Survey to Service: With Chantilly Lace

Could you introduce us briefly to your store?
It’s very much a community hub, with longtime loyal customers. I call it the “Cheers” of lingerie. The store where everybody knows your name, just like the old American sitcom. We’ve had the same fitter, Bella, for 22 years. We like to keep it personal & friendly. We’ve had people come into the store to cry when they’re feeling bad because they knew we’d make them feel better.

Which are your top selling brands?
Simone Perele, Marie Jo, PrimaDonna, Empreinte, Chantelle, Wacoal, Hanky Panky– but we’ve been bringing in a lot of brands that are newer for us as well. Such as Antigel, Antinea, Aubade, Audelle, Janira, and Montelle for wireless & chemises.

What inspired your survey?
I’ve only owned the shop for 2 years and I started the newsletter with 250 subscribers in winter 2016. When it was about 500 people last spring we got 45 responses. This year the list is 1100 people and we got 116 responses. To me this shows people are engaged, for whatever reason.

Did one demographic respond more than others? Do you think that this reflects the age range of your customers?
We had 7% millennials, but I’d say they’re responsible for 1% of sales volume. Off the survey, I’d estimate Depression Babies account for 10% of sales. We had an even split for the rest of survey respondents between Generation X and Baby Boomers, but I’d say Gen X is probably 25% of our sales, and Baby Boomers make up the bulk of sales. Baby Boomers have time and money. And they don’t care about getting deals online - they want to support their favorite shops and kind treatment when getting older and feeling less sexy. We make them feel good and safe. They like routines and it’s a way of life for them. They are the best customers! Young people are the worst customers because they’re always looking for deals on their phones. Generation X are trending similarly, but they’re at the point, around age 40, where they hit a wall with lingerie and they really need us to help shift their lingerie wardrobe & mentality. But I would guess after letting us do that, many of them are more likely to reload on Amazon rather than come back to us. Baby Boomers feel more loyalty. The phones are conditioning customers to be apathetic boutique shoppers. But I do have many Generation Xers who are loyal to us, who would never do that….With the younger customers, their moms are sending them to the shop & paying for it, so that’s good.

What were your key findings?
People want more affordable options. They have felt shuffled around between us – we need more help in the shop. They want the focus to stay on them once it’s on them. And some said the shop is cluttered & dated (which is why we’re moving).

Finding the right price point is always a tricky balance, did the survey reveal anything interesting? Are you considering stocking more mid-range brands?
35% of them said they’d shop more if we had more affordable options.

You’re moving to a new location this fall, how have the results of your survey influenced the new store design? (eg. Merchandise display, layout, marketing etc.)
I’ve noticed the Gen Xers with kids are always in a hurry, so I started thinking about laying out the store by size to make running in for something easier. We’re kind of like a lingerie hardware shop in the neighborhood. They run in for a shaper before an event, or a strapless. We will still help them but in the event we are busy it will be more efficient. It will also take the frustration out of shopping. If you’re an XL you won’t have to stare at the tiny stuff wishing we had it in your size. So in the survey I asked if they’d like that, if it would influence them to shop more, and 30% said yes. For us, I believe it will lead to faster turnover. I can easily see that we are low on beige camis in medium if all the mediums are together….I’m actually afraid we will sell through things quicker than we can handle.

Your store places great importance in standing out from department stores and surveys like this are certainly one way to do that. What other ways have you found?
Spending time with our customers doing actual fittings, trying to learn their names. Having unusual brands and styles, some novelty in small amounts. Imports. And “boutique only” brands such as Marie Jo & Empreinte. Ideally it would be so esoteric they can’t find it online, but it would have to be good enough to get them hooked, and I’ve found the brand has to be supremely comfortable to get people hooked.

What’s the biggest change you’re going to implement after all of this?
Organizing the store by size, because we are currently building displays by size for the new location. It’s costly to move the shop and I’m sparing no expense, and building custom displays by size is part of that expense. I’m calling them “the motherships”. I want it to be absolutely fabulous, world class, a destination. And we aren’t completely sure how people will respond once it’s done, because no boutique has ever done this as far as we know. There are a lot of unknowns, but it seems like a simple obvious fix to the problem of inefficiency. We also won’t have to worry about “stragglers” anymore – “one ofs” – when all the small PJs are together, it won’t look like a leftover when the other sizes are gone, it will just look like part of the group. But I’m sure it could create some problems that are unforeseen. However I think the pros will outweigh the cons. And I suspect this will be the future of retail, so remember Larisa Olson of Chantilly Lace did it first!