New article on What's Haute

My newest article is available on Whats Haute. It's an interview with Mike Lublin and Maureen Roberts of MoMoFalana who have a dress pictured in the current issue of Vogue. Just click on the title of this blog post
Seth F

New Pre Fall Photos

Just posting some of my favorite Pre-Fall 09 fashions. Look to your left and you will see elegant but dangerous designs from; Andreas Melbostad's Phi, Alber Ebaz's Lanvin, and Olivier Theysken's Nina Ricci.

35 things fashion retailers must do right now

40% of retail stores in business right now will not survive the current economic downturn. That number is based on 17 years of retail experience and not research but if it is in error I would be willing to bet it errs on the low side. Many retailers simply do not run their stores well and usually it is an across the board set of poor practices and policies that deal the fatal blow. This article contains a series of recommendations that are designed to be implemented, now, I mean right now, as soon as you finish reading the article now. Before I get to the list itself I want to speak briefly to the attitude you need to have as you approach these tasks. This is about your survival, no amount of hours is too high, no sacrifice is too great, no change or new idea to small to be considered. If you can not adopt this attitude close your doors now.

The single most important thing to remember as a business owner facing a recession is that there is no single most important thing. There are dozens of things that you must do right now to ensure your survival. I can not stress strongly enough that you must proceed from the premise that there is no portion of your business that can not be improved. Every single penny must be squeezed from every aspect of your business. We begin at the back of the store and move forward:

Suppliers & Shipping

1. Pick up the phone and call every single supplier you use and ask if they have discounts for C.O.D. Also ask if they have any other discount programs that they are running right now. Cash on Delivery is a great strategy when times are tough. It will keep you from having debts that can get out of control very quickly and it will also force you to only buy what you can truly afford.

2. Now that the price of gas has gone back down make sure that they have lowered or removed any fuel surcharges you were paying. If they have not tell them you will find some one else to buy from or ship with.

3. This one is subtle, let customers now in a “pssst wanna know a secret” way what day/s you receive your shipments. Customers love feeling like an insider and you will get traffic pops on those days.

4. Process your shipments immediately! Waste no time getting fresh merchandise to the floor. This is part of an overall strategy that I will address in more detail at the end.

5. If you buy 15 of item X and you sell out, when you reorder how many do you order? 15! An item has to prove itself through at least one reorder cycle before you start to bump up your orders. When you sell out again then cautiously begin to raise the amounts in your orders.

Staff & Organization

1. Scientia Potentia est, Knowledge is Power! What are you best selling hours on Tuesdays? Which of your sales people has the highest % of multiple item transactions? What are your top 5 highest margin items? You absolutely need to be an expert on every conceivable facet of your business. Study hard, I guarantee the results will help you make better decisions.

2. Be organized, there should never be any item in your inventory that your staff can not find within two minutes. This creates more time for your staff to be on the floor and leaves a positive impression in customers minds.

3. Maximize the sales ability of your staff. Staffing your store is more than simply assigning schedules. See which people work well together and pair them up during your busiest times. You need to find out who performs and who loafs. Make up performance charts and post them, coach and encourage. If someone doesn't improve or is indifferent, fire them! If a staff member excels, reward them! You can not afford not to have top notch staff.

4. Be open when your posted hours say you will be open. People never return to a store that is closed during hours that they say they will be open. If you have one of those back in 5 minutes signs...burn it. You should be bringing your meals to save money anyway and if you have to go to the bathroom wait until you have coverage.

5. Assign checklists of tasks for your staff. The staff of your store does not need to sit down while they are working. Keep them cleaning, arranging, fixing, organizing, and improving your store. The instant a customer walks in the should stop and offer to help when they are done they should return to their tasks.

Staff & The Sales Floor

1. Practice, practice, practice. You and your staff must understand how to sell. Find out what works best for each sales person and have them practice. Some people are better conversational sellers, some are good at pointing out the technical advantages of an item, some sell best through a series of qualifying questions. Ideally the salesperson should be able to flex their style to fit the customer in front of them. Arm your staff with good knowledge about what items you are pushing, what items you love and why. Give them things to talk about and they will have more information to give the customer.

2. Teach then how to approach a customer. Your staff should approach every customer with something to say, inform and present but don't push. Get the customers to think of your staff as a resource not a nuisance.

3. No cell phones, pagers or internet on the sales floor! Need I say more?

4. Make sure the staff really knows the products that you stock. Making an honest recommendation to a customer as to why product A is better for them product B will not only increase sales but build repeat clients.

5. The staff should know what is on order, back order, available for special order, and when they are likely to come in. Have them take the name and number/e-mail of anyone who is looking for something that you can get. This builds your client mailing list, provides one on one attention that customers absolutely love and a successfully completed special request is a repeat customer made.

Marketing & Promoting

1. Create a calendar of in store events, 2 or 3 a week is just about perfect. Have them be related to your products and then offer specials on the item(s) that the event is related to. Don't make the discounts too deep on those items though, 25% or less because this is a mostly captive audience. Serve refreshments, alcohol if allowed. These events should have the feel of small home parties with music and interesting snacks. Promote these events in store as well as via your e-mail list. Make sure that you require sign ups for the event, this builds your customer list.

2. Buy a sandwich or dry erase board and place it in the position that it has maximum exposure to passing traffic. Updated it daily, with what's on sale, what's new, what's happening etc...

3. Network with your neighbors, community organizations and friends. Offer coupon exchanges or co-sponsor events. Offer police, military, fire, and E.M.S discounts. And whenever you do these things announce them, loudly.

4. Have blowout sales, any shelf in your store whether it is on the floor or in the back that has merchandise that you can not sell is taking up space for merchandise that can sell. Get rid of it, but not for free! Throw it in as a gift for purchase of x amount or x item. Sell it in a grab basket for $1.99, (never a dollar, 7 out of 10 people will give up two dollars as fast as they will give up one.)

5. Guerrilla market your brains out, have events outside of the store that promote your store or merchandise. Participate in photo shoots or press with anyone who asks, now is not the time to worry about whether someone is "important enough" to work with. Be creative and be constant.

There are a few general items that did not fit neatly into any category.

1. It is important to give the impression that your store is always busy. Rotate your displays and window displays frequently, move stuff around and re package and re-combine items. This accomplishes many things at once: it keeps the staff busy, it makes the store seem vibrant and alive, and it allows you to discover things that increase sales that you would have missed otherwise. Think of your store as a laboratory, always be experimenting.

2. All business e-mails and phone calls must be returned within 24 hrs or less. Even if the answer is "no, thank you" you still must answer all of your non-spam e-mail. You never know who will pop up to help you in the future just because you were polite.

3. You set the tone for your staff, your attitude and approach will become their attitude and approach. Take care of yourself, eat right get lots of rest, you will need every ounce of energy you can get.

4. If I mentioned that you should use something that you don't have, such as an e-mail list, that then becomes priority one!

5. Ask others for advice and help, myself included, your mind is not the only one working on these issues.

Seth F