Henry Bisson, Marketing Manager at Ring Automotive, shares his top tips on how to engage with the customer from the retail shelves.
It’s all too easy for products to blend into the background in competitive retail environments. However, investing in the appropriate marketing, branding and sales support can help suppliers to catch the customer’s attention a lot more effectively.
Have a strong point of sale presence
Many factors utilise their front-of-house space by adding a retail offering, creating an extra revenue stream. In a crowded marketplace and with increased pressure from online competitors, catching the attention of a customer in-store is essential for factors.
Having a well-presented, easy-to-navigate range of products on offer is still very relevant and an easy way to make additional sales in-store, but it’s vital to make sure that the up-sell is clear. The customer should be able to see why they should spend more on a better model.
Think about how space is used: you want a display to fill the space without looking cluttered. Point of sale can also help to attract attention. Ring has a wide range of options in its new branding for factors, including header cards, shelf bay wings, posters, information boards and shelf strips.
Merchandising can take a long time – time that factor owners and their teams don’t always have when orders need to be met. To help, Ring is offering its customers merchandising solutions in a range of values to fit any space, giving them a plan to follow to take the headache out of arranging products in their bays.
Build your brand
Effective branding, a strong online presence and in-store support can immediately help motor factors to unlock demand and boost profits.
Ring has recently launched new branding to bring consistency across its product ranges, allowing factors to merchandise more effectively and to help customers recognise the brand easily across different product categories.
By using bold block colours, bright yellow accents and clear messaging, it’s now easier than ever to recognise the Ring brand in-store. Whether it’s a boxed bulb, an inspection lamp or a trade charger for a garage, or a tyre inflator for a retail customer, one glance will highlight Ring’s proven product quality.
During Ring‘s re-brand, we had one goal in mind: to help customers’ businesses grow. The new branding firmly reiterates our position as an automotive expert that creates high quality products for technicians and motorists. For factors, this means stocking products from a brand that they can trust to increase sales.
Don’t forget about online resources
Consumers are increasingly digesting information and purchasing products online at the click of a button, and therefore, having an effective website in the digital age is another means of communicating with customers.
With this in mind, Ring’s website has been specially designed to improve the customer experience. It includes extensive information and video content on products to help factors get the information they need, quickly. The ‘Find My Bulb’ app enables users to find the correct bulb in an instant, with stockist information available across the UK.
The site provides factors and their customers with an easily accessible resource for those looking to purchase a product, or those that want more information.
Creative countertops
Understandably, not every factor has a large retail space to play with. However, even a smaller space, such as a countertop, can be put to use in a retail environment.
Counter mats are a practical option that display products on offer without taking up a lot of space. Ring’s bulb application countertop mat displays bulb application data, making it useful for customers searching for the right bulb. The counter mat is resilient and durable, so it is well suited to a busy factor environment.
Alternatively, a countertop display unit (CDU) is an easy way to display a product without investing a lot of time or money in merchandising. A wide range of Ring products come with a CDU option, including the Xenon150 high performance headlamps and the MAGflex Pivot inspection lamp.
With customers coming in and out of the store to collect products or to seek advice, having a strong retail area is a resourceful way for factors to maximise revenue. Suppliers should, therefore, use bold branding and clear messaging across their packaging, literature and in-store marketing in order to attract the customer and to demonstrate the product’s quality.
This additional support helps factors push the brand a lot more easily, and ensures that it remains at the forefront of the customer’s mind.
