How Canadian Retailers Can Leverage Retail Merchandising to Stay Competitive Against Target

The U.S. has always been a tempting alternative for Canadian shoppers willing to head over the border to find the best deals. Big box stores located south of us have lured Canadian consumers for years, but with one major American retailer moving north, the question remains: How will Canadian retailers compete? As Target prepares to open more stores across Canada in the coming months, retailers and brands will need to step up their game if they want to stay competitive. 

Target has said that it will open 24 new stores by the end of April, many of them being former Zellers locations which have been completely renovated. A significant number of additional locations will open throughout the rest of 2013. 

So how can Canadian retailers compete against the American powerhouse? Excellent retail merchandising is a start and that can be leveraged to provide an excellent customer experience leading to increased customer retention. 

Those brands that are not listed at Target are in a precarious position, but there are measures that can be taken to keep sales up in other stores where you do have retail coverage. A key factor in vying for customer loyalty remains firmly rooted in customer experience. Consumers want to have a good experience when shopping, and things like finding a product, in stock, without issue is important. If product is not shelved properly or out of stock, customer loyalty can quickly shift. This is why retail merchandising is crucial. 

Retailer brands are also going to have to ramp up their service levels in order to compete with Target. If a customer feels unsatisfied because of defunct retail merchandising or as a result of long line ups or not being able to find product or have their questions answered in a timely fashion, their choice of retailer may change.   

Retail merchandising offered by an experienced merchandising company can tackle all of these problems. On the brand side, a merchandising company can provide services which ensure that your brand is receiving the attention necessary. Planogram compliance and mystery shopping confirm that your products are located correctly and accurately priced, which works to ensure that the customer experience is a good one.

On the retail side, a merchandising company well versed in retail merchandising can ensure that when you need support it is there, even on short notice. By providing ‘people support’, a merchandising company can outfit a team to help you manage staffing issues at peak times, both for on floor or stock room support.

It is anticipated that Target will become a significant force and will create significant competition to both brands and retailers alike. Don’t leave anything to chance – make sure that you leverage retail merchandising to boost brand performance and ensure strong customer retention.

For more information about how to leverage retail merchandising, or to find out more about any of the services we offer, please contact Storesupport by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

B and C Level Brands on the Cusp

If you are just making your way in the retail world, you are no doubt aware that there are many challenges that you will need to overcome. If you are a brand on the cusp of success, you know that you need all of the help you can get to ensure that your product gets to where you want it to be. 

You know that there are several goals you want to meet and a common challenge is being able to meet those goals even when sometimes dealing with a constrained budget. Your goals may include beefing up profits, becoming number 1 in your category, and achieving prime product placement.

Working with an experienced merchandising company can help you reach these goals, as well as ensuring that once there, you stay there.

How can this be done? There are a number of ways that you can breach that barrier and work your way up.

Experiential marketing: Experiential marketing refers to the strategies that engage the customer through sensory experience – product demonstrations or taste testing for example. These methods allow the customer to not only hear about the benefits of your brand but to experience them as well. A study done by the Event Marketing Institute found that experiential marketing can have dramatic impacts on your bottom line: on average, 58% of consumers said that they purchased a product or brand after an experiential marketing event that let them experience the product for themselves, while 86% revealed that they became a regular customer afterwards. Furthermore, 71% said that they felt a stronger connection with the brand after the campaign, resulting in further brand loyalty.

Merchandising: developing a well thought out merchandising strategy takes knowledge, and working with an experienced merchandising company lets you see the benefits of the various options available. Merchandising strategies may include various tactics such as experiential marketing and coupon distribution. These allow you to gain crucial brand recognition while ensuring that customers remain loyal. Merchandising strategies also work to implement effective product placement schemes, ensuring that your diagrams are as you want them and in the right location in-store.

People Support: When you are on the cusp of success, working with an experienced merchandising company can also provide you with the staff to ensure that your products are being demonstrated and placed properly in-store. They can also make sure that your product is being continually stocked and that retail employees are providing the correct information to consumers.

How can you ensure that your merchandising company will be able to achieve the best for you? There are a few things to look for. Make sure that they offer a suite of services such as those mentioned above. A merchandising company with national experience will have a wide range of practice and strategies that can help you reach your goals. Furthermore, for the best results, work with a company that specializes in one industry – the retail food industry for example – rather than one that tries to cater to all – that way your issues are never lost in the shuffle.

In order to break into and stay in the incredibly competitive retail food industry, keeping up with product distribution and retail merchandising is key. By working with a merchandising company that offers a wide array of services to meet your needs you can ensure that your brand is receiving the attention it requires at retail, achieving prime product placement and thereby increasing customer retention and loyalty.

For more information about merchandising services offered by an experienced merchandising company and how these services can help you break into the top rungs of the competitive retail food industry, please contact Storesupport at 877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.