Welcoming customers with a store signage

Mr. Akbar was the newly appointed store manager for Tanishq, the jewellery store from Titan,  which had just opened in Koramangala, Bangalore. He and his team had gone around the predominently residential area personally inviting customers to the opening of the store.

Soon after the store opened, new customers started coming but what surprised Akbar and his team was, customers were walking into the store for the first time, even after one year, even though they were living in the neighbourhood and must be passing the store frequently.

When asked, why they did not come earlier, the typcial answer was, they knew the store was there, but they had no requirement to buy jewellery at that time, and when they found the need, they had come in now. Customers keep watching the store, before a need arises.!

Truth be told...
The first "Welcome" sign for a customer to come into the store is really the "SIGNAGE". Let us look at the "signages " of two stores on the same building in Koramangala, Bangalore.

Top one for Cure and Care, looks like it needs some cure and care itself. The lighting is fused in many places, the signage does not attract adequate attention to itself. But the signage for Nike is beautiful, attracts attention and says welcome !. That is the way.

Similarly, look at another example, across the road from a newly opened store.

"P" is missing in the Hush Puppies signage. This is one of the only 4 high end Hush Puppies stores from the Bata stable in the country .

Solution :-

It is all part of a simple SOP for the store staff. Even the security guard can be made for follow the SOP. Every evening, the light is switched on at a fixed time say 6 PM by the security guard, so that the signage becomes visible at night. After switching on, the guard has to walk across the road and observe all the lights are working and nothing has got fused. And inform the store manager.

The manager should take a 5 minute break from his daily routine inside the store and come out , walk across the road, and observe, what potential customers are doing while crossing the store. Are they looking at the store, is a car parked in front of the porch obstructing the view to the store, what are the store staff doing when not attending customers, etc etc. All this information gives a good "5 minute health check" for the store.

Additional benefits :-
Any deviations can easily be rectified. Unlike during the day, when the workings inside the store is not visible from across the road, it is important that "store gives a professional welcome look "not just from the signage but also customer service inside. 

After investing close to a crore of rupees or more in advance, rentals, interiors, inventory, staff, the responsibility of the store upkeep is important.  Even in corporate setups, where it might take a few more days to get repairs done, the damage done by a faulty signage is too high to be left ignored for too long.

Let us hope the store repairs the signage, after reading this blog atleast.:)


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Posted in: Business, Greeting, Loyalty, Shopping experience, Signage, Training, Welcome