You know the feeling when you walk in your favourite room
in the house and someone has moved something, you notice it straight away. This
is because we get so familiar with our surroundings that we stop seeing stuff, our
brains only register the general pattern of things and it’s only when that familiar
pattern is changed that we start looking again.
This is why retailers need to rotate their stock, move it
around and shake things up a bit to get their regular customers to start
looking again. So here’s the thing, if it’s
easier to sell more to existing customers than find new ones doesn’t it make
sense to find every means possible to get those existing customers to keep
looking.
The only change to this principle would be if you’re
providing a convenience offer such as food or DIY, here you want to make the shopping
experience as enjoyable and easy as possible because customers are there because
they have to be, not necessarily because they want to be.
For everyone else if you want your customers to keep
looking you have to keep moving stock around and remerchandising, that is in addition
to everything else of course.
This doesn’t have to be a major upheaval but a few slight
changes such as swapping one shelf of merchandise with another can make all the
difference to those sales. Having said that to keep your retail offer fresh I would
advocate major change every couple of months and more often if you can. By doing
this you will freshen up your retail space and improve the whole customer experience
without having to invest money in lots of new product lines.
Just a few things to remember though, keep your best sellers
in prime selling spaces; eye level is buy level and this includes the shelf
just below eye level. Recognise your hot-spot
selling spaces, those areas where customers naturally gravitate and linger (regardless
of product) and avoid putting products below knee height (apart from the big
stuff) as customers don’t like bending.
This is simple stuff and it will only cost you time but it will allow you respond to windows of opportunity, seasonal variations, current
trends and of course the weather, you’re not going to put out all your picnic
merchandise in your best selling hot-spot space if the forecast is rain for
the next three weeks, are you…
All the best
Peter
#visualcommunicator #retailconsultant
#designer
tel 07907 691711
email info@artysmith2.com
#aboutme – the story so far
Products featured from Temerity Jones, Archie Grand,
Parlane International, Chococo, Peachey Preserves, Korchmar, New Look
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