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Archive for the ‘Retail VM’ category

Key Issues with Startups,Small and Mid size Retailers

November 7th, 2010

Retailing in India is in the process of getting more organized and professional.Startups, Small and Mid size Retailers are faced with many issues as they attempt to be successful. The key issues include:

1-Customer Satisfaction:Retailers know that satisfied customers are loyal customers. Consequently, retailers must develop strategies intended to build relationships that result in customers returning to make more purchases.
2-Ability to Acquire the Right Products:A customer will only be satisfied if they can purchase the right products to satisfy their needs. Since a large percentage of retailers do not manufacture their own products, they must seek suppliers who will supply products demanded by customers. Thus, an important objective for retailers is to identify the products customers will demand and negotiate with suppliers to obtain these products.

3-Product Presentation:Once obtained products must be presented or merchandised to customers in a way that generates interest. Retail merchandising often requires hiring creative people who understand and can relate to the market.
4-Traffic Building:Like any marketer, retailers must use promotional methods to build customer interest. For retailers a key measure of interest is the number of people visiting a retail location or website. Building “traffic” is accomplished with a variety of promotional techniques such as advertising, including local newspapers or Internet, and specialized promotional activities, such as coupons.
5-Layout:For store-based retailers a store’s physical layout is an important component in creating a retail experience that will attract customers. The physical layout is more than just deciding in what part of the store to locate products. For many retailers designing the right shopping atmosphere (e.g., objects, light, and sound) can add to the appeal of a store. Layout is also important in the online world where site navigation and usability may be deciding factors in whether of a retail website is successful.
6 -Location: Where to physically locate a retail store may help or hinder store traffic. Well placed stores with high visibility and easy access, while possibly commanding higher land usage fees, may hold significantly more value than lower cost sites that yield less traffic. Understanding the trade-off between costs and benefits of locations is an important retail decision.
7- Keeping Pace With Technology:Technology has invaded all areas of retailing including customer knowledge (e.g., customer relationship management software), product movement (e.g., use of RFID tags for tracking), point-of-purchase (e.g., scanners, kiosks, self-serve checkout), web technologies (e.g., online shopping carts, purchase recommendations) and many more.

KISS – (Keep It Simple Stupid)…is a great principle for retail management to think and live by. For 10’s, 100’s or even 1000’s of stores to work successfully, decisions and processes must be executable in each and every store or they are worthless. Likewise if we don’t take account of every store as we make our buying and selling decisions we make the same mistake. Our prices, promotions and assortments may not work in one or many of the stores.

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Posted in Customer Relationship Management(CRM), Merchandise Management, Retail Buying Systems, Retail Category Management, Retail Consulting, Retail Customer Buying Behaviours, Retail Locations, Retail Market Strategy, Retail Operations, Retail Store Management, Retail Supply Chain Management, Retail VM, Start up Retailer

Tags: Customer footfall Customer Satisfaction department stores Entrepreneur footfalls franchisee Indian retail industry Key Issues Layout Location Managed Retail Services Merchandising and Planning Mid size Retailers Product Development and Sourcing Product Presentation retail chains retail IT retail locations retail technology small retailers Startups Traffic Building visual merchandising

Make store environment your salesperson?

October 25th, 2010

Retail sales are a function of making an emotional connection with the customer on a level that makes them want to take a piece of your store – your brand – home with them. Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company, or the Shop Around the Corner, your customers need to know and understand you.They want to engage with you and experience your brand through the shopping experience. What do your stores say about you? Do they engage the customer? Do they excite the customer? Do they assist the customer in finding what they’re looking for quickly and easily? In order to have effective store environment,display ,some suggested action list.

-Need to define your Brand, and design a store environment that becomes a Brand Experience;
-Need to space plan a store that is efficient, engaging, and easy to shop;
-Need to create Merchandising stories that encourages up-selling and interest in groups of products;
-Need to find and select display fixtures that validate the quality and value of the merchandise and assist in a graceful customer/salesperson interaction;
-Need to create a Signage and Graphics program that supports your brand, communicates offerings and policies, and assists the customer in the shopping process;
-Need to create Window Displays that are dramatic, powerful, and engaging;
-Need to design an efficient lighting program that makes product pop;
-Need to make Color and Materials selections that support your brand image, are durable and maintainable, and support the presentation of your products;
-Need to design a logo, mark, and tagline that are memorable, concise, and that reinforce the brand.

Whether you plan to design your stores yourself, or you just want to better understand how to evaluate the effectiveness of your shopping environment and experience, this workshop will give you the foundation you need to achieve the fundamental goal of any store design or visual merchandising effort – to increase sales.

Retail Visual Merchandising achieves the following:
• Educates the customers about the products and services offered creatively and effectively.
• Enables a successful selling process, from browsing to buying.
• Establishes a creative medium to present merchandise in a lifelike 3-D environment, thus creating a strong impact and recall value.
• Sets the context of the merchandise.
• Establishes the linkage between fashions, product design and marketing by keeping the focus on the product.
• Draws the attention of the customers and help them match their needs with the visually merchandised product.
VISUAL MERCHANDISING IN INDIA
As the concept of large retail stores gains ground in India, the practice and concept of VM is likely to grow exponentially. In the western countries VM receives highest priority in commercial planning of a product. As seasons change, the merchandise collections / planograms too change in a retail store. When such changes take place the store too undergoes a transformation in decor and visual presentation to appeal to the consumers while announcing new arrivals in merchandise collection. This phenomenon of transformation of visual presentations and displays of merchandise accompanied by relevant thematic props, is still very new in India. VM and Displays have a storyboard effect communicating innovatively to the customer besides being a ‘Silent salesman for a retail store’.