Chapter 4

Retail secret four: “I’m just looking”

Every time anyone browses a store, they’re wandering around the pages or aisles, shouting at the top of their lungs “COME ON RETAILER! INSPIRE ME, MAKE ME WANT SOMETHING!”

In this chapter we explore

  • the role of discovery in customer engagement
  • merchandising for inspiration
  • why customers crave this inspiration.

Even a pencil can surprise

New York store owner Caroline Weaver’s left forearm features a life-size tattoo of a pencil. This might give you a clue to the nature of her store’s stock. Caroline likes pencils and has made selling pencils and pencil ephemera her business. Don’t tease me but so do I. I do a lot of this writing malarkey and there’s something about scratching notes with ...

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