Dramatic changes ahead for retail industry

Award winning furniture retailer shows innovative ways in retail

THE owner of new Robina outdoor furniture retailer Billy's, Will Ramsay, predicts that changing consumer needs and increasing desensitisation to advertising will result in significant changes for the retail industry over the next five years.

Mr Ramsay's study of consumer decision making in the retail environment has led to a complete overhaul of his business from the furniture warehouse style of many outdoor and indoor furniture retailers to an experiential style that allows customers to connect emotionally with the products, assisting customers to visualise their own homes and how the furniture may fit into the area they have available in terms of both size and aesthetics.

"Over recent years customers have become increasingly sophisticated in their choices and doing what's always been done in a retail environment isn't going to work anymore," says Mr Ramsay. "It's true that we've seen more and more people focus on their homes in favour of taking overseas holidays, so an environment conducive to the customer experience as opposed to the retailer's need to completely fill a space is becoming increasingly important, particularly with high-ticket items.

"Retailers need big budgets for advertising that can be repetitive enough to cut through the tens of thousands of messages that customers are exposed to everyday, making it increasingly harder for small businesses to be successful in markets with big players. "What we've been able to do is create space in the retail environment to make customers feel at home, as opposed to having as many signs and as much product squashed together as possible. That space allows customers to absorb the experience and see the products as they would use them. "We have combined flooring materials such as timber decking, paving and polished concrete with chair columns, trellis dividers, hanging vinyl scene banners and lighting features to create concept areas that reflect different tastes and lifestyles, to represent a diverse range of potential home entertaining areas, showing customers how our products could create an outdoor room in their homes." Mr Ramsay says this innovative approach to merchandising has revitalised a traditionally unimaginative market segment and is just the beginning in terms of where the retail industry is heading.

Billy's innovation has led to the company being announced the winner of the Best Home/Homewares Store award at the recent National Retail Association Awards.