Objective 5.02: Understand retail selling
processes the fashion industry.
 Sales associates need to have the following
characteristics for positive customer relations:
 Courtesy
 Interest
 Helpfulness
 Tolerance
 Skills in solving customer problems
 They can receive commission, compensation
and incentives.
 Commission is payment based on a percentage of the
dollar amount of sales made.
 Compensation is payment and benefits for work
accomplished.
 Incentives are prizes or rewards meant to
stimulate people to do better work toward
achieving results.
 Involves providing exceptional service, making
customers feel important by exceeding
expectations and identifying their needs, and
finding the best solutions.
 Customer-oriented selling tries to meet the
needs of each individual customer rather than
selling items to people whether they need them
or not.
 Labels are small pieces of ribbon permanently
attached in garments, or stamped areas on the
inside of garments, that contain printed
information.
 Hangtags are removable “signs” that are
attached to the outside of garments with strings,
plastic bands, pins, staples, or adhesives.
 Approach and Greeting:
 Meet and greet retail “guests”.
 Ex. “Good Morning, Mrs. Smith”
 Initial hello or personal introduction followed by a
question or statement.
 You can use a compliment or a conversational
greeting that links you to the customer.
 Greet customers within 30 feet of them and within
30 seconds of entering the store.
 Not intended to result in an immediate sale, but
to get the customer to agree to see and hear more
about the merchandise.
 Classifying Customers:
 Casual lookers might simply be browsing or
killing time while waiting for a ride or meeting
a friend.
 Undecided customers may need an item for
personal use or for a gift.
 Decided customers should be helped efficiently,
they know exactly what they want and why
and often purchase their items quickly.
 Presentation of Merchandise:
 Good presentations include an explanation of
product features, or physical characteristics of
items.
 Salespeople should try to discover the combined
benefits/solutions that product features provide.
 Ex. Someone who has limited cash needs value-
priced items, someone who dislikes ironing needs
wrinkle-free pants, etc.
 Presentation of Merchandise (cont.):
 A salesperson should ask a customer about the
benefits he or she seeks from a product. They can
then translate the product features into benefits.
 To be an effective sales person you must have
effective two-way communication with the customer.
 As a salesperson you should try to present the
advantages of goods based on the customer’s needs.
 Ex. A customer on a budget may be more likely to make a
purchase if the merchandise is on sale.
 Presentation of Merchandise (cont.):
 Customers may understand their general wants and
needs, but require help in satisfying them.
 A personal shopper is a fashion consultant who
chooses merchandise in response to customers’
requests or accompanies customers to offer fashion
advice and selection help.
 Sometimes customers want to be left alone to ponder
the decision purchase. In that case, salespeople
should do other things, but be available if needed.
 Overcoming Objections:
 The reason a customer hesitates to buy a product
is an objection.
 When a customer offers an objection, it is the
salesperson who can turn that objection into a
benefit by using the direct denial approach.
 Ex. A customer doesn’t want to buy a dress because
they will have to get it dry cleaned. The salesperson
informs the customer that it can be machine
washed.
 Closing the Sale:
 Getting a commitment from the customer to buy
the merchandise.
 A customer’s decision about a large purchase,
might result in a long silence while the customer
weighs the pros and cons.
 At the right time, the salesperson may suggest
that the customer make the purchase.
 Supplementary Suggestions:
 Suggestion selling is a method of increasing sales by
adding to the customers’ original purchases.
 It includes:
 Add-ons: additional related merchandise items to complete
outfits.
 Trading up: suggesting a substitute item that is higher
priced, better quality, or more economical.
 More than one: selling more than one of the same or
similar item.
 Special offers: when an additional item can be obtained as
a result of purchasing an item.
 Maintaining Relationships:
 Closing the sale is really the beginning of a
relationship rather than the end of the sale.
 A sincere thank you and the use of the customer’s
name are common courtesies.
 The salesperson should ask the customer to return
soon.
 Follow-up is important to ensure customer
satisfaction with purchases and repeat business.
 Purchasing behavior is the way consumers act in
the market.
 It is influenced by cultural, social and
psychological factors.
 Consumers must have a want or need to be
satisfied.
 The response is a purchase based on buying
motives, or the reasons why people buy what they
buy.
 Rational behavior is a response to conscious
reasoning.
 It’s based on logical thinking and decision
making.
 Important factors in a rational decision might be
a garment’s durability, comfort, quality,
economy of use, and price.
 Emotional behavior is based on feelings.
 Factors contributing to an emotional decision
include imitation, emulation, desire for status
and prestige, sex appeal, desire for
distinctiveness, ambition, fear, and personal
pride.
 Customers may only buy an apparel item
because of how it makes them feel.
 Product motives involve consumer purchases
based on quality or images of certain products.
 These product qualities might be materials,
construction, fit, style or guarantees associated
with trade names or reputations.
 Patronage motives involve customers who
consistently buy from certain retailers or favor
particular stores.
 The reasons why customers choose to shop at
one store rather than another may be based on
reputation, image, merchandise assortment, or
price.