Now that it’s officially summer, that is an important time for small businesses that focus on apparel, footwear and accessories to drive traffic in-stores in addition to online. And whilst consumers are spending more on travel and experiences through the summer months, it doesn’t mean they’re not open to purchasing apparel.

Foremost Street retailers just must try a couple of strategies to get shoppers within the mood to purchase while also taking a consumer-centric approach.

One key approach is to take a cue from the large brands. Whether it’s Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue or Macy’s, large chain stores have positioned themselves in-store and online for the summer season by curating a seasonal collection that’s designed to woo shoppers. Their merchandising strategy is to encourage customers with fashion ideas for the resort, the beach, and an evening out in town.

Small businesses can do the identical.

While smaller-sized shops may not have the square footage to showcase a broad seasonal collection, they will present fashion-forward inspirations if it aligns with current trends while also adhering to core tenants of the season corresponding to offering lightweight fabrics and breathable designs. And if the business is lucky to be situated at a destination or a resort, the merchandise mix should reflect the activities offered in the world. Meaning, if there’s swimming or mountaineering nearby, carry apparel and accessories for those activities.

To drive foot traffic, consider offering workshops or styling sessions. Or perhaps a fashion show. And make certain these events are pushed out on social channels, which is able to not only attract shoppers to a physical store but can drive online conversions too. Consumers also wish to discover latest things, so rotating merchandise collections and freshening up storefronts may also help. It’s also necessary to create a memorable in-store shopping experience. This includes seasonal decorations, having friendly and helpful sales associates, and playing upbeat music.

The underside line is to position your online business in a consumer-centric way.

“Over the past 20 years, customer experiences have turn into increasingly personalized,” noted authors of a recent Edited report titled, “Five Steps to Becoming a Customer-centric Merchandiser.”

The report stated that technology is enabling personalization at various levels, “from single digital interactions to orchestrating marketing and digital experiences across all touchpoints in order that every customer interaction could be informed by a customer’s potential value, recency, frequency, and other relevant attributes.”

Nonetheless, the report’s authors said that merchandising decisions “have traditionally been blunt and broadcast. This includes decisions concerning the product range, size ratios, allocation and promotions.” Edited said within the report that these decisions “could have been loosely influenced by customer feedback, but they’ve largely been constructed from a product-centric perspective and applied to the complete customer base based on the notion of a mean customer.”

Because of this, sales, profits and average lifetime customer value is negatively impacted. As a substitute, taking a consumer-centric approach can drive sales and profits in-store and online. However it requires investing in technology and leveraging data.

The Edited researchers said it also requires rethinking product, store and sales decisions. With products, merchandisers need to make use of customer-segmented data to find out product types, colours and sizes, in addition to quantities. Retailers can even use advice algorithms and search and merchandising algorithms to assist inform where to allocate products in-store and online.

And with sales, merchants can use various technologies to assist with pricing, promotion and markdowns.