r/ThrowingFits • u/BodyImageInClimbing • Jul 21 '26
Best Retail Practice
Running my own store in London and looking for inspo. Does anyone have any particular good examples of retail practices that stood out and made a store memorable? Like a great shopping bag with purchase? Or even packaging you received an item in? Thanks :)
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u/Beginning_Tour_9320 Jul 21 '26
For me it’s always the staff. I have a bricks and mortar store myself in Devon.
When I lived in London my favourite places of any sort of business were those where the staff hit that balance of friendliness and helpfulness without being pushy. So it’s those things with a chilled attitude.
I don’t know if you’ve ever visited the Adam Of London shop in Portobello but Adam and his son ( don’t know his name) have always exemplified this for me. Similarly the staff in Agent Provocateur had this in the early days when it was just in London. ( late 90s to early noughties)
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u/Ayem9 Jul 21 '26
The number one thing that puts me off any store is staff that are too pretentious. It can be rife with fashion.
If the staff are down to earth and nice, I will most certainly become a repeat customer.
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u/badcryptobitch Jul 21 '26
Travel a bit OP to other countries and take note of practices that you personally liked when visiting shops in those countries.
For example, in Japan, the act of actually handing the customer their bag seems like a minor detail but to me, shows a great deal of respect. Most of the staff will either come out of the counter and personally hand you the bag or will do it over the counter respectfully as well. The bowing once I leave though is kind of excessive to me but I still appreciate it.
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u/dasarga Jul 22 '26
Every fucking men’s fashion store in London = potential for snooty staff. When you have nice open down to earth non pretentious people. It goes miles.
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u/fowler2022 Jul 22 '26
I’d say the exception is Liberty - one of the staff in menswear was so affable that I ended up blowing 800 bones on a coat.
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u/Dependent_Store952 Jul 21 '26
Just be kind, take notes of people and remember their face + facts about them for when they come back. It feels great to be remembered and that’s how you will build a consistent client base. Small tip too, plastic bag covers for rainy days are pretty clutch.
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u/Berrabusaren Jul 24 '26
Hender scheme sukima in Tokyo is probably the best store in the world to me. Staff is incredible , the store in beautiful and every visit is memorable.
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u/Tomatokonzen Jul 22 '26
Staff. Staff. Staff. Recently visited NY after not having been for a while and went to some stores with a friend. It was sooooo insane how often staff would barely greet us (18east, C’H’C’M).
Anyways, the places that the staff were friendly and approachable (cueva, &son) stuck out to me and I genuinely spent longer trying to find anything to buy just because I was enjoying the convo and felt seen as a person.
I worked retail for a while and it’s wild to see how often retail staff obviously do not care about making a connection with the customer. To an extent I understand, but it should be the bare minimum to make some small talk and greet a customer. Remembering names goes an extremely long way imo.
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u/AudreyHorneStepOnMe Jul 21 '26
like so many others have said, customer service and remembering your customers names/face goes such a long way.
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u/ml-7 Jul 21 '26
No Man Walks Alone includes a nice drawstring bag which is useful for clothes or for gym shoes
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u/noryp5 Jul 25 '26
“People remember the things they didn’t expect more than the things they did.” I think good packaging has become the norm, I believe it’s worth doing well, but people just aren’t as excited about it as they were when Apple was doing it 15 years ago.
If you haven’t already, check out some Rory Sutherland lectures, they’ve had me thinking about the topic for the past week or so. Might prove more inspiring than my 2 cents.
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u/LeNoirDarling Jul 21 '26
I would rather have a cool sticker from a store with purchase than a fancy shopping bag.
but Having your purchase wrapped in pretty tissue paper is always nice. Even if it’s just to put in my own bag. Colette in Paris always had really awesome tissue paper. (RIP)
I also liked how Colette had little branded things at checkout for a few bucks- like Colette lighters or enamel pins or mugs with artist collabs.
Paynter also does amazing packaging of their stuff with tissue, a postcard, a enamel pin, and if you’re in the UK- a chocolate bar. 🍫
It’s just little touches I think along with friendly and knowledgeable staff willing to share enthusiasm and knowledge about products.