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

Ipsos Survey Reveals That Store Brands Are Surpassing National Private Brands Through Improved Brand Positioning

It’s no secret that private brands and store brands continue to be in staunch competition at the retail level and that the customers’ experiences at the point of sale remain critical. 

New statistics released by an Ipsos Marketing survey that has been conducted annually over the past three years, revealed that private brands will need to step up their game if they want to avoid being overtaken by in-store brands. The Ipsos survey asked consumers to compare store brands to national brands in many different areas.  The survey revealed that: 

·         Since 2009, the majority of consumers perceived store brands to be equivalent and in many cases better than national brands.

·         From 2009 to 2010, store brands slipped in all areas including value, convenience and meeting the needs of the customer.

·         From 2010 to 2011, store brands gained ground in consumers’ minds with regard to quality, innovativeness, uniqueness and packaging. 

“It is really not that surprising that consumer perceptions toward store brand quality, innovativeness, uniqueness and packaging have improved. Retailers are investing more heavily into the development and merchandising of their store brands,” summarized Gill Aitchison, President, Ipsos Marketing, Global Shopper & Retail Research.

 

Customer loyalty and retention is what will make or break the success of any brand. One vital component of effective merchandising is ensuring the best customer experience. Filling gaps at the retail level to increase customer retention of those who are already loyal to your brand should be a top priority. The most common reasons a loyal customer will shift their loyalty from one brand to another brand are: price, quality of product and product accessibility.

“Our data indicates that store brands still pose a formidable threat to national brands – perhaps now more than ever,” Aitchison says.

Outside of offering a quality product and unique packaging, if national brands want to gain ground on the very competitive store brands they will have to ensure that when the customer is shopping, that their products are easy to find, in a consistent place, with prices tagged, in-stock and on the shelves.

In an extremely competitive retail environment, when a product is out of stock or has been moved, customers often don’t have the time or patience and will simply try the next, most comparable brand available. This is dangerous because if they like the new product, their loyalty could shift permanently. This why merchandising is key for private label brands, which includes ensuring that sufficient resources are in place to make sure that inaction on the part of the retailer is not resulting in a shift in customer loyalty because products are not accessible.

Many private brands do not have the same level of in-store merchandising support that the store brands do. This is why it is so important for private brands to invest in merchandising support services or risk being over taken by the less expensive and more competitive store brands.

This trend does not seem to be subsiding, so it is crucial that private label brands reinforce their point of differential in order to win over the shopper and influence their buying habits and regain the position as far as strongest sales.

Aitchison concluded by saying that “National brands must now battle store brands on all fronts – it’s not just a value game anymore. National brands must vehemently protect their image for providing higher-quality and more innovative products than store brands. With retailers focusing more on the product development and marketing of store brands, national brands are going to need to work even harder to differentiate their brands with breakthrough innovations, more standout packaging and true product superiority. Bringing in the voice of the consumer, digging for deeper consumer insights, and leveraging leading-edge marketing techniques will be instrumental to winning over the shopper at the critical moment of point of purchase in order to win the ongoing battle against store brands”.

If you would like information about cutting edge merchandising solutions that could drive your brand at retail ensuring the best customer experience please contact Storesupport at 1 (877) 421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca. To read the full press release, us this link http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5612 .