As far as customers are concerned, there is one part of the store that all retailers should focus more attention on: the dressing room. Recent customer feedback surveys, conducted by several major retailers, found that customers list dressing rooms among the parts of the store that they would like to see improved.

In the past, the dressing room was just a place customers went to try on clothes and make sure they fit. Retailers are now beginning to understand that the time customers spend in the dressing room is one of the most critical points of their sales process, and they’re making changes to reflect that understanding.

Competition is stiff in the retail apparel industry and being successful today does not always guarantee that you will be tomorrow. Retailers who want to preserve their brand for longevity are looking at dressing rooms as a small extra that can give them the edge over their closest competitors.

One of the ways retailers are making changes in the dressing room is by adding a three way mirror in each room. Before they lay down the charge card, customers want to see the outfit from all angles and understand how they’ll look both coming and going in it.

A good three way mirror is an important sales tool. Consumers are much savvier now than they’ve ever been and they’re a lot more suspicious of that sales associate who tells them everything they try on looks good. They know what they’re looking for when they see it, and a three way mirror gives them a means to see it from all angles.

Retailers are taking other steps as well to provide more appealing dressing rooms. There is a new focus on cleanliness and creating an environment that’s comfortable and not cluttered with discarded hangers and shirts from the last customer who used it. Retailers are making dressing rooms larger and adding more natural light, more hooks to hang clothes, chairs, lighter and brighter colors, and even artwork to make them more appealing.