It’s hard work enticing shoppers to walk through your shop doors. Make sure that when they do come inside, you are nurturing them so they keep coming back for more. Here’s a list of customer turnoffs to watch out for!
1. Poor lighting – If customers can’t find your product, how are they
supposed to buy it? Inspect your shop for any poorly lit areas and shine light on those areas ASAP.
2. Bad sales etiquette – The customer comes to you, the florist, for your expertise. Make sure your sales staff are 100 per cent tuned in to the customer when they walk in the store. Greet them and make them feel welcome – not like an intruder.
3. Narrow aisles – No one wants to try and squeeze down a narrow
aisle and risk knocking items off shelves or making a loud commotion. Ensure that your customers can move comfortably down any pathway
in your store.
4. Misleading signs/advertising – There’s nothing more
annoying than spotting a good deal and then reading the fine print. If you have a sale, make sure its clear to the customer how the sale works so they don’t feel tricked in the end.
5. Long-distance parking – Can your customers find easy parking that’s within close proximity to your store? With any luck, shoppers will be walking out of your shop with heavy (and expensive!) arrangements that they won’t want to cross the street with or navigating through car lots with. See if you can block off a section of a lot or offer a carry-out service.
6. Cluttered spaces – If there’s too much going on in your displays or around your shop, this will overwhelm your customer. Find a balance between providing a wide selection of product while at the same time not inundating them with choices.
7. An unkempt appearance – Dirt, discarded leaves, stems and water spills are only natural at a florist but your customer doesn’t care. Keep your displays and coolers free of debris. A spotless shop will impress your customers and eliminate safety hazards.
8. Unreachable items – If a customer can’t access a product (due to crowded aisles or a high display shelf) they will soon convince themselves that they no longer need the product, or go elsewhere. Keep your products within reach. If the product is buried in a display, carry a few accessible items alongside the display.
9. Poor signage – A lack of signage and prices or poor inconsistent signage will leave your shoppers frustrated. It also requires more work for your staff to look up the prices of unidentified products, and leaves the customer waiting. Keep signs clean, simple and uniform. Be creative!
10. Same old – Keep things fresh and new! Change your displays and bring in new products. There’s no point in your customers checking in from time to time if there is nothing new to see.
Amanda Ryder is the associate editor of Canadian Florist and may be contacted at
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