Fashion retail architect Jeffrey Hutchison of Jeffrey Hutchison & Associates spoke recently at the AFINGO Fashion Forum during MAGIC in Las Vegas on the topic of maximizing retail sales. Joined by industry experts from Lucky Magazine, Zappos, CreateThe Group and Community Collection, Hutchison addressed how to build the ultimate retail environment and offered tips for brand space perfection.
Stay Focused. When referencing stores who often tackle too many things at once Hutchison quipped, “their eyes are bigger than their stomach, focus, smaller can be better.” Ideally, you want a total brand experience, but don’t allow delusions-of-space-grandeur to cloud the visual path to your product.
Mind Your Manners. “Customer service is important, service should be tailored to what you sell,” Hutchison advised. To those who are still apprehensive about investing in physical retail space, Hutchison presented Apple as a brand that has achieved a great number of sales both on and offline.
Pop-Up Exhaustion. Hutchison drew attention to the advent of pop-up shops, which he deemed a by-product of the increasing number of empty retail space, due to economic downtown. “There is an opportunity there [pop-up shops], but not every opportunity is going to be the right strategy for your brand.”
For more information on the event, visit the AFINGO site for the “Las Vegas: Get it Sold Recap”