Retailers Making Due with Less – What Does this Mean for The Customer Experience?

A report recently released by The Globe and Mail revealed that some retailers who are looking to boost productivity to combat increasing competition are scaling back their workforces. The article reports that over 45,000 retail jobs were eliminated between 2008 and 2011, with only a small hiring spree in 2012.

This is largely because of the online e-commerce boom. To save on head count and labour costs many retailers have turned to expanding their e-commerce portfolio which leads to increased margins and reduced overhead and infrastructure costs – a retailers dream!

So what do these major changes mean for the customer experience? Well, for the customer who still likes to visit bricks and mortar retail stores (like the grocery store for example), a decreased workforce may mean longer line ups, substandard retail merchandising and an overall reduced customer experience.

A reduced customer experience can bring negative consequences to both the retailer and the brands who have their products listed. A customer who has a bad customer experience with a brand because product is not tagged or not in-stock or easily accessible can cause the brand to lose the customer – perhaps even permanently if the customer tries another brand that they like better.  The same is true for a retailer whose store is cluttered, confusing to navigate, short staffed, and/or has long line ups. This in fact can cause some customers to shift their attention to e-commerce solutions and very likely not yours if the consumer has already had a negative customer experience.

With the growth of social media, customers now refuse to ignore a bad customer experience, and instead will take to their social networks to vent about their frustrations. Since consumers are highly influenced by the things they read on their social networks, the customer experience is now paramount, and making sure that the customer is happy when they leave the store, especially if you want them to return.

Retail intelligence is a smart way to combat these challenges. When your product is being sold at a retail location it is essential that you are aware of the customer experience – this is true whether you are a CPG brand or a retailer.

There are two main reasons that brands and retailers use retail intelligence. The first is to improve the customer experience at the point of sale. The second is to see what the competition is doing. Both of these things are crucial if you want to maintain control over your brand and improve customer experience while still staying on top of the competition.

Retail intelligence through planogram audits and mystery shopping allow you to improve your retail merchandising by making sure that products are being tagged, re-stocked, and located where they need to be. The only way to improve your customer experience is to be really aware of what is happening on the ground so that you can make small adjustments that lead to increased sales and customer retention!

One thing is for certain – retailers’ highest expense is the cost of labour. It can be tempting to cut back, but decisions like reducing your labour force must be thoroughly thought through. The retail industry is so competitive that attempting to make due with less can actually be counter-productive. Retailers who do not want to maintain a full blown workforce and prefer to bring in retail and merchandising support should consider aligning with a retail merchandising company that can provide retail support on an “as needed basis”. Brands: you have little control over the actions of your retailers but stand to lose the most. Many brands also turn to retail merchandising companies to take the power out of the hands of retailers and to have more control over their own retail merchandising.

For more information about improving the customer experience through retail intelligence, or to find out more about our other merchandising services, please visit www.storesupport.ca or call 905-847-6513.

Why You Should Never Leave Your Visual Merchandising Solely in the Hands Your Retailers

When consumers are shopping they are generally in a hurry and brands have to really go out of their way to catch the attention of consumers passing by. Visual merchandising is very important for this reason! Because visual merchandising covers everything from developing planograms to marketing campaigns that involve 3 dimensional displays, visual merchandising will often mean the difference between a new customer stopping to look at and possibly purchasing your product and them deciding to just keep on walking. Your visual merchandising should attract, engage and motivate the customer towards purchasing your product. 

If you want to make sure that your visual merchandising is effective it must be executed according to your plan which is why it is best not to leave your visual merchandising in the hands of your retailers.

When you have a marketing campaign planned that incorporates a visual merchandising display it is important that you validate that the displays are set up according to your directions and placed according to your plan.

All too often we see brands who send their visual merchandising displays and product to their retailers only to find out later when sales are not achieving expectations that the visual merchandising displays were not placed where they were supposed to be, or maybe it didn’t even make it out onto the sales floor! Even worse, there have been cases where, when a display ran out of product, instead of re-stocking it, the retailer threw another brand’s product in the display unit. This happens more often then you may think!  

If you don’t work with a visual merchandising company who is actively following up on these types of issues, you may be thinking right now that this isn’t happening with your product. Well think again.

You may be thinking that your retailers handle your in-store merchandising and your current sales are good so this couldn’t be happening. Well, if you think that sales are good, imagine what they could look like?

Leveraging retail intelligence and performing an audit on your retailers, you can identify deficiencies in your retail merchandising, including your visual merchandising, and come up with a plan to address them. Let’s face it, you need retailers to list your products and you have little control over what they do. You do however have control over what you do.

If this is something that you have been thinking of doing but were not sure the cost or how to go about it, consider interviewing some merchandising companies. Merchandising companies offer outsourced solutions that are generally affordable for even smaller brands. Merchandising companies can not only audit your retailers but can also help you come up with a plan to manage issues that are identified in the audit. Merchandising companies can also help you to implement your plan to ensure that it is a success.

For more information about visual merchandising or about our merchandising services please visit www.storesupport.ca or call 905-847-6513

Have Eyes on the Ground: How Retail Merchandising Companies Keep You in The Know

When your product is listed with retailers it is important to know what is happening at the point of purchase. Retail merchandising companies perform a myriad of services for brands at the retail level. Retail merchandising companies generally have national, experienced teams of retail professionals who routinely visit most retailers on behalf of their clients.  

One very important function performed by retail merchandising companies is retail intelligence. Retail intelligence notifies brands regarding what is occurring with their products and competition at the retail level. 

Retail intelligence is vital to different sized companies for different reasons. Newly listed brands need to ensure a flawless customer experience working towards driving good sales so that their product can stay listed. Retail intelligence may include a schedule to ensure planogram compliance and to make sure that product is in stock, properly tagged and out on the floor.

Where large brands are concerned the stakes are even higher, as is competition. You will need to be aware of what your competitors are doing; are they running a sale or promotion? Bigger brands must be agile and react to changes in pricing by competitors to maintain their positions in their markets.

Private label brands big and small are faced with the struggle of competing with store brands. This is another big reason why retail intelligence is so important. Retail employees have their priorities and one of them includes ensuring that the retailer’s products are always stocked and on the shelves, even sometimes before re-stocking your product. Retail intelligence can identify challenges within specific retailers to enable you to devise a plan to improve productivity.

Retail merchandising companies keep you in the know because they can essentially act as your boots on the ground. You can provide them with data points that you want collected from the retailers where your product is sold. They can report back retail intelligence to you and even take action on your behalf if something has gone awry.

The intelligence you can gather through a retail intelligence company provides you with the opportunity to improve customer experience by doing everything possible to make purchasing your product easy. Knowing what happens at the retail level will result in a consistent experience for your customer, and the reliability of always finding your product in stock and on the shelves will result in your customers making your product a staple on their grocery list.

At the end of the day you just can’t count on retailers to provide good retail merchandising all of the time. Retail employees are busy, especially during peak times (your best chance to sell). This is when things can get even more hectic often meaning product will appear out of stock when in fact it is in the back and just hasn’t been replenished. The reality is, to be in the know, you have to make yourself aware of what’s happening on the ground.

For more information about retail intelligence or if you would like information about our retail merchandising services please visit www.storesupport.ca or call 905-847-6513.

Don’t Let a Problem Crush Your Brand: The Importance of Smart Retail Management

If you sell a CPG brand at the retail level, you are no doubt aware that retail management and brand reputation management go hand-in-hand. Getting consumers to recognize your brand and building customer loyalty is critical if you want your brand to succeed. But sometimes unforeseen challenges can arise. Challenges that occur at the point of purchase should be your top priority. Your customer is your bread and butter and the ‘stakes are high’ if customers have poor experiences with your brand when they try to purchase it at their preferred retailer.

This day and age things run at a very fast pace. The customer experience at the retail level can immediately reflect on your brand’s reputation. Customers who become frustrated because a product is out of stock, or not properly tagged resulting in a hold up at the checkout counter can take to their mobile devices and post witty thoughts to their Twitter or Facebook page. Not only have you lost a customer but now they have negatively influenced those in their networks about your brand. This is why a key component of strong brand reputation management is smart retail management.

Smart retail management leads to increased sales and customer retention. Sales will be needed and, especially in the case of smaller brands, poor sales can lead to retailers de-listing your products.

To better understand how you can improve your retail management, let’s explore some of the top ways that a customer can have a negative in-store experience with a brand?

1.     Product is out of stock. Sometimes product is not on the shelf but is in the back. When retailers’ employees become busy, re-stocking your product can fall to the wayside. When a customer is in the grocery store and sees that a favourite product is out of stock, some may seek out the product at an alternate retailer, but most will simply try the same product by a different brand. This is dangerous because if the consumer likes the other brand’s product, you could see a shift in the customer’s loyalty to your brand. One way to stay ahead of the competition is to have a plan in place to ensure that you are on top of what is happening with product at the retail level.

2.     Product is moved. Unbeknownst to you and against your planogram your product is moved. Again, another frustrating experience for the customer. Will they look around to try to find your product or will they just buy the next available thing?

3.     Product is on the shelf but not priced. Would you buy something without knowing the cost? Not likely. When product isn’t priced it can make it difficult for a consumer to make the decision to purchase.

4.     Product is improperly labeled. Product that is improperly labeled can cause confusion for the consumer.

5.     UPC scanning issues at the point of sale. This is a big one. When the UPC code on your product doesn’t scan properly, this can cause your customers to get backed up at the checkout counter.

Smart retail management will include having retail merchandising contingencies and resources in place to make you aware of problems at the retail level and to enable you to address them quickly.

For more information about retail management or for information about our retail management solutions please visit www.storesuppport.ca or call 905-847-6513.