What Is Retail Marketing & What Are The Different Types Of Retail Marketing

There are many factors to consider when launching a retail business. From the products you’ll stock to launching a physical store or website, there’s lots to think about in terms of logistics. But once you’ve launched your retail brand, you’ll then need to think about how to attract customers - and that’s where retail marketing comes in.

Read our comprehensive guide to gain a better understanding of what retail marketing is, why its important, the marketing mix and customer journey’s, the different types of retail marketing and how to get started in the industry.

What Is Retail Marketing?

Retail marketing is the process of promoting a retail brand and its products through a variety of marketing methods in order to increase traffic and purchases. This can be achieved through a variety of marketing strategies including store based retail marketing, traditional marketing and digital retail marketing.

Why Is Retail Marketing Important?

A good retail marketing strategy is crucial for the success of any retail business and can help build customer loyalty, increase revenue and strengthen branding.

Ensuring that consumers feel confident and happy with their purchases not only builds up a positive association with the brand and increases sales but can also help reduce returns and increase word of mouth referrals.

Fashion Marketing Mix: The Seven P’s of Retail Marketing

Retailers must use a variety of marketing and advertising methods to help raise awareness of their brand and to stay at the forefront of consumers' minds. To do this retailers focus on the 7 P’s of the marketing mix when producing retail marketing campaigns. 

The 7 P’s of the marketing mix are:

1. Product: The selection of products that retailers offer is really important. Consumers want to know that the products on offer meet their needs and expectations in terms of style, design, quality, usefulness and value.
2. Price: The cost and retail price of items is something that should be continually reviewed. The competitiveness of the industry means that pressure is put on retailers to make things more affordable. That being said, some retailers mark their products at a higher price point to increase desirability and reflect quality.
3. Place: Place can refer to several things. Typically it refers to the actual location of a physical store and the placement of products within the store e.g. visual merchandising. That being said, it can also refer to the positioning of the brand on the results pages of Search Engines. Getting the top results on Google for a primary keyword can be just as valuable as having a store in a prime location.
4. Promotion: Promotion includes all the ways you tell your customers about your products or services and how you then market and sell them. This includes special offers, sales, advertising, free samples, competitions, giveaways and general awareness.
5. Process: The process of a retail brand is incredibly important to the marketing mix. The better a retailer’s processes, the better the customer experience. When determining a retail brand’s process many things should be considered including when and how consumers are approached by staff, how easy it is to find items in the right size, the trying on process and the purchase and returns process. Some retailers will also include other factors in their processes, such as sustainability.
6. Physical Evidence: The physical evidence of how your retail brand is perceived is another important factor to consider. From the type of packaging and promotional materials used in store to how the brand is perceived online and social media, physical  evidence and positioning is a key indicator of whether you are attracting your target audience.
7. People: Excellent customer service not only converts to sales, but can increase your customer base by word of mouth and referrals. It’s important that everyone who represents your brand or deals with customers is fully trained with thorough knowledge of your product and how it will improve the lives or solve the problems of your customers. Company culture can also influence how consumers see your retail brand so it's important to ensure equal rights for all employees at every level.

Utilising all seven of the marketing mix has a lot of benefits for retailers. Not only can it lead to increased revenue and a higher ROI, but it also enables retailers to determine the effectiveness of their marketing and allocate budget for future marketing campaigns.

Retail Marketing Customer Journey

In order for retailers to visualise how customers interact with their brand, they need to consider their customer journey. Typically, the customer journey has five stages including awareness, consideration, purchase, retention and advocacy.

Visualising the customer journey in this way allows brands to gain valuable insight on areas which are in need of improvement or streamlining. Once a retailer has established their current customer journey, it's much easier to develop a more customer friendly experience. Ensuring that the customer journey is effortless and transitional can help increase customer satisfaction, sales and customer retention.

Awareness 

Awareness is when a customer becomes familiar with a brand through advertising, word-of-mouth or social media. Retail marketing can be utilised to increase awareness of a brand by reaching potential customers at the right time and moment. 

To gain a better understanding of what type of consumers are currently aware of your brand and how much they know about the brand, retailers need to conduct research and analysis. This might include activities such as customer surveys, social media outreach and analytics.

A wealth of information can be obtained from research and analytical data, including the location, age, gender, devices used, and interests of your customers. Understanding exactly who your customers are and how they are discovering and interacting with your brand can be incredibly informative for developing strategies to increase awareness.

Advertising also presents a significant opportunity to boost awareness. There are lots of different ways to advertise a retail brand including in store marketing such as events and promotions, traditional marketing such as press releases and TV ads and digital marketing such as having a website and using social media.

Consideration 

Consideration is when a consumer realises that they have a need that must be met. The consumer actively considers whether or not to buy the product or service on offer. Retail marketing can be utilised to increase conversions of those in the consideration stage of the customer journey by highlighting that your brand can meet their needs and that it matches their core values.

Advertising and marketing alone is no longer enough to increase purchases. It has become more common for consumers to trust and rely on the opinions and words of others, particularly friends and family, when making purchases. 

An effective way of getting your brand into the consideration stage of the customer journey is by prominently featuring testimonials and reviews on your various channels. Your retail brand's ethos might be better understood by potential consumers if you share how your brand has helped existing customers. 

The majority of consumers prefer to engage with brands that share their values, such as sustainability, and those that are perceived as having an authentic purpose. Sharing your brand values and ethos with customers can be achieved through advertisements, social media posts and store window displays and signage.

Purchase

The purchase or decision stage of the customer journey is when a consumer has considered your brand and your product offering and is now ready to make a purchase. This is a crucial moment for retail marketers to capture their customers details whilst also making sure the sales process is as streamlined as possible. 

Capturing customer details such as name and email address at this stage means that you now have their contact details, which can be utilised for email marketing. Email newsletters featuring offers and promotions are a great way of retaining and encouraging repeat customers. 

It's also important that the purchase process has as few steps as possible. This not only helps improve the experience of the customer in store or online but it also builds a positive association with the brand.

Retention

The retention stage of the customer journey will help the consumer decide whether or not to visit your store or website again and make a repeat purchase. This stage is crucial for increasing brand loyalty. 

Offering excellent customer service is a great way of increasing customer retention and brand loyalty. From having trained in store staff to help with queries and handle returns to an online customer service team that can answer questions over the phone or via an online chat, ensuring that your customers feel valued and listened to is essential.

Customer retention and brand loyalty can also be increased in a variety of other ways such as loyalty programs, discount codes, engaging email newsletters, referral programs and offering fast delivery.

Advocacy 

The final stage of the customer journey is advocacy. This is when the customer spreads the word about your brand or products either via social media or word of mouth - whether it's good or bad.

Advocacy strategies must include proactive ways to deal with criticism and showcase praise. If a negative review starts trending on social media, brands must react in the correct way. They need to be agile in their response by contacting the customer, accurately assessing the situation and resolving the issue in a positive way.

Equally, a retail brand needs to know how to capitalise on positive feedback. Whether it's showcasing customer reviews on your website or highlighting positive press coverage of your brand, keeping an eye on what people say about your brand is essential to its success.

Types Of Retail Marketing

There are three main types of retail marketing activities including store based retail marketing, traditional retail marketing and digital retail marketing. Each channel compliments the other and the most effective retail marketing strategy will encompass all three.

Store Based Retail Marketing

If you have a physical store location, it's important to fully make the most of all available promotional and marketing opportunities. Putting time and energy into store based retail marketing can help bring in new customers, increase customer retention, increase sales and increase the amount each customer spends per transaction.

• Events: Retail stores are the perfect place to host events and they can be tailored depending on your audience, store size and brand image. Examples of retail store events include fashion shows, demonstrations and industry expert talks.

• Instore displays: In-store displays are a great way of showcasing new products or promoting specific collections. Whether it's a visual merchandising display or a digital board showcasing customer social media posts, it's a great way to engage with your target audience.

• Sample products: Product samples can be utilised to get shoppers interested in a product that they might not have considered on their own. This can be especially useful for luxury items such as makeup, skincare and perfume as it allows customers to try before they buy. 

• Interactive displays: Interactive displays are a great way of getting your customers to engage with your products or brand. They can be used to show relevant information such as in store stock levels, pricing and product info. Alternatively they can also be used for displaying videos and interactive games and quizzes.

• In store promotions: Your physical store is the ideal place to highlight promotions and offers. Whether it's a big season sale or an everyday promotion such as 2 for 1 on accessories, your store is the perfect place to let customers know about what you have to offer.

Traditional Retail Marketing

Traditional marketing is any form of marketing that uses offline media to reach an audience. Examples of traditional marketing include direct mail, posters, TV advertisements, press releases and word of mouth.

• Direct mail: Direct mail marketing means you can reach your customers in their homes. Sending catalogues and discounts is a cost effective way of getting customers in store or online.

• Posters: Promotional and advertising posters in a prime location such as next to public transport can be highly effective at raising brand awareness. Though posters in prime locations can be costly, it's a tried and tested marketing strategy

• TV Advertisements: TV marketing is another great way of reaching your target audience. Local TV ads can be highly targeted, and video content offers a lot more room for creativity compared to things like posters and direct mail.

• Press Releases and PR: Press releases are an essential marketing tool for retailers, especially if they are offering a special promotion or hosting an event. Reaching out to local and online publications can help raise awareness of your brand as well as drive traffic to your store or website.

• Word of mouth: Word-of-mouth marketing is an incredibly valuable resource for both physical and digital retailers. Consumers trust the opinion of their friends and family members far more than they trust marketing and advertisements. By creating referral programs, you can encourage your existing customers to recommend your brand to others.

Digital Retail Marketing

• Website: Most retailers have a website but even if you don’t sell any products online it's important to have a professional website that establishes your brand image, whilst giving visitors information about what you offer. If you do sell products online, then your website is essentially the equivalent of a physical store and needs to offer excellent user experience, excellent customer service, highlight sale and promotions and encourage calls to actions.

• Social media: Social media is an incredibly effective tool for promoting your brand online. It gives your direct access to your target audience, is free to use and gives brands the opportunity to be creative in the content they produce.

• SMS marketing: SMS marketing is the process of sending marketing messages by text message. This is an opt in scheme and is a marketing method used by retailers or have already had some interaction with a consumer. It can be a really effective method of increasing brand loyalty and repeat business.

• Email newsletters: Email marketing is a form of direct marketing and digital marketing that uses email to promote your products or services. It can help make your customers aware of your latest items or offers by integrating it into your marketing automation efforts. It is an opt in marketing channel meaning a customer will typically already have some interaction with your brand.

Types Of Fashion Retail Jobs

Fashion retail is a huge industry and there are many areas you can specialise in. Some of the most common fashion retail career paths include:

• Sales Assistant
• Retail Manager
• Retail Buyer
• Retail VIsual Merchandiser
• Retail Merchandiser

Find out more about a career in fashion retail.

How To Get In To Fashion Retail

There are several ways to get into fashion retail. You could kickstart your retail career as a Sales Assistant, study and achieve qualifications in fashion retail or gain work experience by taking part in an internship.

That being said, if you’re looking to progress your fashion retail career from sales assistant to manager and beyond you will need to gain the relevant qualification or degree to help you stand out.

At the Fashion Retail Academy, our courses are designed to teach you the skills you’ll need to succeed in your career. To help you decide which area of fashion retail is right for you, you can choose a course that covers many of the different aspects. 

Our Level 4 Fashion Retail (With Marketing) diploma course allows you to study each area of the fashion retail industry from initial garment design to products reaching stores. This course is ideal if you aren’t sure which fashion retail career path you’d like to take.

We also offer Level 2 Fashion Retail and Level 3 Fashion Retail diploma courses, which provide an excellent introduction into the world of fashion retail.