By: David Berger
There are various opportunities for a retail furniture business to present its marketable image to consumers. As technology has evolved with the advent of digital signage, 3-D shopping experience displays, virtual stores, etc., there are relatively low-cost opportunities for brand presentation and reinforcement. One of these mediums is in the form of custom designed floor tags and labels.
With furniture, there is virtually never a case where the brand name is printed/presented outwardly on the fabric/leather. Nor does an individual initially indicate the brand of the furniture they just purchased. Instead, the name of the retailer is mentioned first. Then perhaps the brand, if the consumer can remember it. Quality of brand is more incumbent upon the retailer in home furnishings, than on the actual manufacturer.
One way for a home furnishings retailer to capitalize on this is to ensure the merchandise they carry is tagged with well designed labels that include a company logo or trademark. Even if a specific manufactured brand is offered, having the retailer attach their name to the product reinforces an image as a specifically branded retail outlet for a big name brand. In some cases the manufacturers themselves are considered small brand names. This allows for the retailers to further enhance their own product line, as the consumer is more familiar with the retailer’s name than with the brand itself. As long as the merchandise is of a quality that is commensurate with the price expectations of the customer, having a private home furnishings brand has shown to be a solid branding connection.
The key for the retailer is creating labels that are cost effective. Having to use a private graphic art service or print designer is something many retailers add on to their existing budgets. However, if a retailer has access to their own graphic label application that is directly integrated with their Retail Software Solution provider, they can significantly reduce the cost of creating private brand labels and floor tags.
In addition to labels, floor tags, and self-service slips, a retailer needs to be able to present their image on all customer related documents (receipts, etc). By doing so, they tie together the image awareness of the physical store location, local advertising, website, and overall customer shopping experience. If the retailer has to use different software packages, or hire a 3rd party service to create labels, this can become very costly. Any high quality Retail Software Solution should provide the ability for the retailer to utilize the features of the same system to create highly graphical and informative bar code labels, POS labels, floor tags, sales receipts, and much more (checks, purchase orders).
David Berger has over 20 years experience in retail consulting and training. Currently the Director of Product Management, David has been with STORIS Management Systems, a leading retail software solutions and services provider for Big Ticket retailers, for the past 13 years with a strong focus on Product Design, Quality Assurance, and User Experience. For additional information please contact him at dberger@storis.com.