Tuesday, 27 October 2015

Ramping Up Customer Service Over the Holiday Season

This weekend we will don our costumes and stock up on candy to delight those trick-or-treaters, but as we do so, we will be inundated with seasonal decorations not of the terrifying variety, but more so the red and green kind (although admittedly this in itself is terrifying because of the number of shopping days left!). Retailers have been getting ready for the Christmas season for weeks, and that means new staff and stocking back rooms in an effort to match customer service levels with expectations.

Based on research done through the year, and by comparing annual sales, US retail consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas has predicted that holiday sales for 2015 will be healthy, and anticipate retail hirings will match or exceed the 755000 individuals hired for the 2014 season.

Many retailers have already started in an effort to ramp up customer service levels. American Girl, a division of Mattel, started in June, hiring almost 3000 seasonal workers for everything from floor staff to packaging. Kohl’s and Target plan to hire more than 69000 new employees to staff their stores across the U.S. Check out http://host.madison.com/business/holiday-hiring-gears-up/article_4e61e6a2-fe36-5b68-bd50-c1ae5b765ef5.html for a few other retailers who are also taking charge early.

According to a recent Nasdaq release, Macy’s will also be hiring 85000 workers, many for direct-to-consumer needs, for the upcoming holiday season. Walmart will also increase its staff numbers by hiring 60000 seasonal workers to help handle the crowds.

Regular staffing however is not the problem. According to the article, while soliciting seasonal floor staff isn’t necessarily an issue, “employment agencies for retailers and logistics companies say they are already having trouble finding warehouse workers to stock early holiday inventory and employees to train for work in fulfillment centers, where holiday orders will be packed and shipped.” This could spell problems when it comes down to the wire. Read more about this here: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/macys-to-hire-85000-workers-for-holidays-20150921-00559

If you’ve waited until now to start thinking about hiring additional staff to ramp up customer service, you may just find that the available workers are not what you’d hoped. You may also find timing is limited when it comes to the training time required to ensure these workers are in tip-top shape to handle the holiday madness. But what can you do? If you’re too late, you’re too late, right? Nope. You just need the right company that can offer people support in the form of professional, experienced, and trained employees - then all the work is done for you.

Storesupport is just the company. We can provide the individuals to help ensure your busy season is a little less stressful. Call us today to find out more: 905.847.6513.


Wednesday, 21 October 2015

Taking Control at Retail Over the Holiday Season

It is that time of year again. Time to get ready for the holiday season and all that it entails. When your brand is located at retail, this can mean many different things - most of which also mean more stress. 

That is why taking control at retail, especially over the busy holiday season, is so crucial. So, to help out, here are some tips to help you regain control and ensure sales are as high as possible!

One of the best ways to ensure your product will perform is to ensure that it is always on the shelf. You simply cannot rely on retailers to consistently ensure that your brand is getting out of the backroom and to the right location on the shelf. At the end of the day, if the customer has a bad customer experience it will directly impact your bottom line. Since you can’t be there to check yourself, the best way to guarantee your products will be on the shelf is by taking back control. This is particularly important for those products that enjoy larger sale numbers during the holidays.

Promotions are a great way to help boost sales - and to ensure customers are more aware of what you have to offer. Displays are a perfect way to highlight sales, as well as promote your product in store. Additionally, having a company set up/build that in-store display means you can worry about everything else on your plate.

Want to make sure those sales are being ticketed properly, that shelves are stocked, or that displays match your price points (after all, this is a major part of staying competitive)? A retail audit is a great way to do it. This is also a good way to ensure that a retailer’s employees are knowledgeable and able to provide the information your customers want.

Want to highlight certain products during the busy season? An experiential marketing campaign may just be the way to do it. Setting up in-store, having customers try your product, and then directing them to the shelf and providing a promo or coupon, can really help to boost sales. This is especially important when it comes to new offerings - and is a smart way to encourage loyalty right from the beginning.

With Black Friday and the holidays right around the corner, you need to start planning soon - and all of these are excellent ways to help ensure sales are as high as possible over the next few months.

Want to get a merchandising plan started to take advantage? Call Storesupport today at 905.847.6513.


Thursday, 15 October 2015

Big Retail Changes Blog Series: P&G Simplification

Last week marked the beginning of the 4th quarter of 2015, and to celebrate we talked about one of the changes that helped mark the first 3 quarters of the year - the Kraft Heinz merger and some of the impacts. This week we are following up with a discussion on another of 2015’s big retail changes - this time, the company in the spotlight is Proctor and Gamble.

Always strongly focused in the beauty sector, Proctor and Gamble made some big changes in 2015. One of the bigger ones was a beauty brand merger with Coty. This came after the company recognized that they had over-extended themselves. As a recent Cosmetics Design Europe article, “P&G to become a ‘simpler’ business with beauty refocus ‘essentially done’”, noted, the company has decided to get back to basics in a way, becoming much simpler, and thus letting go of some of the projects that were taking away from sales.


Like Kraft Heinz, for Proctor and Gamble, 2015 was a big year, and the company is hopeful that their simplification plans will prove successful.

Are you like these companies, planning to make a change in the coming months? Maybe in the New Year? There are several things to consider before doing so, one of the most important is how to keep operations running smoothly in store. Here are a few tips:

-       Ensure staffing is sufficient to handle whatever is thrown at them. Downsizing can be a major task, but keeping customers happy by ensuring enough staff members are on hand to keep shelves stocked and assisting customers is a perfect way to accomplish this.
-       Don’t want to hire new employees just to handle the transition? Consider working with a company for 3rd party people support - trained employees that you don’t have to hire, train or let go.
-       Retail merchandising and planogram resets are a great way to ensure set-up is done properly and to the benefit of both yourself as the retailer and your brand partners.

-       Brands - if your product is involved in a retailer’s changes, make sure that you are always aware of what is taking place on the ground with a retail audit.

Retail changes can be hectic, but let Storesupport take away some of the stress. We have an entire suite of services to handle your retail needs, efficiently and cost-effectively. Contact us today by calling 905.847.6513.