Today I received an email from a hospital gift manager asking for a few suggestions on how she could improve her visual merchandising display. One of her biggest challenges is that the hospital never created a large enough space for the store, so she's operating in a very small area. After reviewing her store photos, I have come up with eight ideas (in no particular order) that are relatively low cost, to create maximum impact. (see photos below)

1. Add color: Paint the back wall a rich, warm neutral color, such as a darker taupe. This would really help the merchandise pop and warm up the space, making it seem less like a hospital environment and more like a permanent store.

2. Addition of store signage: The hospital manager mentioned that customers often walk right by her store—they even don't notice it's there. I'd love to see the screen come down and various smaller hanging signs moved further back so a professional sign could be installed behind the cash register area. Also, while we're on the subject of store signage, I always recommend that a paper sign never be used. If you're going to make your own on a computer, I'd suggest finishing it off by framing it. Inexpensive frames can be found at your local craft store.

3. De-clutter: Since this retailer is operating in such a small space, it's absolutely critical that she create some white space (also know as resting space for the eye). She doesn't actually need to subtract merchandise from the floor to make this happen, she just needs to consolidate some of the merchandise into a tighter area. Also, I'd recommend removing all merchandise from the floor. This will help make the store appear a little larger.

4. Utilize more vertical space: This retailer is taking advantage of the horizontal display space but there is very little vertical space utilized (with the exception of the signs). I'd suggest purchasing some inexpensive acrylic risers from a fixture company to give the products different heights.

5. Create a focal point: Currently, the focal point of the store is the candy. While I'm sure candy sales make up a large percentage of store sales, I'd like to see the area to the right of the cash/wrap area be the focal point of the store. A cute themed display could be created here or you might want to consider installing wider shelving. In a more extensive re-model, I would consider removing all the built-in shelving to opt for bigger and deeper bookshelves. This would also give you options to move the store around to create a new look.

6. Add an area for impulse items on the cash/wrap table: Currently the only items I see for sale on the cash wrap are candy bars. I might opt to replace the candy (move it below) with the bracelets I see in the jewelry area, or the wooden roses—a great impulse item.

7. Product selection: While it looks like you carry a lot of charming gifts, it seems to me that you might be missing out on some sales of merchandise that visitors might buy for friends who are in the hospital, such as bath and body products, really plush robes, slippers, cards, etc. One more suggestion in terms of products is that sometimes you can create a more stunning display with more merchandise. If money were no object, I'd suggest adding more plush to the store—it could be a really cute display.

8. Displays that pop: The merchandise itself is grouped into similar categories, but there are no really strong displays within each category. Here a few ways to create a strong display: a) enough merchandise to make it look interesting, b) products displayed at different heights, c) interesting props or display pieces if the merchandise itself cannot be stacked to create height or d) repeat patterns of colors which can come from the merchandise itself or from props.

Does anyone else have any other ideas or suggestions?

One of the biggest challenges facing retailers this holiday season is how to drive more customers to your store and get them to buy your products. Considering the economy, now is the time. It's absolutely critical to reach your customers via email blasts at least once a month. Why? If done right it can lead to increased traffic and purchasing in your store AND your competition is already doing it.

It may seem daunting if you haven't started collecting names, or attempts to collect names in the past were met with little or no success, but one of the biggest successes in the retail industry is Bath & Body Works who was able to collect 10 million names in a shocking three months. How did they do it? They offered customers the chance to receive a free tube of lip gloss for sharing their email address, with the catch being you had to go home and print out the coupon and bring it back. Not only were they able to confirm the email address was valid, but it also gave customers a reason to come back to the store, where, on average, they spent another $25.

Here are six suggestions for email blast content for the holidays:

1. Promote a special offer—even if you discount just one product line by 20%-30%, you'll be giving your customers a valuable reason to come into the store.

2. Talk about new product arrivals—one of the main reasons that customers shop your store is because of the unique mix of products. Feature items that aren't easily found elsewhere.

3. Market a store promotion—let your customers know about fun events you're hosting this holiday season (or start now and promote your fall events).

4. Store classes—invite your customers in for a lesson on trimming the tree or holiday decorating.

5. Content—Deliver valuable ideas, recipes or information. For example, if you sell Polish pottery, include a recipe for a casserole, then make the dish and show an image of it in your email blast.

6. Contests—Hold a contest, like "best decorated tree" or "house for the holidays" (to be judged by your staff). The winner could receive a $100 gift certificate to your store, or a selection of ornaments.

There are many companies who can help you design and send your email blast. Check out this list of email marketing companies from our web editor and get started!

I was interviewed today by an editor for a magazine that is geared to dance studio retailers and she asked me what advice I would give her retailers for this holiday season. My immediate response was, "more important than ever before, don't take a wait-and-see approach—be proactive."

Then I suggested that retailers focus on four core areas:

1. Marketing: Take advantage of low-cost email marketing to promote in-store specials (or a frequent buyer program) and to give reasons why your customers should stop by your store.

2. Superb staffing: Don't settle for mediocre employees. Determine who your top performers are by looking at your store's daily sales figures. Keep only the employees who fall in the top 25% and establish a reward for your sales team for hitting sales goals. Perhaps a special in-store party, or a $50 gift certificate for everyone if the goal is achieved.

3. Improve visual merchandising: Visual merchandising can impact sales by as much as 40%, so make sure you have really strong store windows. They're a fantastic focal point when you walk in the store, and a new holiday look can inspire walk-ins.

4. Product selection: One of the top reasons that consumers shop at a gift store is to find unique products. Make sure your holiday inventory includes fun new products that can't be found elsewhere, and think about promoting some of these in your marketing.

Stay tuned for more tips on preparing for the holiday season.

Our visual merchandiser and I just got back from a two-day makeover of a camera store in New England. The owner had really great front window space, but wasn't fully optimizing it. Here are five tips to consider when building an effective window display for your store:

Determine a theme… Let the theme of the window guide your merchandising decisions. You might base your theme on the upcoming season or new merchandise you want to spotlight—and be sure to consider which products and/or themes will make the most impact. This can be a fun and creative process. Think about involving your staff in a brainstorming session and consider rewarding the best idea with a store gift certificate. Or, hold an annual contest, and reward the employee who creates the best window of the year. You can even ask your customers to judge at the end of the year which one they liked.

Add Props… You can really add a lot of interest with creative props that tie into your window theme. In one of the store windows we just re-merchandised, we added back-to-school supplies: a desk, backpack, apple, notebooks, etc. In the other window (theme: travel/safari), we added a camera vest, trunks, maps and travel tripods. Your merchandise can serve a dual function as a prop.

Use the space you have… One of the key mistakes the retailer was making in his window was a failure to utilize vertical space. As you consider the window design, think about building height through a neat fixture, elements hung from the ceiling or larger pieces of furniture.

Have a key focal point… Create a key focal point for your design. Your display will be much more effective if a shopper's eye is drawn to one area rather than 10 different things. In the travel window, the human form and trunks were the focal point; in the back-to-school window, the desk does the job.

Optimize the curb appeal… The final test of an effective window display is to ensure that your window commands attention when seen from the outside. Remember: you only have five seconds to grab the attention of passing potential customer—make sure your window captures their attention!

If you've been reading this blog over the past year, you probably know by now how strongly I believe in a vibrant web presence. I'm excited to announce that our webmaster, Allisyn Deyo, has been hard at work redesigning our company websites, and the first one finished is GIFTSHOPMag.com. I hope you'll check it out—especially the online exclusive content—and let us know what you think. We love feedback!

Here are five tips for you if you're thinking of redesigning your site:

Let your end goal of more sales drive your redesign. After all, the goal of redesigning your website is not just to have it look pretty and be easier for people to use. You want it to drive more traffic, increase the average time people spend on it and give them a reason to come back. As you consider the elements to change think about what you look for on a website. A list of related content next to something you're looking at? The most popular articles that people are currently reading? Commenting on a feature article that is important to you? Whatever it is, make sure you incorporate it. And if your current employee (or company who builds your site) can't do it, find someone who can.

Make sure you protect your assets. You don't want to lose valuable search engine rankings when you redesign, so be sure to use your stats to gauge what pages have the most incoming links and redirect them. Create a specific error page that says, "hi, we've redesigned, please use search and thank you!" and put a search box at the end of that sentence. And create a list of your main category, shopping and general site pages and institute permanent redirects. You'd be surprised how many people use links from a year ago!

Create a dynamic website that you can edit. Make sure when you redesign that you're able to make all the updates you want to the site yourself, rather than relying on a hosting company to make changes. If you're a smaller site, have the person who builds your site do it using software that you can use easily (such as Wordpress or Drupal)—again, if they can't do that, find someone who can. You might spend more than you were hoping too for the site design, but you will save lots of money in the long run making small changes yourself.

Deliver quality content. Consider adding a blog, weekly special reports, recipes or other elements that will reward customers for returning to your site.

Understand and monitor the metrics. Work with your webmaster to ensure you can get regular metrics for your site, and keep a close eye on them as you make changes.

I just found out about a clever green marketing strategy that Saks Fifth Avenue has adopted. They've made an enticing offer to their customers—bring in your used bottle of perfume (regardless of brand), purchase a new bottle of perfume and they'll give you a refillable pocket spray free. In addition, all Bond No. 9 brand bottles will be sanitized, refurbished, refilled and decorated to indicate they've been reused, and all other bottles will be inspected, sorted and sent to the appropriate facilities for glass, plastic and metal recycling. No materials are sent to a landfill.

How does this relate to you as a gift shop or cart owner? Perhaps you too can offer some kind of reward to your customers for recycling, perhaps bags from your store, product packaging, cards or gift wrap. Not only is it a great thing to do for the environment, but it also gives your customers a reason to come back to your store—for a fun discount toward the purchase of another product.

Check out more ideas for greening your store in the premiere issue of GREEN Retailer today.

Today's guest post is from Poornima Apte, Managing Editor for GIFT SHOP Magazine.

One of the most over-hyped terms in today's workplace is "multi-tasking." When someone is praised as being a good multi-tasker, what they really mean is: This person can get many things done.

And the road to getting many things done well is not through handling 10 projects at once, but in planning and systematically implementing the details in every project. How many times have you finished up work for the day and felt like you achieved nothing? It was probably a result of flitting from task to task to task trying to do everything.

There was a very interesting article in the New York Times recently that made me think about how work can get done well. It talks about how we need to refocus our attention away from distractions and in the process, become more productive.

I have found the following tips really help:

• Make a list every day of work that needs to be done. No, it doesn't take too much time and yes, it makes you feel better to check each item off! Buy yourself a really fat, nice notebook to start the habit.
• The devil IS in the details. Plan each project down to each last detail. Make the time to implement it right.
• Don't start every day by doing the easiest stuff first. While it’s tempting to do so, tackle the most difficult jobs when you are at your most productive (in my case, it's first thing in the morning). Save the more routine stuff for when you are less productive (after lunch or end of day).
• Plan ahead. It always helps produce your best work.
• If you plan on leaving the store or your desk at 5, don’t work, work, work till you drop. Instead, stop five minutes before you really want to stop, tidy up your workspace and make a list for tomorrow. Then when you come in, you'll be energized and ready to go instead of clearing clutter first!

What are your secrets for being productive in your store? How do you share strategies with your staff? How do you reconcile the fact that different people might have different strategies for productivity? Share your comments and ideas with us!

Last week I was invited to Chicago to speak about increasing store profitability to a group of independent camera and digital film processing store owners.

Camera store owners face extreme competition on pricing from the internet, drug stores and big box stores, plus consumer buying behavior, with respect to printing photos, is changing drastically. In the past, people would develop several rolls of film, looking for the perfect shot… now they average only four to five photos.

This means camera stores are at a major crossroads—they must answer the vital question of how they can grow their business when the market/demand for film prints is decreasing, and the market is more competitive than it's ever been.

The challenges of the camera store owner are almost identical to what we're facing in the gift industry—how can gift retailers grow in a tough economic environment, with big box, discount and internet retailers competing on price and acting faster than ever in response to new product trends?

So, what's the formula for success?

The answer is simple—retailers can grow their business if they follow these three steps:

1. Sell products that aren't found elsewhere
2. Offer top-notch service
3. Ensure your products are of great quality

Camera store owners have been forced to re-examine their value proposition and re-define what business they're in—changing from being just film processors to providing new ways for consumers to tell their story (maybe through photo gifts such as books or mugs and large scale photo prints). These products are not only unusual gift items, but also highly personalized where quality is important, thus giving consumers a reason to shop at their stores.

Now is the perfect time for all of us to ask: What business are we really in? Where are we headed in the next two to five years? How are we going to get there?

Today's guest post is from Gail Markert, Markert Group Consulting 

With the summer show season quickly approaching, it's a good opportunity think about your buying strategy now. Here are five ideas for better buying this summer:

1) Stock products that have visual impact or will make a creative display. Your shoppers are time crunched and cash strapped. Hence, it is more important than ever that your visual displays and products attract customers so you'll sell more inventory. As you're shopping the markets this summer, think about how you'll display the various items you're considering purchasing. Especially, if you're on a smaller budget than last year, make every penny count by investing in inventory that will sell itself through great packaging, interesting designs, and products that will lend themselves to unique and creative display options.

2) One is the loneliest number. An amazing number of specialty stores order only one unit of a particular item. The downside of this buying strategy is that it doesn't tell a story about the products, the display will lack visual interest (displaying one unit is always harder than a group of similar items), and it does not give you valuable information such as the rate of sale between sell dates.

3) Distinguish yourself from the competition. Chain stores have a need for a certain standardization of products and processes so merchandise can pass through their systems as optimally as possible. They are also limited to certain price ranges, packaging types and customization. Herein lies your opportunity: sell what the mass merchants can't sell. For example, custom gift baskets, products that can be personalized, handcrafted products, or unique products not found in chain stores are great ways that independent stores can differentiate themselves. A knowledgeable staff is another chain challenge and a benefit to you.   

4) Plan to succeed. Every store should have a merchandise assortment plan. Compare items, classes and suppliers sales results to the same season the prior year. By creating a detailed plan for each season you will know exactly which suppliers and classifications are up or down to the prior year. This will help you develop a plan to drive your business forward. If you see business softening, shift some dollars to areas of potential growth. Follow your plan closely when buying so you can proactively advance your sales. 

5) "Be open" for business. You probably have a pretty firm idea of which products work best for your store and which ones won't. This is a big plus and a time saver but it can also have a dark side. To keep a fresh perspective, it's good to occasionally challenge yourself on your openness to new products.  Trade shows are a great place to open your mind. Ask each of your reps about any top lines they carry that you don't currently sell. At the very least, by the end of the show you will be up on all the hot sellers and that information may help you "be open" to trying one.               

There has been an interesting dialog on the Retail Forum about charitable donations. As a retailer, you're in a position to get a lot of solicitations from local schools, hospitals and non-profits looking for products or gift certificates for fundraising events.

I have a personal philosophy that it's good karma to give. During the holidays, our company chooses a charity to support. Last year we sent more than $500 worth of supplies to the troops in Afghanistan, and for several years prior, we provided toys and clothes anonymously for a local family we found through a non-profit.

Many of the retailers expressed concern over just how many people were asking for donations. One retailer in particular offered some great advice on how to turn a charitable donation into an opportunity for your store. Instead of giving one $50 gift certificate, she specifies to the organization to auction/give away five $10 gift certificates to different people. She has found that by giving a lower denomination the gift certificate recipients often spend more than the face value of the certificate.

Even if the recipient chooses to just spend the $10, she said she's never upset because it's a chance to introduce a new customer to her store or reward an existing one.