Whether done in-store or digitally, merchandising is essential for the success of retail stores. Merchandising are the processes used to display products to entice customers to make purchases. The primary objective of effective merchandising is to influence your customers to buy your products whether they intended to buy them or made an impulse purchasing decision.
There is a wide range of techniques and methods that can be used with merchandising.
Some of the more common one’s retail stores will use are:
· Visual Merchandising –This technique requires creating displays and store windows that grab the attention of customers. Your goal is to get your customers excited about the products on display.
· Product Merchandising –This technique involves the placement of products in your store, whether it is a brick-and-mortar store or an online store. You want to ensure your store is not cluttered and products are easy to find and locate.
· Digital Merchandising –This method requires tapping into social media, your website, and other digital channels. For example, you could create a video showing how you designed and created an in-store holiday product display.
· Seasonal Merchandising –This method is to give your seasonal items you sell the most of at different times of the year better placement in your store, like winter clothing, snow shovels, or holiday decorations.
· Geographic Merchandising –This method is applying the other merchandising techniques to your geographical store locations. For example, you have stores in Calgary and Toronto and sell winter time sporting equipment. In your Calgary store, you may want to focus more on ski equipment, while in your Toronto store, more on hockey and ice-skating equipment.
As you might imagine, merchandising is always evolving and changing. You need to adapt to changes in trends and styles. Retailers require regular refreshes of their merchandise to keep attracting repeat business and new customers.
Furthermore, another aspect of merchandising that cannot be overlooked is your supply chain. You need to have an effective supply chain to receive the right products at the right time. It will do no good if your shipment of snow shovels arrives in the middle of spring!
Staying on top of your merchandising methods and techniques, as well as your vendors and suppliers can seem very daunting at times. Displays need to be refreshed and updated. Merchandise needs to be relocated and moved around.
You need to vary your orders on seasonal items at the right time to guarantee you will be able to sell them before your customers need them, like selling swimsuits in spring before summer arrives.
With so much to do, it may seem like you never have enough time to keep up with your merchandising. Fortunately, you can get the help and support your need from Influence Marketing.
We can help give you insights to support your negotiation efforts with vendors and suppliers. We can also assist with store refreshes, point-of-sale materials, installing displays, and implement new planograms or resets.
For further information about our retail store merchandising services, please feel free to contact Influence Marketing at 905-282-0770 to speak to one of our experienced experts today!
