Good Retail = Good Business

Ever watch retailers as a business model? The basics of a retail transaction include:

1 - Attracting customer
2 - Guiding them through the maze of products
3 - Advising customers on their options
4 - Making the sale
5 - Transaction of currency
6 - Confirmation that they made the right choice
7 - Repeat

And the cycle continues if the customer feels good about this process.

What if every business in the world thought about creating engaging environments (physical and emotional) for customers to buy what they are selling - companies like the local dry cleaner. Or service providers like accountants. The retail-ization of (traditionally no-retail) goods and services are here. Think H&R Block and Pearl Vision Center; which are retail-ization of traditionally non-retail services.

You can apply retail design principles to just about any business that exists. They key is to identify who your CORE customers are, then tailoring an environment that gives them comfort and confidence to buy from you. They will create a small cult-like following of your business. And that's what you want - other customers talking about you as if you were the next best thing to s-e-x.