Article

Learn why 'Fitting Rooms Matter'

'No buying decision is final until the try-on is complete!' says fitting room expert and Alert Tech CEO Marge Laney, who's on a one-woman mission to improve fitting rooms in retail apparel stores, in this excerpt from her new book, 'Fit Happens: Analog Buying in a Digital World.'

April 3, 2015

By Marge Laney, CEO Alert Tech

Customers must try-on apparel selections in order to make buying decisions. They will do that in the least painful way possible, whether in-store or at home. Retailers should embrace this idea and make their fitting room environments match their selling environments. This matching process adds continuity to the apparel buying process and increases the likelihood that the customer will use the fitting room, which increases the probability that they will buy.

When customers make their buying decisions in the fitting room, it's more profitable for the store and more efficient and enjoyable for the customers, which in turn builds customer loyalty. It is in the store's best interest, then, to invest in the quality of the total fitting room experience. When the fitting room experience reflects a commitment to excellence, customers will be more likely to take advantage of the fitting room and make more purchases.

The challenge for retailers is to create an engaged experience that results in more sales and more loyal customers while requiring minimum training for sales associates. Sales associates are key to executing the experience, and must be able to easily and measurably impact results. Determining the behaviors that have the most impact on key metrics should be the focus of the fitting room strategy.

Total sales is the metric most used by apparel retailers to gauge the performance of their stores individually and collectively. In addition to sales, however, conversion, the average value of an individual transaction, and the number of items purchased are good indicators of store performance. These metrics give a much better view of the relationship between what did happen versus what could have happened based on traffic.

Unfortunately, giving sales associates the task of improving any of these metrics without providing them with behaviors that correlate directly to them is setting everyone up for failure. Implementing a strategy and a set of behaviors that directly and measurably impact these store performance metrics not only increases the probability of successful goal attainment, it also provides the sales associates a road map to success.

A recent study commissioned by Alert Tech11 revealed two fitting room variables that play a significant role in increasing all three of these metrics: (1) the percent of total store traffic that enters each fitting room and (2) the number of associate engagements initiated by the customer.

Sales associates focused on getting customers into the fitting room and engaging with them while they are making their buying decisions will positively impact all performance metrics, build loyalty, and leave them feeling great about a job well done. More customers entering a fitting room means more customers leaving the store with a purchase in hand.

Sales associates should be trained to start a conversation about the fitting room with store visitors on the sales floor, encouraging customers to use a fitting room to try-on clothes and to connect with the associate—askfor help—when they need something. When a customer leaves the fitting room to find new sizes or different colors or styles, it significantly reduces the potential for a sale and increases the chance that she will keep on walking right out of the store.

The sales associate should be trained to connect with a customer on the sales floor when she sees her holding items she's considering, with an invitation such as "May I start a fitting room for you?" This engages the customer meaningfully and encourages her to commit to the next step—the try-on.

And, encouraging more visitors to enter the fitting room is crucial for goal attainment. It is especially important in conversion, where we learned from our research findings that even a small increase in the number of visitors who enter a fitting room increases the likelihood of conversion goal attainment substantially.

There is more to the equation, however. While use of a fitting room is largely associated with increased transaction value, there is also money to be made by connecting with customers (and serving them well) when they decide they're ready for service. Their action to reach out and ask for assistance from a fitting room marks the point at which their decision to purchase might simply be the right size, color, or an opinion away. Enhancing the customer experience at this moment of decision by means of engaged associates could be the difference between making the sale and losing it.

About the Author: Marge Laney is recognized as a leading authority on apparel fitting rooms for the retail industry. Laney is president and CEO of Alert Technologies, providing fitting room service technology for major retailers to increase sales where decisions happen — inside the fitting room. As a consultant to the biggest retailers in the world since 1990, she understands fitting rooms from the inside out. A self-described transplanted "Jersey girl," Laney makes her home in Houston. "Fit Happens: Analog Buying in a Digital World" is her first book, and this article is the excerpted chapter, "Fitting Rooms Matter."