Do Trunk Shows Translate
Into Sales?
What's the secret behind a successful trunk show?
"Give sales people collections they feel they can sell,
so that they can make their commissions", explains consultant
Peter Dubow. "If you motivate the sales department, the sell
will be easy," he says.
For many designer and upscale labels, trunk shows are not only
viable. ..they're crucial to business. They actually develop a
customer for a label. Isut that's not all. They can help build a
mystique and through it additional business and give both the store
and manufacturer a chance to learn what the consumer wants in the
market so the product can be tailored or refined to fit. Plus,
they're a wonderful way to cement a vendor/store relationship.
In many cases, and especially with European designers, a trunk show
allows the sales associates to preview the collection before it
comes into the store and gives them advice on how to sell it.
"We hold sales meeting in the morning to show how the line should be
presented because the more the sales associates are behind a line,
the better all of us will do," explains Jean Nuzzi, director of sales,
Genny USA.
Actually, way-in-advance planning is essential to the success
of a trunk show. Announcement of the show can be through a
newspaperad or an invitational mailing to the store or sales staff's
preferred customer list, or both. And the sales and/or personal
shopping staff should also call customers who have expressed
interest in the designer or already purchased the label, to bring
them in and/or set up appointments, especially if the designer
him- or herself is making a store appearance.
It's a great draw to have the designer there only if he or she has
a good rapport with customers and people skills. Often, however,
a charming rep with an excellent knowledge of both the line and
customer can be equally effective.
In order for a trunk show to do what it's supposed to
do, here are a few suggestions from the experts:
- Trunk shows are most successful when they're held mid-week,
either before stock is delievered or as delivery begins. Especially
with an upscale clientele, Mondays and Fridays tend to be dead days. - While it can stand on its own, you can also treat a trunk
show as a special promotion and tie it in with a charity event.
Not only will it raise money, but it might also bring in new
customers, especially if the event has received editorial exposure
in the local media. Of course the charity must be geared to the
label's customer. If for example, the line is very trendy and fashion
forward and patrons of the charity are conservative, there's not
likely to be a match.. nor any sales. - Don't schedule a show too far in advance of the season because
customers generally can't plan ahead or can end up changing their minds.
Early in the season, or just prior to the season is usually the best
time to capture the customer's excitement. - To warrant the promotion and expense, show in stores that place
broad orders in styles and sizes. When properly done, the show can
help sell up to 20 % of the order in advance. At the end of the
season, it can insure the sell-thru of the entire collection. When
this happens, the store will usually increase their open-to-buy the
following season. - If you're showing in a store that holds continual trunk shows,
try not to be at the end of the cycle. Unless you have a very specific
customer who is loyal to your label, you may find the response poor
because customers have been called so frequently to attend other shows.
- Avoid doing a trunk show during sale periods, like the first and
second week of January. The store may not be geared for an exclusive
event at that time and the mind-set of the customer, even an affluent
one, may be to buy off price.
- Try to avoid working only with sample sizes because they're
generally not true to size and the customer can't relate to them or
imagine how the style would look in her size.
the expense. The trend however is towards stores paying less," says
Jean Nuzzi, who feels that business for European designer trunk shows,
where customers order from pictures, is shrinking. "I think people want
instant gratification,"she says, adding that Ungaro does a fabulous
trunk show business because the collection is here.
end of part one.
by Susan Sommers
