Some retailers have a new growth strategy in mind — focusing on international shoppers.
In a recent seminar sponsored by the U.S. Travel Association, a luxury retailer discussed how its company wooed international shoppers into its domestic stores. The retailer, who was featured in a blog post on Retail’s BIG Blog, has experienced steady growth of international shoppers patronizing its U.S. stores since 2008.
The specialty chain sought to make the foreign shopper feel at home by hosting special events, offering complimentary personal shopping and hiring multilingual employees. Some of its retail locations have tablets that foreign visitors can use to find products and translators in the store. These details make a domestic store a must-see destination for international shoppers.
High-end retailers are targeting international shoppers, which is a brilliant idea. To truly make this a success, retailers must understand these new customers and have to do their research into their culture and shopping preferences. Tourists from Asia, for example, may look for different sizes and colors than what U.S. retailers traditionally stock.
These efforts can be aided by a retailer’s wise use of technology. They can use an ERP system to analyze trends, track buying patterns and make future merchandising decisions.
Source: Retail’s BIG Blog, June 2012
