The question of an independent retailer’s competitive advantage comes up more and more frequently in this era of e-commerce and big box retailers. What sets an independent scrapbook store apart from the competition? Pricing? Service? Selection? Those are all valuable assets, but the most important advantage for an independent retailer is consumer education. Classes!

Classes are the most effective way to promote new scrapbook products, build a loyal customer base and come out ahead in the competitive world of scrapbook retailing.

What Will Consumer Education Do For You?

• Teach your customer how to use a product or do a new technique
• Foster customer/ retailer relations
• Provide and reinforce a social, “quilting bee” atmosphere
• Get new customers into your store
• Provide you with market research opportunities
• Establish your store as a destination for merchandise and ideas

Education Facts:

Market research done by Paco Underhill, author of Why We Buy—The Science of Shopping, tell us that women shoppers want interaction with your sales staff—making consumer education one of the easiest and most effective ways to increase sales. Your customer’s chance of making a purchase increases with the amount of positive interaction she has with a salesperson.

Classes give you the perfect opportunity to interact, teach, sell and get to know your customers!

Where can you find great teachers? Your staff should be trained well enough to conduct a class, but often your best teachers are your customers. In either case, a potential teacher should be auditioned and asked to teach a class to you before you charge consumers for her instruction.

Your teachers need to know your product selection and store policies in case any questions arise. They also must be able to recommend complementary products to consumers.

Compensation

How should you compensate a teacher? Some stores will pay instructors hourly and include a one-day employee discount. Another option is to pay teachers on commission (usually 10%) of the amount sold. You can also give the teacher a portion of the class fee plus a commission. Paying a flat fee is always an option, but offering a commission inspires the teacher to take responsibility for sales resulting from the class. One retailer suggests having another employee at the store to ring up purchases: “Your teacher can teach better and sell more if she doesn’t have to change gears to run the register.”

A Georgia retailer advises other stores to pay teachers a certain amount per class attendee. She’s found that figuring the teacher’s commission can be difficult, especially if the store is open during the class and other customers are shopping. This tactic also gets teachers involved in promoting the classes beforehand, with bulletin boards and sign-up sheets. Most retailers who do this offer the teacher $7.00-$8.50 per student, and combine it with a percentage of the sales (typically 5%).

Do remember that if the teacher is a well-known scrapbook artist, you may be expected to pay more. If you cannot afford to pay more, consider offering her an employee discount or advance previews of new merchandise.

Beware of this common complaint from students: “I paid $15.00 and all the instructor did was show her own album and talk about her family.” While scrapbooking is an informal craft and your students should be comfortable with the teacher, consumers will be reassured about the instructor’s skill level when the instructor displays a level of professionalism.

Finding and hiring the right teacher—and setting standards and expectations for current and future instructors—is a lot easier when you have an official job description.

Product Knowledge

Teachers must have comprehensive knowledge of a variety of scrapbook tools, from punches to patterned scissors to die-cuts and patterned papers. During the class, your teacher will field a wide variety of questions—and not all of them will be directly related to the topic at hand.

Allow teachers to foster a product or technique specialty: if an instructor is an expert on punches, let that expertise shine—but not at the expense of your other merchandise.

Store Knowledge

Teachers should have an understanding of the store’s policies on returns and exchanges, and acceptable methods of payment. She also needs to know about (and promote) the store’s special services, like punch cards, gift registries and in-store events. Offering these services to students will help fill dead air while students are working.

The teacher must know where merchandise is located in the store—yes, even those materials she’s not using in the class.

Sales Skills

Classes will sell product—but only if they’re done correctly. The teacher must be aware of sales opportunities that will occur during the class and take advantage of them with suggestion-selling.

Suggestion selling does not only apply to products, but to other store services and classes. Now is the time to tell students about other classes and pass around the sign-up sheet. Now is the time to ask if everyone has a punch card, receives the store newsletter, knows about the Anniversary Sale or any other upcoming event. Now is also a perfect time to cluster all your newest merchandise into one section to give students a sneak peek at the very latest items.

Because you don’t want students to feel as though they’ve paid for a sales presentation, offer the bulk of the sales information while students are working and at the class wrap-up. Presentation is important: offer suggestion selling as suggestions and information—scrappers consistently report that they want to know more about new products and how to use them. If the teacher is excited about a product, that enthusiasm will translate to the customer.

Respecting Customer’s Time

The teacher should incorporate time-saving tactics:

• Pre-cut/ pre-punch paper pieces. Customers often complain of signing up for a class, only to have most of the time consumed by cutting or tracing patterns.
• Pull materials together prior to the class time. All consumable materials should be placed at each student’s seat; all tools to be shared should be placed within easy reach of each student. Students should be able to walk into the classroom and be ready to work, unless they’ve been notified in advance that shopping time will precede the class.
• Teachers must begin and end the class on time. All projects that were advertised must be completed in the class.

Student Encouragement

The best way to end a class is on a high note, so customers feel good about their completed project, their new skills and their relationship with the teacher (and the store). Huckleberry’s, a Spokane, Washington retailer holds up each student’s page to the rest of the class and announces something wonderful about it—whether it’s color combination, beautiful handwriting, or perfect matting. Find something good about each student’s page and share it—this reinforces the customer’s new-found knowledge and the whole concept of scrapbooking.