Our neighbors to the north are great role models for large and small retailers alike. Good thing, since retail is Canada’s largest employer, creating about 2 million jobs, according to this article on OttawaCitizen.com. Retailers up there are getting lots of help identifying future challenges, including store layout and customer loyalty. The recently completed, year long Independent Retail Project, the largest of its kind ever undertaken, provides solutions that will help them succeed. Project leaders are even asking retailers to participate in a survey and a series of town hall-style meetings to find out more about what they want.

A design company is helping many Canadian big-box and smaller retailers undertake complete makeovers. They’re creating “an overall package of experiences that customers encounter when they’re trying to shop or buy or deal with using the product,” says a consultant quoted on Vancouver’s Business Edge.

Another consultant says retailers are trying to appeal to a customer’s sense of sight, sound, smell and touch. I love what he says about the merchandising mistakes some retailers make: “You want to invite customers to come and touch your product. I still come across stores where (a sign) says, ‘Don’t touch the merchandise,’ which is madness, unless you’re selling maybe very expensive wedding dresses.”

“Often, when people find stores and don’t want to go in, there’s a (sensory) clash. There’s a nice-looking Victorian kind of a store and it’s playing rap music. It’s amazing still how many times I’ve come across problems like that.”

Make sure you’re in tune with your customers’ senses. And keep your eyes open for research like the Canadians receive. Read it, study it, implement it and benefit!