Retail Marketing
from page 27
PLAN IN-STORE EVENTS
& PROMOTIONS:
You have brick and mortar stores,
online retailers, catalogs, and more
out there coming at you from all sides,
all vying for the customers’ attention.
You need to be ready to hit the ground
running with one major, and one to two
minor events on your calendar, and then
follow through with the same amount
of events scheduled for every week of
the year. The ENTIRE year. Plan for
them, buy for them, and get your team
involved. Remember, in-store events
do not always automatically equate to
running a sale, although that’s a smart option. You can do makit & takits, demos,
seminars, trunk shows – your options are
endless. Visit our RetailAdventuresBlog.
com and put “Events and Promotions” in
the search box for lots of free event ideas.
HIRE AND TRAIN YOUR TEAM.
You can’t do everything by yourself;
you need a team of strong associates
backing you up.
Be specific about the kind of people you are looking for, and be upfront
about what is required to do the job.
You can teach about product, and how
to deliver exemplary customer service,
but you can’t teach nice, so start there.
Once you have new hires on board,
commit to a training schedule that lasts
all year long. You’ll also want to employ
our Buddy System and partner each
new hire with a seasoned associate who
can mentor them as they learn about
the store and the products you sell.
CREATE A NEVER OUT LIST.
Every retailer needs a “Never Out”
list of the things you need to have in
stock one hundred percent of the time.
During peak times of the year this list
takes on an even bigger significance.
Being out of one of these items can
literally make or break a sale. If you have
a POS system it will likely create this list
28 essentials | winter 2016
for you, but make sure to do frequent
physical counts to make sure your POS
list is correct.
SELL, SELL, SELL GIFT CARDS.
Gift cards are your secret weapon.
Notice we said gift cards. That’s because
a recent study found that retailers who
switch from paper gift certificates to
plastic gift cards increase gift card sales
from 35% to 50%.
There’s more: 55% of gift card recipients require more than one shopping
trip to the store to spend the balance of
their card – that’s good news for you. In
addition, 61% of gift card holders spend
more than the amount of their gift card,
and 75% of those people spend 60%
more than the value of their card – you
can’t lose.
Here’s the thing: A gift card or certificate that’s presented in a boring paper sleeve or envelope doesn’t look like
much, even if it’s for big bucks. You’ll
want to package your gift cards with a
look that’s unique to what you sell.
here’s a good place to start: “Returns
and exchanges gladly accepted within
_____days. Your receipt guarantees
it.” You’ll save more sales if you train
all your associates to politely offer an
exchange or a gift card before offering a
refund.
BE PREPARED FOR MARKDOWNS.
You need a markdown strategy for
every piece of merchandise that you
purchase. You will need to determine
which merchandise will be discounted,
how much it will be discounted, how it
will be signed and displayed on the sales
floor. Unless you are having a big sale,
display clearance merchandise near the
back of the store so shoppers have to
pass through displays of new product to
get to it.
You’re exhausted just reading this,
right? You wear a lot of hats! Being a
retailer means long hours and juggling
tasks. This year make it easy on yourself: if you haven’t already begun, start
planning NOW.
n
CREATE A WEEKLY BAG STUFFER.
Bag stuffers are easy-to-create ads
you make on your own computer.
You can use your most recent email
blast, vendor produced POP materials
stamped with your store’s information, or
create a bag stuffer you specifically design to bring customers back to shop with
you again. Now, if you merely stuff them
in bags you’re wasting paper and an opportunity. It makes more sense to hand
your bag stuffers to customers while
explaining what’s on them. Consider it a
one-on-one 30 second commercial.
Rich Kizer &
Georganne Bender
MAKE SURE YOUR RETURN
POLICY IS COMPETITIVE.
If every one of your competitors
accepts returns and exchanges but your
policies are a jungle of NO! NO! NOs!,
customers will go someplace else to
shop. If you don’t have a return policy
RICH KIZER & GEORGANNE BENDER are
professional speakers, retail strategists, authors
and consultants whose client list reads like a
“Who’s Who” in business. Companies internationally depend upon them for timely advice on
consumers and the changing retail market place.