100kg and the 26-litre baskets can withstand more than 120kg of weight. This is more than enough to accommodate a Christmas ham or multiple boxes of bolts, screws and nails! They are also constructed with a reinforced rim and unbreakable handles to minimise breakages and give you and your customers’ piece of mind.

   

7. Economics:

   When your customer steps into your store they don’t want to feel railroaded into thinking they have to spend a lot of money – but, equally, you want to be able to give them the impression that they can handle multiple purchases. By supplying them with a shopping basket, it allows people who wouldn’t think they need anything as large as a trolley to browse your display shelving and retail display cabinets without juggling what they originally came in for.

8. Branding:

   Although the baskets are stocked in three standard colours of black, red and yellow, all our baskets can be branded with stamped company logos and designs or manufactured in your store’s branded colour. Just give us the details around type fonts, artwork and colours and we can arrange to manufacture a unique shopping basket which stamps your brand on your customers’ experience.

   

9. Display:

   As well as being able to brand the baskets, the basket stands can also be customised to display your branding or to show retail signage detailing special promotions or information for customers.

   

10. Intent:

    In online shopping, retailers spend a large amount of time trying to reduce the number of people who abandon the buying process before they reach checkout – well, the same applies for the shopping experience in a bricks-and-mortar store too. Supplying a shopping basket reinforces the intent to make a purchase and lessens the likelihood of a customer browsing, not finding what they’re looking for, and simply leaving.

Mills Display has a great range of baskets to suit your needs and can help with any customisation or bespoke baskets you think might compliment your store. For more information on how to order shopping baskets for your store or to talk through other potential solutions which would help your customers’ shopping experience, contact one of Mills Display’s experts via email, Livechat with us on the website or phone our Auckland showroom on 09 634 5962.

Enquire Now with Mills Display

If you want Mills Display to help your business get a unique look by sourcing the best retail display products from around the world, message or LiveChat us via the website or call us on 09 634 5962.

Follow us on Facebook and Google My Business for our latest products and NZ Retail updates. Also, take a look at our 8 innovative retail merchandise display ideas for you.

Effective Merchandising Storage comes from attention to detail. We pride ourselves on getting the small things right in retail so that the big picture works.

When the Apollo 13 astronauts stared death in the face in March 1970 – and NASA watched the potential end to its space programme – they were saved by a roll of grey duct tape, two socks and a bungee cord. Sure, it still took a lot of ingenuity to get the three spacemen down safely after an oxygen tank exploded and left them stranded more than 300,000 km from earth, but the fact of the matter is that the future of the entire space race came down to really simple items.

And that’s how it often is for your company too. Yes, you can have “blue sky” meetings about finances and make sure your philosophy is “future-proofed”, but if you live and work in a retail world, you need to make sure you’ve got your nuts and bolts right – or more precisely, your hooks, fixers and hangings.

This is where Mills Display’s catalogue comes in – and here’s three examples of how we’ve managed to find merchandising storage solutions for some of the biggest problems relating to merchandising work and retail management using some of the smallest products in our range.

Company #1 High-end franchise for fresh produce market

This company does hold an account with us so they understand our range and know what we’re capable of supplying – but a recent case was unique because the company’s bosses had been at a trade show in Las Vegas and seen a clever system which allowed posters to be hung on high ceilings with an extendable pole.

When the bosses returned, they set their staff the challenge of finding that system in New Zealand and we were their first port of call.

When the system was described to us we knew they were talking about a particular brand of magnetic poster hanging range which you use with an extender pole. It’s something which we have in our Attach catalogue (there’s actually a photo of it in action on page 15) but it’s not branded – instead the seven parts of the system are all listed separately.

We knew the system was the total merchandising storage solution to their issue – but the staff tasked with fitting it into the store hadn’t seen it in action, only the bosses at the USA trade fair, so we went out and showed them the practical side to how it works.

Once they saw how the magnetic ceiling hangers operated – and once they realised how the extender pole let them set up or replace posters while customers were in the store (rather than having to wait until after the closed sign had gone up and they could get the long ladder out), they decided to go with the system.

Not only that but once we’ve sorted out all the nuts and bolts of the full order, the company also plans to roll the system out around other franchise stores in Auckland.

Because this is a new product, Mills is sourcing the full order from Australia, meaning the freight time will be between four and six weeks – but once they’ve been shipped out to the stores, the company will have found a poster display system which saves them time and money and gives them an edge in retail merchandising.

Company #2 Events catering and party-hire

This company found us online and saw that we stocked an item in our Attach catalogue which would allow them to hang little cards from a horizontal platform.

The fish ceiling hook is one of the simplest items in our whole catalogue range of hooks, rings and fixings, but it was the perfect merchandising storage solution which allowed her to slide a card into a single piece of wire and then be able to hook it into the ceiling.

They contacted Mills Display via LiveChat on the website, quoted the code from the catalogue, and asked whether we had the item in stock – and although there weren’t any in the country at the time, our purchasing manager was able to fit the order into an impromptu air freight which we already had coming over from Australia.

The company wanted only 20 hooks initially but raised the order to 100 for a lower price per item and because the item is small – the air freighting was the most economical and speedy way of completing the order.

Although the product seems small and insignificant, it was a necessary part of an upcoming event and the company couldn’t wait for it to be freighted via sea – in the end the whole transaction was completed within the week.

Company #3 Large international automotive parts retailer

A store manager from this large company was looking to make use of his window space to hang promotional posters – after all, it’s great real estate for merchandising and displays.

His issue, though, was that the way his main windows were constructed meant that hanging posters in the traditional way from the ceiling left them too far away from the glass to have real impact for passers-by.

Because the store manager is in charge of store development, he wanted a solution to this problem and asked three or four display companies to come back with an answer.

Mills Display’s first contact was a phone call from the store manager followed by an email which spelled out the issue. We immediately understood that the store could circumvent the issue by hanging the posters directly onto the windows using a magnetic system which isn’t yet in our Attach catalogue but which allowed the posters to be replaced quickly and efficiently.

After a meeting at the company’s head office, we explained that the posters could be hung directly on to the windows using this new system called Magna Strip which had the flexibility to change posters in and out as the customer required.

This client is a repeat customer for Mills Display and returns to us time and time again to solve their problems – and they know we often have the right merchandising storage solution and can turn the job around quickly. From discussion to doorstep delivery, this whole process took roughly a week and a half – and the store manager was so pleased with the results that we’ve had followup calls from other store managers around the country to roll the same window poster-hanging system out around their stores.

Contact Mills Display For Merchandising Storage Solutions

If you have seen a product in our Mills Display Attach catalogue which you think can make a huge change to your business– or if you have an issue which you think we can fix with a simple product, message or LiveChat us via the website or call us on 09 634 5962.

We’ve trawled the web for retail design ideas and inspiration from three Global Businesses as to how they have structured their store layout and design. No matter what the size of your business, it’s vital to get the nuts and bolts right before you can focus on the larger retail picture. That’s where Mills Display comes in with its comprehensive range of retail shop fittings, point of sale solutions, shelf displays, fixtures and portable stands.

So we’ve trawled the web for three global businesses who have set up shop recently to provide inspiration for how you might go about either creating a new store design or up-scaling an existing layout.

Retail Design Ideas: The Pop-up Shop

Inspiration: According to reports out of the UK, almost a third of new retailers will look to launch their businesses via pop-up shops within the next two years. This trend allows would-be entrepreneurs to test the water with a new venture as well as providing more established businesses with a method to tie in with another business, season or specific event.

A pop-up is pretty much any temporary retail space and can range from a burger van or market stall, to a display within a larger store. And to prove that this is a trend which even the world’s biggest names are using, British designer Stella McCartney is opening a pop-up store on the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza to tie in with the northern hemisphere summer season.

The 55 sq m store carries all of McCartney’s brand aesthetics by using natural materials (recycled spruce wood, recyclable brass rails and natural wool felt curtains) and includes an LED digital media wall showcasing her latest runway collection.

How Mills Display can help:

No matter what size your retail space covers, it’s important to convey a consistent brand message – and you can best do that by sourcing all your retail display and merchandising equipment from a single company.

Mills Display has a worldwide network of suppliers who can find a solution to any challenge you throw at us – and whether you need that network to provide consistency with a larger “parent” store or to create a new look which can be up-scaled later to a permanent retail space, we’re sure we can meet your requirements.

Retail Design Ideas: The Award-winning Design

Inspiration: Getting customers across the threshold can mean really pushing the boat out when it comes to cutting-edge retail design – and that’s given rise to a global surge in hi-tech concept stores.

The Premier Award for Australian Interior Design was presented in May to Melbourne firm Sibling for their fit out of a new multi-sensory concept store called DUST. The idea of the shop is that it sells products which appeal to all five senses – clothing, music, fragrances (which are released into the store via vents at the entrance and rear), and Japanese teas.

The space is bright and futuristically “boxy” relying on lots of mirrored cabinetry, luminescent surfaces, animated LED screens and white architectural structures. The Australian Interior Design Awards jury said the store’s success was because “the designers have created a space that celebrates the experimental journey, taking the user beyond the typical retail encounter into an immersive, sensory engagement”.

How Mills Display can help:

No matter how complex and experimental your concept store aims to be, it still has to rely on the basic building blocks of retail – those simple elements of ticketing, pricing, fixtures, hooks and presentation.

Whatever stage of your design process you are at, it’s a good idea to be across our whole range of catalogues to make sure that your grand theme doesn’t falter for the lack of a tiny detail.

Retail Design Ideas: The Major Players

Inspiration: While the current trend for pop-up and concept stores seems to be gaining global momentum, major retailers are having to up their game in terms of merchandising, display and innovative point of sale solutions.

When it comes to brand recognition for department stores it doesn’t come much bigger than Harvey Nichols – the comedy writers behind Absolutely Fabulous made sure of that – and their newly revamped store in the UK Midlands city of Birmingham is a huge 4500 square metres carrying a price tag of more than $100 million.

When you’re dealing with those sort of numbers, you’re in a serious land of luxury and Harvey Nichols’ innovative design includes beauty rooms offering “enhancing and relaxing treatments”, a loyalty app, mobile payments, digital “way finders”, and a state-of-the-art 360 mirror. They’ve also teamed up with a Michelin-starred chef to create a stylish restaurant in the store.

How Mills Display can help:

Just as with the highly creative concept stores, it’s important when you’re working on a large-scale project that your grand scheme doesn’t come unstuck because of the smallest details. Mills Display can help with innovative solutions to any size retail project, but can also help ensure you don’t overlook basic requirements such as behind-the-scenes safety signage and basic display cabinets.

And, of course, because we can operate on a large scale ourselves – and call upon a global network of suppliers – you can be sure of a consistent and swift supply of items when you need to restock or replace.

Contact Mills Display For More Retail Design Ideas

For more information on how Mills Display can help with your retail design ideas, get in touch with us on +64 9 634 5962, call into our Auckland showroom at 327A Neilson St, Penrose, email us at sales@millsdisplay.co.nz or livechat with us via the website.

Explore the wider hospitality trends and food retail trends at the moment to see how our expertise and range can help your business in this blog post. If you’re business involves working with food – either via retail or service – then Mills Display provides a one-stop shop for all your presentation, preparation, production and display needs.

We know we’ve got the basics covered, but it’s also worth exploring some of the wider themes around hospitality and food retail at the moment to see how our expertise and range can help your business hit the latest trends.

Top Hospitality Trends: Shared Space

Whether it’s shared dining tables or pop-up food displays and service areas in other stores, the retail environment for food is all about the shared experience at the moment. This brings challenges around health and safety as well as merchandising and point of sale systems, meaning you have to trust a company like Mills Display to be able to deliver innovative and solid solutions.

Top Hospitality Trends: Think Local

We’ve come a long way from the 1970s and 1980s industrialised food model with much more emphasis now put on identifiable, locally sourced, unprocessed food which is treated with respect. As well as being able to reflect this trend in your produce and stock, retailers also have to think hard about their displays and merchandising – choosing a more traditional, rustic look such as wicker baskets, wooden barrels and crates.

Top Hospitality Trends: Health

As well as customers needing to know where their food is sourced, they’re also far more likely now to care how healthy it is for them. Apart from being able to trust Mills Display to stock equipment you know is going to make the grade when it comes to food safety, we’re also able to help you meet the requirements of The Food Act 2014, which will come into force by March 1, 2016. The Ministry for Primary Industries has a voluntary implementation programme for higher-risk food businesses to set up their written food control plan – you can contact Mills Display to ensure you have all the right equipment to comply.

Top Hospitality Trends: Technology

Almost every hospitality conference and show over recent years has highlighted the growing trend for hi-tech industry solutions such as mobile payments. If you’re heading down this digital route, it’s important to make sure you’ve already got your basics sorted – and using Mills Display means you can guarantee a consistent look and branding to your business.

Top Hospitality Trends: Events and entertainment

Food – both in terms of retail and the service industry – is fast becoming the major sector of the entertainment industry too with new television programmes, festivals, fairs and markets constantly cropping up all over the world. This puts even more stress on aspects of display and presentation such as durability and look – because if you’re going to have chefs working front of house, then you have to trust they’re using utensils and cookware which look and last as well as the food they produce.

For more information on how Mills Display can help your hospitality or food retail business contact us on +64 9 634 5962, call into our Auckland showroom at 327A Neilson St, Penrose, email us at sales@millsdisplay.co.nz or livechat with us via the website.

Retail trade shows 2015. As the first half of the year is over it’s worth taking a look at some of the key messages which came out of six months’ worth of retail shows around the world. As well as the familiar technology-driven developments in marketing, online sales and payments, there’s been an interesting call to remember New Zealand’s ageing population. Here’s our roundup of Retail Trade Shows 2015.

Retail Asia Expo in Hong Kong (June 9-11)

Samsung stole all the headlines when it unveiled the commercial use of its Mirror and Transparent OLED screens – and bringing a bit of Minority Report futurism into the retail arena.

By pairing the screen with front and rear-facing cameras which can trace facial and hand movements as well as including a snapshot camera which allows backgrounds to be altered, Samsung created a “virtual fitting room” where customers could try on clothing, shoes and jewellery virtually.

The company hopes to integrate the transparent display with RealSense tech which would allow voice-controlled 3D-rotatable viewing systems – perfect if you want to see how you look in your new car, your new dress, or your new shoes.

Retail Australasia in Auckland (May 19-20)

The New Zealand Herald reported NZ Retail Association chief executive John Albertson’s warning that the country’s rapidly ageing population posed a real challenge to retailers.

The figures were startling with our current 600,000 65-plus population becoming 1.1 million by 2031 and places such as Northland and Nelson having more than a quarter of their residents in that age bracket.

“It has big implications as the population ages and changes and it will be just a gradual change but in 20 years time we don’t want to be sitting there saying ‘where the hell did the customers go?’ because that’s what we face happening,” Albertson said.

He warned retailers not to pick between a physical presence and selling online. “They’re simply two different channels of retail and you have to work out how to make both work for you,” he said.

The Customer Show in Melbourne (May 14-15)

The star attraction at the Retail Tech X conference as part of Melbourne’s Customer Show was former CEO of UK retail giant Tesco, Sir Terry Leahy, who concentrated on how he turned the company from third to first in the market by harnessing “big data”.

The earliest incarnation of Tesco’s understanding of its customer base was its loyalty card, which allowed the company to increase the productivity of their marketing “between 300 and 1000%” because it “was so effective”, and respond to customers’ demands.

But he warned that “big data” was only useful if organisations give leadership positions to people who understand the information they’re gathering.

“Knowing is not enough – you actually have to do something about what you know about customers,” he said. “You have to change the organisation. And it does need different decision-making structures actually to respond to data. It’s got to be actionable or it’s of no value at all, and that takes leadership.”

GlobalShop in Las Vegas (March 24-26)

There was still plenty of room among the techies for different takes on traditional point-of-sale display marketing at GlobalShop 2015, where Prolitec displayed its fragrance-branding (already used in Abercrombie & Fitch stores in the US), and customised temporary retail displays included a lifeguard stand, lit-up palm trees and a 20ft silver rocket ship made from paper substrate.

Contact Us for more info about Retail Trade Shows 2015