Insights, Ideas, Results
The goal of merchandising should be to attract the interest of customers. Its whole purpose is to make your store stand out and, honestly, look beautiful. It’s about creating a welcoming characterful environment. It’s gotta be somewhere that customers find appealing, and at the same time, they have to be able to find what they want.
Doing it right is tough indeed. So here are some pro tips that will get the products flying off the shelves.
Whether as an aspiring entrepreneur or a long time small business owner, there are always going to be worries on your mind about how your company is performing, and of course, there are always going to be risks of building up your own successful business venture. One thing that is often overlooked, but can be a threat to your business is theft from within. Commonly known as shrinkage in the retail business employee theft and shoplifting is a big problem for small business owners.
The front view of the building says a lot about the person or business inside the building. The landscape in the front and around the building can create a lasting impression in the minds of the customers coming to your premises. That is why business is booming for commercial landscapers such as UK landscapers. More and more businesses are seeing the benefits of investing in landscaping in order to improve the look of their premises. The enhancements aren’t simply on the surface, there are several practical benefits that business owners should consider as they look into investing in the landscape.
It has been a few years since you opened your storefront. You’ve managed to carve your place within the community and create a healthy customer base. However, the aesthetics of the store is beginning to look a little stale and dated. You want to remodel, but you think that you can’t afford it, so you become comfortable with your store’s appearance and do nothing. If this sounds like you, then you are not alone – many small business owners fall into a comfortable rut after a few years of operation and fail to update the look and feel of their store.
When it comes to online stores, Amazon and eBay get all the attention and kudos. However, it is the smaller eCommerce retail merchants who are having great success in selling niche items. The rise of eCommerce website builder software has enabled merchants to quickly set up an online store and provide all the back office functionality generally available to their large competitors mentioned above. I have been testing one such eCommerce website builder, known as WixStores, and from what I have experienced I am very impressed. WixStores, the DIY eCommerce website builder, is an extension of Wix.com, which is a free website builder.
It is every small business owner’s dream to be like Amazon. Here is a web titan that started with just selling books online and has grown into online juggernaut that is giving nightmares to Wal-Mart. Being a small business online, it’s tempting to want to take on Amazon. But that’s like a gnat pitting itself against a god. Your best bet is to find your tiny corner of the web and dominate it on your own terms. While this helps you fight Amazon with your own niche, you will still face thousand other websites jostling for the top spot on Google rankings. So how can you make your website stand out from the crowd?
Bergdorf Goodman has been a staple of New York shopping since well before it moved to its 5th Ave. location in 1928, but it was only about 14 years ago that, under the direction of design geniuses Linda Fargo and David Hoey, Bergdorf’s became a marketer’s mecca, as well.
Every season, the monumental department store dramatically reveals intricately planned window displays that impress and entice shoppers walking along 5th Avenue. The displays are loud and exciting, depicting fanciful scenes of paper cities and brass zoos constructed delicately by a team of devoted artists. The windows are often chaotic and seem scarcely related to Bergdorf’s main product of high fashion clothing — yet the displays manage to move more merchandise than most shops dream of selling in 10 years.
Inventory management and distribution is a complex process that requires a thorough understanding of the buying motives of local customers and a way to understand seasonal trends. Without this thorough understanding of how inventory moves, you may not be able to adequately stock stores with the items your consumers want. Conversely, you may also be stocking items that your customers don’t want to buy at the moment or in as great of a volume as you have stocked.
Creating an effective Point of Sale display is one of the most crucial areas of marketing for your retail business. Building a successful POS display in your shop calls for good timing, thoughtful positioning, the right design, and most importantly, the right message.
So in a nutshell, if you consider the seasonal calendar, your store layout vs. footfall, the look and feel of your Point of Sale design, and your marketing copy, you have a good formula for effective, attention-grabbing POS displays that convert into sales. But if you’re a small business with a modest marketing budget, how do you know which types of POS material to invest in?
Although the world of fashion is known for its glitz and glamor, it is also a place of compassion and understanding. The fashion industry has many charity minded individuals, and below are some of the standouts:
