Below are practical suggestions for apparel retailers to design distinctive and engaging in-store experiences that encourage repeat visits from customers.

Written by: Robert Woo, Content Writer
Edited by: Madeleine Anderson, Partner Manager

The era of relying solely on brick-and-mortar stores for clothing shopping is long gone. Today, apparel brands must contend with the convenience of online shopping from the comfort of one’s own home, courtesy of smartphones and couches.

As e-commerce and online shopping continue to surge, it’s imperative for apparel retailers to enhance the in-person shopping experience. Through innovative approaches and technology integration, brands can craft compelling and immersive experiences that foster customer loyalty.

This need is particularly pressing in light of recent consumer trends. Reports indicate a resurgence in in-store shopping akin to pre-pandemic levels. With more individuals seeking opportunities to shop in-person, it’s crucial for retail establishments to meet this demand and capitalize on the higher spending potential of in-store customers.

Let’s explore some actionable strategies to achieve this goal.

Establishing Personal Connections in a Digital Era

Enhancing the in-store shopping experience is crucial for apparel brands, and creating a positive first impression is key. It’s essential to cultivate a welcoming environment that resonates with customers, complete with approachable and knowledgeable staff and visually appealing store layouts.

Personalized service is paramount for fostering customer loyalty. Apparel brands can offer a range of tailored services, such as personal styling, made-to-measure options, and bespoke tailoring. Leveraging customer data from their CRM enables brands to provide personalized recommendations, delivering a customized shopping experience that caters to individual preferences. This strategy, known as clienteling, is experiencing a resurgence in the retail landscape post-pandemic.

Improving the In-Store Experience

Visual merchandising is essential for attracting customers and enhancing the in-person shopping experience. Apparel brands can captivate shoppers by creating unique displays, utilizing mannequins to showcase outfits, and optimizing store lighting, which has been proven to increase sales significantly. Regularly updating window displays to reflect current trends and seasonal themes can maintain customer interest and encourage exploration within the store.

A seamless checkout process is key to leaving a positive impression on customers and fostering repeat visits. Apparel brands should invest in efficient in store point-of-sale systems that offer multiple payment options, like Teamwork Commerce’s Point of Sale (POS) system. Teamwork Commerce’s POS system automates discounts, promotions, loyalty programs, gift cards, tax exemptions, and more, ensuring accurate transactions and enhancing the overall checkout experience. Additionally, providing services like complimentary gift-wrapping and implementing a loyalty program can personalize the shopping experience and elevate customer satisfaction.

Creating experiential retail spaces sets apparel brands apart and offers customers a unique shopping experience. This may involve incorporating lounge areas for relaxation, offering refreshments, or providing interactive areas for children to engage while parents shop. Apparel retailers are increasingly considering social media trends and creating Instagram or TikTok-worthy spaces to attract customers. By offering more than just products, apparel brands can cultivate an environment that customers genuinely enjoy and are eager to return to.

Embracing Innovative Technology

Cutting-edge technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have the potential to transform the in-store shopping experience. Virtual fitting rooms, for instance, enable customers to try on clothing virtually, eliminating the need for physical changing rooms. AR technology allows customers to visualize how clothes would look on them, streamlining the decision-making process and enhancing overall enjoyment.

Interactive displays and touch screens are also effective tools for engaging customers and elevating the shopping experience. These technologies provide product information, styling tips, and customization options, empowering customers to make informed purchasing decisions.

Endear’s clients utilize Shoppable Stories to deliver curated product selections to targeted customer segments. Given that 82% of shoppers use their phones while in-store, these mobile lookbooks enhance the selection process, guiding customers to items they’re interested in trying on.

Crafting a Distinctive Ambiance

To enhance the in-real-life shopping journey, apparel brands should prioritize captivating store designs that set them apart. This entails creating eye-catching window displays, incorporating creative interior design elements, and designing unique fitting rooms that leave a lasting impression on customers.

Hosting in-store events presents another opportunity to attract customers and generate excitement around the brand. Whether it’s organizing fashion shows, conducting styling workshops, or collaborating with local artists to showcase their work, these events add a special touch to the shopping experience. By sending out targeted email and SMS campaigns to announce these exclusive events, brands can ensure maximum participation and engagement.

In today’s competitive retail landscape, it’s imperative for apparel brands to differentiate themselves by offering an elevated IRL shopping experience that keeps customers coming back. By doing so, brands not only foster stronger customer loyalty but also establish a prominent presence in the constantly evolving fashion retail sector. Additionally, positive word-of-mouth generated from exceptional shopping experiences further enhances brand reputation and customer retention.

It’s time for apparel brands to elevate their IRL shopping game and redefine the customer experience. Fortunately, Endear is here to assist. Our CRM platform, centered around clienteling, has empowered numerous retailers to deliver personalized shopping experiences both online and in-store.

The collaboration between Teamwork Commerce and Endear presents a groundbreaking solution for retailers. Our joint solution delivers all-in-one clienteling on a mobile point-of-sale, equipping retailers with a flexible, in-store clienteling solution with powerful omnichannel capabilities. By seamlessly integrating customer data, personalized recommendations, and efficient checkout processes, retailers can elevate their in-store experiences to new heights, fostering stronger customer loyalty and driving business growth.

Paul Mc Govern

UK/IRE and EU Sales Manager

Continuing with our blog series – Five Minutes With… – we get to know Paul McGovern, UK/IRE and EU Sales Manager at Teamwork Commerce. Alongside being Teamwork’s very own football phenomenon, Paul handles the company’s growth in the UK and European region. Here he shares all about his experience working at the business…

• What is your role at Teamwork Commerce?

I am UK/IRE and EU Sales Manager for Teamwork Commerce. Commercially, I am responsible for the growth of Teamwork Commerce, working with our fantastic partners and team based in Europe.

• Explain your career path. What inspired you to join the retail tech industry?

Since graduating from university, I have spent my life working in sales and the software industry. I have always enjoyed the retail space, and one of my earliest working memories was stacking shelves at a local Woolworths store in the UK. Retail is the heart of many towns and cities across the world but is often held back by an ageing way of working.

Technology gives retailers the power to not only deliver the experience customers expect, but to also create a happy environment for those that work in it. Working within the retail tech industry combines two things that I am genuinely passionate about: Retail and Tech!

• What is your favorite thing about working in the retail industry?

Every time I speak with a retailer, I learn something new. It is such a fast-paced environment. Things are always changing. I find the whole process of how a product is designed, manufactured, delivered, and then sold, to be fascinating.

• What is the best career advice you have ever received?

Find a place that will support you, allows you to grow and gives you a voice.

• What is your favorite thing about working at Teamwork Commerce?

The people and the tech. Since joining, I have been made to feel welcomed, valued and a trusted member of the family. The tech – natively integrated POS & OMS – is the best I have seen.

• Who are your key role models/inspirations?

My role models are my parents.

Rapid Fire Round…

What is your favorite…

• Book:“The Firm”, John Grisham

• Movie: “Step Brothers”

• Album: 2001 by Dr Dre

Most people don’t know that I…

I played in the same youth football team as Peter Crouch, even appearing in his first autobiography! I am looking forward to starting a Teamwork Commerce 5-a-side team!

In my spare time, I…

Love to spend time with my wife and kids. I am a season ticket holder at QPR so spend many Saturday afternoons cheering on the pride of West London!

As the seasons change, so do customer expectations. Spring brings with it a sense of renewal and growth, a time for rejuvenation in both nature and business. While flowers bloom and temperatures begin to rise, it is time for retailers to give their strategies a spring clean and refresh their approaches to providing customers with high-quality experiences.

In this blog, we explore three fresh and innovative ways retailers can embrace the spirit of spring. With the right approach, retail brands can deliver seamless experiences that delight their customers and help their operations to flourish during the season. 

Refresh Checkout Processes

In the ever-evolving landscape of retail and the constant changing of consumer needs, it is vital that retailers remain on top of their technology adoption, deploying the right solutions to help them remain adaptable, and able to meet increasing expectations.

Statistics show that 82% of consumers avoid going to a business because of long, visible lines that indicate a prolonged wait time, with 40% of those instead heading to a competing retailer or giving up on their shopping experience altogether. If consumers associate a retailer with long wait times, they are less likely to follow through with their purchase or return in future. In fact, they are actively driven to competitors, directly impacting both short and long-term sales opportunities.

This is clearly an area to focus on. In the spirit of spring, retailers should look to refresh their checkout processes by finding ways to streamline transactions and minimize in-store queuing. Technology can play an important role here. With the right technology deployed, retailers can significantly enhance check-out processes and create a speedy, hassle-free shopping experience for customers.

Solutions such as Teamwork Commerce’s RFID-powered self-checkout utilize the instant scanning capabilities of RFID tags to facilitate speedy transactions. As a basket or cart is placed in a designated area, RFID readers automatically scan each product (tagged at item-level). This creates a seamless process for customers and allows transactions to be reliably complete within 30 seconds. Meanwhile, without the need to tie staff to checkout terminals, in-store associates can better spend their time providing high-quality service on the shop floor.

Reducing wait times for customers with advanced technology can significantly improve the in-store experience for visitors, encourage them to return and boost loyalty to a retailer.

Spring Cleaning Operational Processes

RFID technology can provide a versatile solution, and while it can greatly enhance the checkout process, its core use throughout the supply chain offers retailers the opportunity to give their operations a spring clean. Deployed effectively, and utilized alongside wider retail technologies such as Order Management Systems, retailers can boost efficiency and gain full, real-time visibility of stock levels across all channels and operational avenues.

A comprehensive, RFID-enabled inventory management system enables retailers to have full view and control of stock levels and on-hand inventory. It also assists with the management and fulfillment of customer orders. With all products tagged at item-level, retailers can accurately track movement of stock across each stage of the supply chain. Retailers gain a full understanding of their inventory, and can make quicker, better informed stocking decisions.

Suddenly, retailers can optimize their inventory levels – reducing over and understocking. They can understand their shrink challenges and work to minimize them, and importantly, they can streamline transport and storage, significantly reducing operational overheads and maximizing their return on investment (ROI).

Put a Spring in the Customer’s Step with Personalized Recommendations

Accurate data obtained from customers’ previous purchases, shopping behavior and interests is valuable for businesses to provide an unprecedented level of customer insight. This allows retailers to make personalized, informed recommendations and position products of interest directly in front of customers.

Deploying a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool offers retailers the ability to track customer behavior over time and understand their needs. With the means to create unique and bespoke experiences for shoppers, retailers can make their customers feel valued on a personal level with every interaction, which is a central component of delivering high-quality customer experiences. With this in place, they can gain vital insights into the customer journey that allow them to tailor and personalize individual experiences that will see customers returning throughout the seasons.

Whether creating personalized discounts on viewed products, positioning recommended products directly in front of the customer or offering loyalty points on specific products, retailers can use data to enhance sales opportunities..

Breeze through the Season

As the spring season brings with it the essence of growth and rebirth, retailers have the opportunity to revive their operations and thrive as they move forward. By embracing the latest technological advancements and refreshing approaches to customer service and operations, retailers can plant the seed of customer loyalty and streamlined operations across the supply chain.

Want to learn more about how your retail brand can continue evolving through the seasons? Get in touch here.

Convenience has become key to a great customer experience, and it is also proving highly beneficial to retailers. With the right technology, they can streamline their operations and reduce costs throughout supply chains and in-store, all while becoming more appealing to their customers. 

This almost sounds too good to be true. It isn’t, but it does require strong foundations. Retailers must develop accurate and reliable inventory management practices while being able to process and fulfill orders efficiently. Perhaps more importantly, they need the data gathered from inventory management to communicate effectively, in real-time, with the order management system.

Once this has been established, the possibilities are endless for retailers. Suddenly, fulfillment becomes seamless and success rates significantly improve. Armed with the right foundations, retailers can deliver a range of fulfillment options to their customers that facilitate high-quality experiences and instigate long-standing loyalty, built from reliability and convenience.

The next step lies in providing these options to their customers. With that in mind, our latest blog examines 4 key services that can help retailers transform their order fulfillment… 

Buy Online, Pick-Up In-Store (BOPIS) 

Often referred to as ‘click and collect’, BOPIS has become an increasingly popular option for customers and retailers alike. Clear inventory visibility provides in-store stock data and enables retailers to fulfill orders from multiple store locations, providing customers with a number of options for pick up locations for their orders with guaranteed availability.

For customers, they can purchase from wherever they are, and pick up their item whenever best suits them, sometimes within minutes of placing the order. The benefit for retailers in this instance is that it also provides an additional sales opportunity when customers arrive in-store; whether suggesting items to pair their product with, or offering personalized promotions during the interaction.

Buy Online, Ship From Store (BOSFS) 

An additional benefit of clear visibility of in-store stock is that it not only enables BOPIS fulfillment, but BOSFS, too. When a delivery purchase is placed by a customer, a BOSFS system will automatically fulfill the order from the nearest location to the delivery address.

For the customer, this ensures they can receive their product as soon as possible, often providing next-day delivery opportunities or even same-day delivery in some circumstances. For the retailer, BOSFS also reduces their transportation costs, minimizing delivery distances in all orders. Rather than fulfilling from one warehouse located 50 miles away from the customer, retailers can ship from a store that might only be 3 miles away.

Buy Online, Return In-Store (BORIS)

Many might think of fulfillment as a one-way system: a retailer providing a customer with their desired products. However, the reverse is just as important. Returns significantly impact a retailer’s bottom line and while they will never be completely eradicated, an efficient returns process can minimize costs.

According to ECR Retail Loss, for an item worth $94, with a return rate of 20%, courier returns would cost a retailer $11.21 per return. If 100% of these items were returned directly in-store by the customer, the cost would drop to $4.43.

Similarly to BOPIS, BORIS allows customers to come into the store and return items at their convenience. Courier returns can still be offered – and should be to provide complete flexibility for customers – but BORIS adds another option for consumers, who might be able to stop by the store while they are out running errands.

Again, any time customers step in-store, retailers are provided an additional sales opportunity, especially with returns. On top of offering store credit or direct swaps on their items, they could also look to offer a small personalized promotion or discount on other products to encourage additional spend. Suddenly, returns can switch from being an issue for retailers, to actually enhancing revenue in-store. 

Traditional Browsing

Not everyone in today’s society is in a rush to complete their shopping. As fulfillment becomes faster and more convenient, retailers must not lose sight of experiential retail, where some customers simply crave a high-quality experience. They want to take their time: visit the shop floor, browse and try on items at their leisure.

Fulfillment doesn’t have to be tech-reliant, it only has to ensure that customers receive the service they want, in the way they want it. For many, this still means stepping in-store, being greeted with a smile by associates, receiving human interaction and feeling valued.

As technology continues to assist retail operations in a plethora of ways, it should never replace the human element of shopping. The key to fulfillment lies in options, and the traditional shopping experience cannot be forgotten about

Future Proofing Operations

As consumer expectations continue to evolve, and technology adapts alongside them, retailers must recognize the need to remain agile both across the supply chain and in-store. With Teamwork Commerce’s Inventory Management deployed, retailers can gain accurate, real-time visibility over inventory levels. Partnered with the Enterprise Order Management solution, retailers can seamlessly provide the latest fulfillment services for a demanding customer base. Ultimately, this will serve to establish and strengthen long-term relationships and generate sustainable business success.

Interested in transforming your retail fulfillment services? Book a demo with us today.

London’s Olympia once again opened its doors to the Retail Technology Show (RTS) last week, offering a range of retail technology brands the opportunity to demonstrate the latest innovations available in the market.

Hosting over 12,000 retail and brand professionals during the two-day event, RTS 2024 did not disappoint. From stunning Augmented Reality (AR) visualisations to the latest developments in supply chain technology, we take a look at the key trends that emerged from this year’s show…

Payments Are Priority

One clear focus of RTS 2024 landed on payments. From physical checkout solutions, to wider in-store payment strategies, much of the conversation was dedicated to delivering seamless payment processes that enhance in-store experiences and minimise shop floor customer frustrations.

Demonstrations of the latest Mobile Point of Sale and RFID-Powered Self-Checkout technologies showed audiences the convenience and speed that can be achieved during in-store transactions. With the right solution deployed, retailers can create transaction processes that take as little as 30 seconds per customer. This significantly reduces the amount of queuing in-store, alleviating a sizable challenge that many retailers currently face.

Focus on Visual Experiences 

It is no secret that the key to retail success in today’s environment relies heavily on the in-store experience. In many instances, retailers focus on operational improvements that streamline the path to purchase for customers and make the process of shopping easier. However, the visual aspect of experiences cannot be forgotten about, and it certainly wasn’t at RTS.

A number of brands attracted the wide-eyed gaze of attendees who were being lured into Bladerunner-esque Augmented Reality (AR) displays. Better yet, with exhibitors incorporating AI into this technology to create life-like in-store assistants, visitors could quickly recognise the benefit these technologies might soon bring to customer experience.

Ultimately, customers want to interact with other people, and the push for technology to become more human-like shows this demand. Technology can never replace the human aspect of retail experiences. However, it can enhance it…

Giving Staff the Right Tools

While visual technologies such as AR bring people in-store, the warm welcome of a retail associate cannot be replicated. So how can retailers maximise their effectiveness? They must equip them with the right technology that finds a balance between a human touch and delivering on expectation.

This trend was clear to see in London. Whether deploying RFID scanners that can track down items in seconds, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) integrations that deliver personalised and bespoke interactions, or simply leveraging technology to reduce manual labour hours and free the time of in-store associates, a huge amount of focus at this year’s show went towards enhancing the opportunity for staff to create high-quality, human, experiences.

It was clear that amidst the hype of AI and autonomous technologies, the human aspect within retail can never be replaced. As Dex Hunter-Torricke, Head of Global Communications & Marketing at Google DeepMind, mentioned, “AI tools can be transformative, however the human touch is just as critical. It’s a harmony.”

Small Steps for Large Gains

RTS 2024 showed us that the little things matter if a retailer wants to make big progress. This can come in a variety of ways. Some might look to address specific pain points – such as slow checkout terminals. Others might focus on making their stores visually appealing. And others will simply strive to equip retail teams with the technology that allows them to complete their day to day tasks easier and faster. It might not seem much when considering the bigger picture, but if retailers take enough small steps to improve, they’ll soon notice a huge difference in their results. 

To find out how your retail brand can leverage technology to enhance operations, book a meeting today.