Easy way to display product and create interest in the walls.
Quote Of The Week
“Customers don’t always know what they want. The decline in coffee-drinking was due to the fact that most of the coffee people bought was stale and they weren’t enjoying it. Once they tasted ours and experienced what we call “the third place”.. a gathering place between home and work where they were treated with respect.. they found we were filling a need they didn’t know they had.”
Tipped Signs
Tipped signs are a great way to flag an issue with the signage, but when the pricing team goes home for the day and noon rolls around unsigned racks or those with tipped signs are not expectable. Once an add is set and signs are being fixed place a team member or two, supervisors are a good choice, to be in charge of signing. Make them responsible to checking with the signing team before they leave to see what needs to be fixed. All singing issues, including tipped signs, should be fixed within an hour of store opening.
Quote Of The Week
| “The conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work.” |
| -Agha Hasan Abedi |
Merchandising Ideas
Idea for creating a great visual display on the wall.
The New Consumer:
It’s not surprising that in a time of recovery from the worst financial crisis in half a century people are changing their spending habits. Business that cater to more luxury items and services are seeing people turn away from them and instead choosing more piratical things to spend their money on and that trend isn’t expected to change anytime soon. Even with the return of jobs.
“We seem to be at a cultural inflection point that we haven’t seen since World War II,” said Jim Taylor, vice chairman of market researcher the Harrison Group.”People are getting used to being careful, and I don’t know how you undo that,”
Some luxury companies are looking to September 11th as an indicator of the spending climate. Hoping that once the economy turns that the consumer will follow and so will their money. However others still doubt that this will happen. Even though there is hope for the economy many people are still worrying about job loss yet to come.
According to the Commerce Department more people are starting to save than before the crisis. The consumer is starting to shop for more products for more social, political, or environmental reasons. Even those who haven’t been impacted by the down turn are cubing their spending and not looking to flash their wealth.
What does this mean for many companies? They need to become conscious of what their customer wants. That could mean looking for products to become more green, even reducing the size of the logo and giving more bang for the buck. It’s time to reposition brands
5 Retail Trends of 2010
- With web-enabled cell phones sales on the rise ‘several companies are looking to capture the mobile commerce market by enabling consumers to shop online via their phone.
- Many retailers will be returning to niche speciality concepts until the market grows more.
- Prime retail space has never been more available since the recession wiped out many retailers. This has left room for growth into new markets for many overseas companies. Meanwhile other companies are upgrading to better locations that they couldn’t get before.
- Retailers will continue to look online for sales, but also use the info collected to make decisions on where to open new locations.
- Even more designers will be looking to create secondary lines at moderate prices.
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A Sign of Some Recovery?
With the unemployment rate at around 10% it is hard to believe that work is out there. However the
Labor Department is reporting that the retail sector by 321,700 jobs in November despite the weakest sales in 35 years according to some reports. That is a 37% increase over last year.
“Holiday hiring is definitely stronger than a year ago, but it remains clear that retailers are still reluctant to hire,” said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “Even if we see total holiday retail gains of 400,000 to 450,000 this year, it would be well short of the 714,000 seasonal jobs added on average between 1999 and 2007. Even in 2001, in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks, the retail sector added more than 585,000 extra workers in the final three months of the year.”
Still any improvement in hiring is better that nothing.
Color Trends for Summer/Spring 2010
Think vibrant for Summer/Spring 2010. The runways were full of color
Colors this summer are going to be warm, happy, and uplifting ranging in color from Tangerine Orange and Hibiscus Pink to True Blues.
Retailers shouldn’t limit there color pallet to just the clothing coming into the stores.
“Now more than ever, women are vigilant when it comes to spending,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “Instead of re-inventing their wardrobe at the start of each season, consumers want pieces to complement what they already own. Pairing a bold color with a basic piece or freshening up their look with bright accents addresses the need for practicality, as well as fun.”
Customers will be adding color by accessorizing with belts, bangles, and bags.
Getting Griding Right
Straight rows, this is possibly one of my biggest pet peeves. Than again I have a lot of them. When I walk into a store and see a row of racks that aren’t straight OCD kicks in and I have to walk away or fix them. Griding not only makes a pad more inviting, but it also makes it much easier for customers to navigate.
Griding is simple once it is constantly put into practice and done everyday. Start with one row and space the racks accordingly. Once they are aligned pick another row that runs perpendicular to the first row and straighten them to create a cross and work out from there. Getting a good base cross helps to give a reference point for the rest of the racks.
Double check the straightness by looking between the bars on the rack. Use the point where the bars cross and make sure they aline with the other centers in the rows. It is important that all of the racks look the same otherwise the sections will not lne up properly.
Through out the day, while walking the floor stop and do quick checks to straighten the rows.
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