Merchandising
March/April 2002
There are better
ways of catching your customers
No one in retail would ever argue that the aim of the
exercise is to sell products. But unlike the mousetrap, there are better
and better ways of catching your customers.
"The bottom line is about stimulating sales. So you
have to make your store an interesting experience, an attractive place
that your customers want to visit, not once but time and again."
That's the view of Bruce Simpson, managing director of
SPOS, which supplies merchandising, display and ticketing systems to
the trade, as well as being involved in sales promotional activities
and misting for fruit and vegetable displays.
Make Sure Your Displays
are Eye-Catching
"You've got about two seconds to stimulate a sale, so you need
to make sure your displays are eye-catching. You need good disciplined
shelf management systems with good dividers - they keep the product
in place, faced up and, more importantly, right in front of the face
of the people you hope will buy.
"And it works. We've found when this sort of system
is in place, it can stimulate sales by up to 35 per cent. Good systems
help keep the stock where it should be - in front of the customer -
and they also cut the workload for staff members who usually have a
lot of demands on their time."
In order to stimulate sales, it pays to be more aware
of merchandising and merchandising techniques, says Rod Pickworth of
Trion Industries. Trion supplies scanning and display hooks, merchandising
aids and data strip, which aids inventory control as well as keeping
stock neat and accessible for customers.
"Think through the definition of 'merchandising'
and it will help you focus on what needs doing. It's the planning involved
in marketing the right merchandise at the right place and time, in the
right quantities and at the right price."
Mr Pickworth admits it is easy to say and not so easy
to do, especially when you're involved in an operation which by its
very nature has many things happening at once.
"That's why a lot of merchandising is left to the
respective manufacturers and of course they're all vying for the key
positions and you're left with a jumble that everyone is tripping over.
Work Out the Best Place to Put Things
"But it's your store and it's supposed to work for you and your
customers, so try to find time to look at the lay-out and work out the
best places to put things so you're utilising the whole store. Then
you have a chance of selling every product well and not just someone
else's chosen few," Mr Pickworth says.
"As the competition increases, stores need to operate
more efficiently and look more professional," says Robert Mills,
managing director of Mills Display, which manufactures and supplies
display and point of sale products.
"Customers are much more demanding, not just in terms
of service, but about product range and presentation and information
about those products. Products need to be labelled with what they are
and how much they are, whereas if you went back a few years, donuts
would just sit on the counter without any labelling on the basis that
a donut is a donut is donut. Not any more."
Careful planning is the key, and even more so these days when the range
of products available can be quite overwhelming, says Ray Lodder, managing
director of Display & Design International. His company designs,
manufactures and imports a range of display products.
Use Your Shelf Space Wisely
"Because there is so much variety, the operator really has to think
carefully about how they use their shelf space because they don't have
unlimited shelves. Every inch of shelf space has to work for you so
it is vital to think it through.
"Keep your eyes on what's happening and be open to
our products and things like it that allow you to have more variety
while keeping your job as simple as possible. There are new developments
all the time that will actually help make your job easier," Mr
Lodder says.
Make Use of the Products that Make
a Difference
So what are some of the products that can make a difference?
Display & Design claims its Visibility Slide has revolutionised
the drink fridge. It's a gravity-feed slide that fits into the fridge
and makes it easy to fill the fridge with product and keep it neat.
"The previous product was specifically moulded for
specific size bottles whereas the new version - which we call Visi-Floor
- has all the attributes of Visi-Slide but it has adjustable side walls,
so it is more flexible," says Ray Lodder.
"It's also self-lubricating which helps push the
product to the front so it's instantly accessible to the customer. And
this is not just for the fridge - it can be used on any shelving, so
it offers you the chance of taking your shelving a little higher, so
you have more shelf space with more product close at hand. People can
reach something up a little higher if it is at the front of the shelf."
Shopping baskets may not seem a new idea - but they can
be quite unusual in a C-store. Robert Mills says they're an item that
should be born again.
"It is another of those add-on expenses and we do
get some resistance when we suggest them. However they do pay for themselves
if they're offered. Someone might come in for just the couple of things
they can carry to the counter, but if they grab a basket they end up
buying more because it's easy to carry.
"People say to me 'I don't want to spend $100 buying
a pile of shopping baskets', but they do and they find they get it back
10 times over and probably within the first few weeks. And if you don't
buy them, you can be sure the guy next door does and the business will
disappear in his direction - because it's more convenient for the customers,"
Mr Mills says.
Another born-again idea that's worth considering, according
to SPOS' Bruce Simpson, are aisle signs similar to what you see in supermarkets,
especially if you own/run a bigger store.
"It helps consumers locate products much more easily,
and may also work as a stimulus to impulse buys - they may not have
come in to get that item but seeing a sign may remind them to grab it."
He also says bulk binning systems are making a comeback
in the US and are worth a second look as a way of displaying small products.
The product he has on offer is made of polycarbonate and can be easily
washed in the dishwasher.
"These new, more sanitary ones are easy to clean
and offer a stock rotation system. The bins are flexible and, compared
to normal shelving, offer an attractive way to present products,"
Mr Simpson says.
Be Open To New Ideas
Mills Display's Robert Mills says it's really important to be open to
these new ideas and not just think that because something has worked
so far, it continues to be the best solution.
"With point of sale material, in the past you would
have used sticky tape and Blu-Tack but these days there are a whole
range of new products to use instead. Or, where you'd use fishing line
and string to hang things off the ceiling, now there's a whole lot of
sophisticated poster hanging systems that make hanging things quicker,
easier and safer and look better too.
"It's the same with signs. Handwritten signs are
a thing of the past. Use electronic signage or something created via
computer graphics. It just looks that much better."
But it's not just about buying and installing new ideas
and products; it's about using them wisely. Our experts suggest you
take note of product advertising campaigns and use your fittings and
point of sale material to make a feature of those products.
When the campaign ends, move them back to their usual
position and highlight something else, so that the advertising dollars
your supplier is spending is working in your favour. But moving products
around is not something that is just done at whim or to suit a particular
advertising campaign, says Trion's Rod Pickworth.
"Think about the right place for your products. Move
things around. Re-think your placement of items. If customers know exactly
where things are, they walk straight to them - it's a sort of tunnel
vision so they only grab those things rather than perhaps some more
impulse purchases on the way.
"Think about how you'll highlight new products. If
you've got an ATM in-store, it is a service to your customers and maybe
you think it should be at the front so they'll see it immediately. However,
if it's possible, situate it at the back of the store - with an indication
it's there - so your customers have to move through the store to get
to it, and as they do, they're passing products they may decide to buy.
"There's a reason supermarkets and the like set up
staples like bread and milk at the back of the store, rather than the
check-out. You want to make people shop the shop. The check-out is where
everyone wants to be in a c-store but it's not necessarily the best
position," Mr Pickworth says.
When it comes to making any changes in your store, the
obvious limiting factor is cost and anything to do with merchandising
is limited by the same considerations. Our experts suggest, however,
that like any purchase, there are wise buys - and the others.
"Whatever you do today has to last," says Mr
Mills. "You can spend a lot of time and money setting up a new
store in terms of presentation and fixturing, but you have to be able
to maintain it to that standard.
"It's no point spending money on something that can't
be maintained, something that's custom-made for a certain situation,
and may not have the flexibility later on if the store lay-out changes.
You don't want to spend money on stuff that might look terrific today
but because it lacks flexibility of purpose, is obsolete too soon down
the track and you have to start all over again."
"It's getting harder for the independent operators
to compete with the big chains, and more expensive, but it's worth looking
at what they're doing and working out ways of doing something similar
but on a smaller scale," says Bruce Simpson.
"The whole shop-in-shop concept with a café
offering, or a bakery, or a video library or whatever, is worth investigating.
It's a matter of maximising the space of your site with what you can
afford.
"Combining what are effectively a number of small
businesses can improve business for everyone involved, but you have
to think carefully about your location and your demographic and whether
those affect you and what you should be doing and stocking," Mr
Simpson says.
"No-one ever said running a c-store is easy,"
says Display & Design's Ray Lodder.
"There are so many operations out there that are
essentially a one-man band so there are huge demands on their time.
But the bottom line of running a business is selling products and lots
of them, so you have to invest in display units that work well, that
are well stocked with fresh product and that look good. Anything that
makes that job easier is well worth the investment."
"Operators have to move in this direction and manage
the changes that do need to be made," says Robert Mills. "Because
if you're not doing it and the guy next door is, then you'll lose business
to him."
Bruce Simpson of SPOS has some final advice that makes
sense whenever you're thinking about how you can work more efficiently
and profitably.
"Take a step back and look at your business and work
out what you'd want if you were a customer. It's easy to get too close,
to be too busy doing it to actually work out ways of doing it better."