Hosts and hostesses: how retail store staff can sell more by selling less by Thomas Hillebrand

The role of the retail store associate is evolving into something more than just a salesperson as experiential retail becomes more prominent.

As retail reinvents itself, the store is the stage for its shoppers, the associates have become the actors, and the retailer should think of itself as it’s a brick and mortar theater in the new digital age of retail. With this in mind it’s clear the sales associate’s function must be reshaped accordingly.

As stores change and strengthen to offer a point of difference from the more functional – but content-rich – online retail world, no longer is it good enough for retail sales teams to give customers the heavy sales pitch before reverting back to replenishing shelves: today, they need to be entertainers.

Hosting the new retail show

Popular industry commentator, Doug Stephens – or the Retail Prophet, as the US author is known – continues to talk up the opportunity for stores to become media channels. In the age of Amazon and other online pure-plays, which have effectively developed into digital stores, Stephens is calling on traditional retailers to emulate their digital competitors by making their shops experience centers.

It’s a compelling argument and, if it’s to be successful, it will require stores to showcase product differently, stock less inventory, include more community spaces and embrace multiple digital touchpoints. It will also require store associates who can run the show and drive customer engagement through their personable approach to retail.

In what will hopefully provide a more fulfilling customer-service orientated role for those operating in the retail world, the sales associate’s job will be more front-of-house host or hostess than the traditional aisle resident and shelf stacker.

“What are you looking to buy, today?” will be replaced with questions such as “Can I get you a coffee while you wait?” or “Do you want to take the virtual tour of our new fashion line?” The adage of selling more by selling less has got some weight in the retail revolution we’re now experiencing because, increasingly, those heading to the stores, strip centers and shopping malls are doing so seeking entertainment – not solely to make a quick purchase.

In the UK, the British Retail Consortium is rallying the industry to make “better” retail jobs for people by embracing technology and redesigning stores to ensure the sector continues to attract quality retail candidates and maintain a talent pipeline. The trade association says one of the benefits of the technological revolution we’re seeing is it will present retailers with greater opportunities to put store personnel in customer-facing, service roles that can really have an impact on building consumer relationships.

Alongside more associate training and people investment, there’s a real opportunity for retailers and brands to change the way their stores operate for the better.

Taking center stage

This is not just pie in the sky thinking; there are retailers that are really starting to operate in this way.

Ahead of recent new store openings, UK department store chain John Lewis enrolled store sales teams in acting classes to ensure they were thinking about their ‘stage’ presence and performance ahead of entertaining their audience (the shoppers).

Living up to its name, toy retailer The Entertainer – which is growing around the world supported by a strong performance in its home UK territory – has just introduced The Entertainer Squad, which it describes as “an energetic and relatable team of youngsters who bring the latest toy trends to life to engage its younger audience”.?

Primarily via YouTube videos – but also leveraging an in-store presence – the new team’s role is to demonstrate products and encourage children to explore new ways of playing. It’s yet another example of store associates being deployed to help boost sales despite not actually being salespeople.

The US has plenty of examples of this phenomenon too, with Apple often touted as the benchmark when it comes to in-store showmanship. The consumer electronics business certainly puts a lot of effort into ensuring product experts and personal assistants are on hand to deliver one-to-one service to customers, but with the launch of its ‘Town Square’ community hub store concept recently it has taken things to a new level, and made store associates more integral members of the areas in which they reside.

One final mention must go to the recently-introduced Starbucks Reserve coffee shop, which actually gives store teams their own physical platform on which to shine. Separate coffee stations exist in these stores, allowing individual team members to show off their skills at making specific speciality coffees – it’s an opportunity to put on a performance and it places the team members at the center of the brand message.

Humanity to the forefront

The one thing these examples all have in common is their humanity – the retailers in question are putting their people on a pedestal and letting them sell the brand and product in an entertaining and compelling manner.

That’s entertainment. And that’s what’s going to lead to more store sales in the future.

If these theatrical productions are timed right – for example, when store traffic is at its optimum level – there’s a real opportunity for brands to entice shoppers into stores, and ensure they become avid fans of their new-look retail show for years to come.