A retailer can mail out flyers, pay for ads on Google and Facebook, and have the best fashions available in store for their customers. If you have a cramped, poorly lit, and ill-planned fitting room, there is no question that you are missing out on valuable revenue.
Your fitting room is a major player in whether a customer decides to make a purchase or leaves empty handed. Not only are the aesthetics of the room important, but the level of service a customer receives while in it is just as critical.
Create the Best Fitting Room Possible
Your fitting room should be all of the following:
- Neat
- Inviting
- Comfortable
- Attractive
- Branded
Meeting these requirements doesn’t need to be difficult, and how one retailer will answer these issues will differ from the next. Either way, the basics simply must be covered—the room should be large enough for the customer, their belongings, and potential purchases. There should be enough hooks or shelves for items to be hung or placed on, and one or more mirrors must be provided (self-conscious shoppers do not want to meander outside of their room).
Additionally, there should be seating available in the room, and the lighting should be carefully considered. With the right lighting placed on both sides of a mirror, you will increase the chances of your customer heading to the till with at least one product in hand.
Give Customers the Ability to Request Service at Their Convenience
The typical customer is not going to holler from the fitting room to request a new size, style, or color of product. Instead, they might carefully redress themselves to exit the room and find a replacement product themselves; or, the more likely option, they walk out because they didn’t like the product they tried on.
Customers know that they have many different options when it comes to finding the “right shirt,” the “right dress,” or “right pair of jeans.” Retailers must make sure that they are the ones who have the “right product” (because there is a good chance that you do), and that can only be done by improving customer-associate communications.
Technology is the best way to keep your customers and associates in touch with one another today, no matter where each other may be in your store. Customers can “request” help from an associate through the tap of a fitting room call button, or they can use a smartphone or tablet so that an associate can zip in and help the customer discover the perfect product for themselves. As long as help is available, a customer will stay in your store until he or she finds the “right” item.
Gather Analytical Intel on your Fitting Room
Imagine if you could delve into the minds of your customers and find out exactly what they did and didn’t like about your fitting room. Think about how easy it would be to improve the fitting room experience if you could just figure out how well your fitting rooms are performing in the first place.
As you have likely guessed, the answer to uncovering this information is technology. Technological retail solutions are able to inform retailers how well they are converting visitors with their fitting rooms and provide invaluable insights that will allow them to retain employees and make improvements.
If you’ve noticed a drop in conversions or your conversions have stagnated, you may need to take a good, hard look at your fitting rooms. The best way to do this is through technology that will deliver accurate, up-to-the-minute unbiased information on everything you need to know to make changes and drive sales.
