-By Dr. Kenneth C. Herbst and Harold Lloyd

In our March 2008 column, Harold and I discussed our data on the extent to which sampling, interacting with employees, and coupon shopping affect sales. We hope that you were able recently to utilize some of the implications of our data to make moves to increase your sales. In this column, we suggest that it is wise to focus on an area that is central to the store's customer service perception but is often neglected -- the restroom.

You know your restroom needs to be clean, but it is also a place for suggestive selling. In this column, we will discuss various opportunities to make your restroom a venue that creates the perception that your store prioritizes cleanliness in food-handling and offers an opportunity to sample goods.

Our travels in stores around the country have afforded us the opportunities to study all (and we do mean all) areas of the store. The restroom is one place that customers may not see as often as other parts of the store, but it does convey an image to those who do and a sense of how cleanliness and hygiene are prioritized.

Keep your restroom aesthetically pleasing and full of signage that makes salient your prioritization of solid hygiene. We suggest having a poster in the restroom in which you ask employees to wash their hands twice -- once before leaving the restroom and once before returning to their area. This keeps germs away, and it lets the customer know that your employee has washed his hands twice to make sure that her food is being handled safely. In addition, we suggest having a hands-free soap and paper towel dispenser so that soap and paper towels can be used without having to touch the dispenser. Also, if customers cannot push open the door to exit the bathroom, then it is a good idea to have a trashcan next to the door so that customers can use a paper towel to open the door and then toss the paper towel into the trashcan when exiting. We also suggest a plug-in fresh aroma dispenser to make the air and surroundings smell fresh and clean. Lastly, store the toilet brush and other cleaners in a separate room or in a closed cabinet. These items contain germs and are not the reminder you want for your customers.

The restroom is also a place where "sampling" could occur. We suggest having some of your private-label hand crèmes and lotions in the restroom where they can be sampled. Ideally, make it possible for these to be automatically dispensed. Inform customers as to where these items can be found in the store and how they compare on price to the national brand equivalent. Making your restroom a sampling location is being very efficient. As we have discussed in previous columns, sampling products has an outstanding effect on the sales of those items.

Lastly, consider using your restroom to encourage impulse purchases. Instead of having the standard newspaper pinned to the wall so that some can "multi-task," we suggest posting weekly specials or advertising a bouquet of flowers from the floral department. This is an attractive way to decorate the walls and may lead to sales in the floral area.

In sum, although our columns often focus on areas of the store in which there is a great deal of consumer traffic, the restroom is a place that should not be overlooked. It affects the perception of your entire store greatly, and it is an easy place to keep clean and to create a positive image.

Our shopper traffic research will unveil some quick and manageable tactics which could have a profound impact on your top line as well as customer satisfaction and loyalty. For more information on how we can conduct research for you or speak at an upcoming conference, please e-mail Dr. Herbst at Kenny.Herbst@mba.wfu.edu. Alternatively, feel free to visit Dr. Herbst's Wake Forest University Web site at www.mba.wfu.edu/herbst. He can also be reached via phone at 336-758-4215.

Dr. Kenneth C. Herbst is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. He earned a Masters and Ph.D. from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition, Dr. Herbst earned a B.A. from Wake Forest University.

Dr. Herbst has been interviewed about his food research and industry expertise by, among others, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Ottawa Citizen, the Montreal Gazette, the San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, and Woman's Day. In July, he gave a keynote presentation on his in-store food shopper research at Shopper Insights in Action. He has also recently spoken at FMI and IDDBA. In April, he presented his top tactics for retailing and merchandising at the 2008 NARMS Spring Conference and Annual Meeting in Williamsburg, Va.

Harold Lloyd was the President and CEO of a 14-unit retail organization for 10 years. His practical, exciting ideas and dynamic presentation style have combined to earn him a highly regarded reputation reflected in his top ratings at numerous appearances at such prestigious events as the annual FMI and IDDBA conventions.

For almost two decades, Harold has worked very closely with small and large businesses to provide a "powerful push in the right direction!" His mission is to provide qualified, executive-level assistance to companies on a "temporary basis," eliminating the need to add permanent top management overhead. To further assist his clients, Harold authored the book It's About Time, focusing on time management.