Jane Shepherdson, one of the most important women in British fashion, isn’t just a clothing expert. She’s also a retail store merchandising guru. In an interview with Australia’s Inside Retailing Online, she gives a bonanza of great ideas for any retailer. She practices them at Topshop, the women’s clothing store chain she helped turn around.

I really like what she has to say. If your store could use a boost in the sales and merchandising areas, I suggest you read the interview. Here are a few nuggets of wisdom she offers:

- To keep shoppers coming back, create what Shepherdson calls “fashion Disney”–an entertaining shopping experience…”It’s up to the retailers to provide an experience that’s a bit more fun than just the average ‘pile it high, sell it cheap-type experience.”

- “Obviously people will stay in your store longer if it’s exciting to look at, it’s interesting, it’s tempting–there are unexpected things within it.”

- “To me it makes such perfect sense that if you want people to come and spend time in your store and spend a lot of money with you, you have to equally put in a lot of effort into making it a fun experience.”

- Constantly innovate, try new things and move forward.

- Take risks–you have to frighten yourself.

- Be ruthless, don’t buy anything you aren’t proud of. Customers should be able to trust your choices.

- Always offer great value. Greedy margins can actually devalue your business. Respect your customer. “My retail philosophy is, if your customers love something it will be profitable. So always ask, ‘Will they love it?’ not ‘What will it cost?’ ”

- Be creative with visual merchandising and shop windows.

- Create links with design colleges–they’re a great source of ideas.

- Don’t work in a vacuum – you end up recycling the same things.

- Don’t be afraid to try something new–everything is worth a try. Keep pushing the boundaries…

- Keep the product mix changing to reflect changing customer demand.

- Don’t be afraid of running out of stock.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. That’s why I let Shepherdson say it all. Take a look at the Topshop website, too, to see how she practices what she preaches.

I’ve talked here before about my two decades-plus as a devoted Apple Macintosh user. I’ve also bought many Sony electronics products over the years. Both companies have retail stores, but I’ve never been too thrilled about Sony’s. They just sort of ramble on, with no focus. I’d just as soon be shopping the electronics department at Walmart.

An article in The New York Times (free registration may be required) bears me out. The writer visited several Apple and Sony stores in the San Francisco bay area to check out the vibes. Not surprisingly, the huge Sony shops were pretty much devoid of customers and the sales staff was inattentive. But even Apple’s smaller stores were packed with customers getting up close and personal with the merchandise as staff hovered nearby to assist with any question. The stores’ interior–with its clean lines, soothing colors and displays that invite hands-on product demos–are what I feel draw customers back again and again.

I believe both companies make great products, but it’s a shame that Sony still doesn’t understand retail. I’m not the only one who feels that way. A retail consultant quoted in the article says Sony’s stores “…are not energized and not shop-able” while Apple stores extend an “emotional connection” to their customers that Sony’s don’t.

I only fault Apple for the way some employees treat women shoppers. My sister-in-law, a Mac expert, usually can’t get anyone to approach her in an Apple store. When she finally flags one down, the employee acts amazed that she knows so much. That’s a shame, because she’ll only buy from a proactive salesperson who treats her with the respect all customers deserve.

If you’re wondering about how to attract more customers to your retail store, do yourself a favor and visit an Apple outlet. In my experience, there’s always a greeter at the door and plenty of easy-to-identify salespeople eager to help. You may not have the budget for that kind of customer-to-employee ratio, but you can train your staff to be responsive to customer needs. And, unlike Sony, make sure they treat everyone with respect.

Have you installed video monitors in your store yet? Plenty of businesses have–and not just retail shops My dentist offers two screens: one on the ceiling so you can see it when your chair’s reclined, the other on an adjustable arm for when the chair’s upright. They definitely keep me a little less focused on my least-favorite ordeal.

Screens are popping up in stores, banks, waiting lines, over urinals, you name it. It’s hard to avoid the barrage of ads and advice shown on flat screens everywhere. The Los Angeles Times examines the trend in this article (free registration may be required). Studies show that while some customers appreciate watching TV while they wait in lines at the supermarket, others just find it annoying.

Should you set up a monitor(s) in your shop? You’ve probably been tempted. My take is that if the onscreen content helps you make the store more interesting, perhaps more fun to be in, or if you’re selling a sport (surf, skate, snow, etc.), go for it. Further, I suggest you explore the possibility of creating your own advertising content, much like you can with in-store audio.

One thing I’ll say about in-store monitors: A flat-panel HDTV will certainly make most clients think you’re sensitive to their needs. Even if I don’t pay attention to what’s airing, I get the feeling management is keeping up with the times.

Like the article says, having a video monitor in your store is all about control. Consumers want it, marketers don’t want to give it up. So if you do go the monitor route, I suggest doing what you probably do at home: Don’t let anyone else have the remote.

I haven’t designed any auto-body repair shops. But if I ever do, I would emulate what BumperDoc is doing. I’d also urge any retailer to emulate their customer-service process.

It started when I noticed BumperDoc’s freestanding sign and business cards at a car wash. They promised fast ding repair at prices lower than larger collision-repair shops. The sign prominently displayed their phone number, web address (www.bumperdoc.com, of course,) and street address. Since my car has a few dings that I’ve been meaning to get fixed, I grabbed a card from the rack.

Then I visited their website, which gives a full menu of services offered. The site even lets you upload photos of your vehicle’s dings and dents so a service rep can call or email a quote to you. I just sent a description of my car’s blemishes. As promised, I received a phone call within 30 minutes. There was no pressure, no hard sell, just an honest appraisal of what repairs probably would cost. The rep said to drop by at my convenience so he could take a better look and give a more accurate estimate.

When I did stop by, I was impressed. The site isn’t your typical body-repair shop. Instead, it’s a clean, well-lighted place with white floors, white walls and white ceilings throughout. I didn’t see a single grease stain. The paint shop for larger repairs is just a few steps away, but you’d hardly know it’s there. It looked pretty clean, too.

The customer-service room has large windows facing the repair floor, so you can see exactly what they’re doing to your vehicle. If you need to wait, you can settle into a comfy chair and enjoy some free snacks. Or complete a customer satisfaction survey, something I’d never seen in any auto-related business. From service reps to technicians, each employee treated me with courtesy and respect.

The rep took that closer look at my car’s dings, then gave me a written estimate. I told him I’d be back after getting my brakes relined. Again, no pressure from him to lock in a date and time.

BumperDoc only has one location now, but plans to open more. I think they have a winning combination: a waiting area that invites you to linger; clear signage that explains each available service and its cost; a helpful, interactive website; plus relaxed, informative customer-service reps.

So far, they’ve delivered on all their promises, from calling me back to giving a fast on-site estimate. If they can make my dings disappear, they’ll get even more positive word-of-mouth from me.

If you can promise the same level of attention as BumperDoc, I’d say your customers are less likely to ding you where it counts–in loyalty and at the cash register.

“Going green” is a phrase that’s used a lot these days. From Al Gore to the corner store, many of us are starting to catch on to the growing green movement that promises everything from slowing global warming to better vehicle mileage to lower utility costs.

Possibly like you, I wasn’t too sure about how to join the movement, other than to buy energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs. But after my design team heard about green carpet tiles not too long ago, we started recommending them for some of our retail-store clients.

At the time, we hadn’t heard of Interface CEO Ray Anderson. It turns out the 72-year-old head of a carpet-tile manufacturing company in Atlanta is one of the main corporate evangelists for the green movement. This story about him in The New York Times is pretty interesting, especially the fact that he’s been on the green bandwagon since 1994. Back then, the only thing I knew about it was Kermit the Frog said it was something that wasn’t easy to be.

Anderson quickly realized the economic and societal benefits of taking his company green. Its products were formerly a major contributor to overflowing landfills. So he challenged his employees to look for ways to cut waste during the manufacturing process, which in turn lead to faster decay times for castoff carpet. Since 1995, the employees’ solutions have saved Interface more than $336 million. Profits are up, costs are down.

Anderson’s story challenges me to specify more products and materials that help our clients go green. I’m sure your store could find ways to join the green team as well, from carpets to light bulbs to the products you sell. It’s easy to find green goods these days. Just read the newspaper or watch TV and you’ll see that corporate America is taking Anderson’s message to heart.

Once your own clients realize that you’re going green, they should start showing their appreciation–with the green they deposit in your cash register.

…spend a little time with me on this story from Canada’s ReportonBusiness.com about why you should treat your heaviest-spending customers differently than everyone else.

The author trots out the old rule that 20 to 30 percent of your consumers buy 70 to 80 percent of your merchandise or services. Serving those 20 to 30 percent-ers can cost you more, but they spend four to 14 times as much as the rest.

His point: Invest in improving the heavyweights’ customer experience and they’ll reward you with repeat purchases, positive word-of-mouth, loyalty and the desire to buy other goods or services from you.

In my experience, it can be as easy as following up with phone calls every few weeks, assigning a permanent salesperson, holding invitation-only sales, or offering to deliver purchases to their home or office. What the big spenders really want, the author says, is consistency. They want it in everything from value to quality to selection. Providing it can actually lowering your cost of doing business.

I say make it a point to recognize who your heaviest spenders are and cater to them relentlessly. Educate your employees about the importance of serving them well. When everyone’s on the same page, even your light spenders will take notice. After all, they’re your big spenders of tomorrow.

You don’t need to be the size of an Office Depot to benefit from their marketing knowledge. The company’s e-commerce director recently shared some great advice in an interview with MarketingSherpa.com. Rather nice of him, I think.

You certainly don’t have to be as big as Office Depot to try some of the strategies he suggests. For example, collecting data on your customer’s buying behaviors is a good way to find out what they expect from your store. It can be as simple as asking for their email addresses so you can send them a questionnaire. They can complete it online and, once you receive it, you can email them a discount coupon or an invitation to a special sale. As I’ve mentioned before, sites such as SurveyMonkey.com can help you gather this data at very affordable prices.

Another easy feedback-gathering method is follow-up phone calls. I always like it when I get such a call from an auto-repair shop or medical group. It tells me they care about my experience with them, good, bad or in between. Have you ever made follow-up calls to your customers? I’ll bet they would appreciate it. I’ll also bet that the smaller your business, the more they’ll be impressed that you called.

Office Depot also realizes that customers who get treated right in their stores are more likely to place orders on OfficeDepot.com. They even show customers how to change their computer settings for a better shopping experience online, then give them a printout of instructions. “The offline experience complements the virtual one,” the e-commerce director says.

The article is full of good ideas, so I suggest you read it. Let the ideas sink in, as I’ve done. My staff will have their marching orders soon.

The good news for online apparel retailers is good news for just about everyone else who sells retail on the Web. I expect this story will be all over the mainstream media for a day or so: Online retail clothing sales reached $18.3 billion last year, $1.1 billion more than computer hardware and software sales.

The perceived hassles of ill-fitting clothes, tough return policies and the inability to touch the product have pretty much faded away. The boom in high-speed Internet connections and improved e-commerce technology give virtual clothes shoppers a new luxury item: the gift of time.

With work and family commitments, many consumers find they have less time to browse the clothing aisles at malls and standalone stores. Online, they can browse at their leisure, with great photos and fitting instructions just clicks away. Some even offer live chat with a store associate. Clothes shopping on the Web is today’s equivalent of our grandparent’s perusing the Sears or JC Penney catalog. In fact, the JC Penny’s online catalog is currently one of the most successful on the Web.

Many of my store-design clients are brick-and-mortar clothing shops, so you might think I’d look at online apparel sales as a threat to their businesses and mine. To the contrary. As I’ve mentioned several times in this blog, I see e-commerce and brick-and-mortar complementing each other as a permanent long-term strategy. Each one drives traffic to the other.

At some point, a given retailer’s physical sales might give way to the virtual, or vice versa. The former happened with TRIO Display five years ago. But as I mentioned recently, we’re considering complementing our WaveridersGallery.net site with a physical presence so potential clients can see and touch the artwork.

Online clothing’s dominance can only spell increasing acceptance for all kinds of e-commerce merchandise. If I can sell mannequins and display cases on the Web, you can sell high-touch, high -color clothing–and if you’re not, someone else is.

“You love working in retail or you wouldn’t be in it.”

That’s a phrase we’ve all heard over the years. Margo Andros is proof that it’s true. Who would’ve thought someone would be selling $20 designer panties, bras and bustiers at Grand Central Terminal in New York? Andros did. So she begged, borrowed and stole (an investor’s heart) to open her tiny boutique, which now boasts annual sales approaching $1 million.

Andros combined her passion for finding funky, closeout clothing with her desire to sell it in her own retail store. After a successful holiday sales fair at Grand Central, she convinced the Metropolitan Transit Authority to lease her a tiny spot there. It’s called Pink Slip.

The story didn’t mention that Andros now has a Pink Slip website. By looking at it, you’d think her shop is a major player in the lingerie world. But it’s really a bedroom-sized store wedged in among the name-brand shops at Grand Central.

I like her reply when asked what surprised her most about her success: “That I could follow (my instincts) and, if I followed it, it would work out OK.”

Many of us who’ve stuck it out in retail feel the same way. I can relate to Andros because, like her, I had to reinvent my company to fuel my desire to stay in retail as a designer and supplier.

Andros isn’t slowing down. She wants to set up shop in airports. After initial rejections, she’s going to try again. You have to admire that kind of persistence. And emulate it. Otherwise, you might give yourself a pink slip back to the non-retail world.

I had never heard of Wegmans supermarkets until I read about them in the Cincinnati Enquirer. But millions of shoppers swear by them. And it’s not just because of the food and other merchandise they carry. It’s because of the employees.

Stories like this underscore how important customer service is to the shopping experience. Like other successful retailers, Wegmans treats its employees as assets. They receive formal training on the products Wegman carries, plus detailed information on cooking or innovating with those products. Customers love it, so they become very loyal to Wegmans.

“Employees believe they have ownership in the company’s success, and that translates into their taking responsibility for how the company performs” is how a business school dean describes Wegmans’ philosophy.

Think about the retail stores where you know you’ll be treated courteously, with respect, with the salesperson’s full attention. Some that come to mind are Nordstrom, Sharper Image, Men’s Wearhouse, REI, Williams-Sonoma, even Outback Steakhouse. It’s very evident that these firms train employees to “get it” that the customer is priority one. No one at these places has ever called my wife and me “you guys.” (Well, maybe once or twice at Outback.)

There’s no reason your staff can’t be instilled with the same kind of customer focus. It doesn’t have to be a formal training program. Just some important do’s and don’ts about how to greet, inform and assist your customers. If you can’t come up with any ideas, take your staff to a store you admire. Be a mystery shopper for attitude rather than merchandise. Or look online for customer-service tips on sites like About.com.

I’ve noticed lately that the staff at places like Vons, Cost Plus World Market and Coco’s are more helpful than before. They look you in the eye, listen to your questions and are eager to help. If these guys–I mean these staff member–can do it, so can your guys, gals and other valued employees.