wer preferences and so on, so she always delivers the perfect arrangement." Just because a retailer is based online doesn't mean they can't create one on one contact too. Another great way to get customers back into a store is to offer classes and worksFriendship is the most effective branding a store can ever use. It isn't loyalty programs that set retailers apart from their competition, it is friendships. How can retailers build friendships with their customers?

Many retailers go to a lot of trouble making their customers feel like "guests." I'd like to suggest that they would be better off trying to forge friendships.

Friendships are forged from human interaction. Getting rid of the cold and impersonal, and adding the personal touch is the way to recognize every shopper as an unique individual. By valuing their customers' feelings, tastes, needs and desires, retailers create friendships and build customer loyalty. What are retailers doing to interact with their customers?

Gwen Moran, president of Moran Marketing Associates, explored several ideas for Entrepreneur Magazine, including one from a florist friend, who "keeps a card file on each of her most frequent customers, recording the colors of their home d?cors, seasonal flower preferences and so on, so she always delivers the perfect arrangement." Just because a retailer is based online doesn't mean they can't create one on one contact too. Another great way to get customers back into a store is to offer classes and worksh

rouble making their customers feel like "guests." I'd like to suggest that they would be better off trying to forge friendships.

Friendships are forged from human interaction. Getting rid of the cold and impersonal, and adding the personal touch is the way to recognize every shopper as an unique individual. By valuing their customers' feelings, tastes, needs and desires, retailers create friendships and build customer loyalty. What are retailers doing to interact with their customers?

Gwen Moran, president of Moran Marketing Associates, explored several ideas for Entrepreneur Magazine, including one from a florist friend, who "keeps a card file on each of her most frequent customers, recording the colors of their home d?cors, seasonal flower preferences and so on, so she always delivers the perfect arrangement." Just because a retailer is based online doesn't mean they can't create one on one contact too. Another great way to get customers back into a store is to offer classes and works

s the way to recognize every shopper as an unique individual. By valuing their customers' feelings, tastes, needs and desires, retailers create friendships and build customer loyalty. What are retailers doing to interact with their customers?

Gwen Moran, president of Moran Marketing Associates, explored several ideas for Entrepreneur Magazine, including one from a florist friend, who "keeps a card file on each of her most frequent customers, recording the colors of their home d?cors, seasonal flower preferences and so on, so she always delivers the perfect arrangement." Just because a retailer is based online doesn't mean they can't create one on one contact too. Another great way to get customers back into a store is to offer classes and works

Moran, president of Moran Marketing Associates, explored several ideas for Entrepreneur Magazine, including one from a florist friend, who "keeps a card file on each of her most frequent customers, recording the colors of their home d?cors, seasonal flower preferences and so on, so she always delivers the perfect arrangement." Just because a retailer is based online doesn't mean they can't create one on one contact too. Another great way to get customers back into a store is to offer classes and workswer preferences and so on, so she always delivers the perfect arrangement." Just because a retailer is based online doesn't mean they can't create one on one contact too. Another great way to get customers back into a store is to offer classes and workshops. Many retailers, large and small, brick-and-mortar and pure-play, have found ways to build friendships.

From letting a customer try a product in the store before they buy it, to soliciting feedback on products and giving customers a way to share their experiences with other customers, retailers are treating customers like friends, not just guests.