How Canadian Merchandising Companies Can Solve Your Customer Experience Woes

Customer experience is a complex entity, summed up by the total interaction a client has with your brand. This can include any form of marketing (print/media advertising) and customer service in-store and online. A focus on customer experience needs to play a major role in any company’s (both retailers and brands) plan for success.

Don’t just take our word for it. A recent Business Insider article looked at one of the most profitable companies worldwide, examining why it continues to make a profit year in and year out. The conclusion: a long term focus on customer experience has led to a strong brand reputation and exceptional customer loyalty, and this has equaled major annual profits.

The articles states: “building the desired customer experience requires tools such as (but not limited to) research, operations, brand management, marketing and employee engagement.” You cannot exchange one for the other – you need to maintain a high level with each aspect of the equation.

How can merchandising companies help you raise the bar for customer experience? In various ways. 

Brands: Think about brand management. What approach do you take to ensuring your brand is perceived well? If you are too focused on short term, the long term will suffer. And how can you determine what this perception is? Merchandising companies can help you best understand the customer experience through tools such as mystery shopping (to better gauge the level of a retailer’s employee engagement and knowledge) or quality assurance audits.

Retailers: Employees play a big part in this production. When a customer enters your store, they should feel as though their business is appreciated. We are not suggesting you speak to each person individually, but if a customer has questions about a product or can’t find a product, your employees should be there to offer assistance. In peak seasons, the level of customer experience can be impacted negatively by this, and so merchandising companies can help you maintain high levels of customer satisfaction by providing highly-trained, experienced people support to fill in the gaps.

When you look towards the future of your company, it should be with a long term lens – and the best way to achieve the goals you establish in the process is with an ironclad customer experience policy and by taking advantage of the services of a well-reputed and experienced merchandising company.

For more information about how merchandising companies can assist you with a powerful, long term customer experience plan, please contact Storesupport today by calling 1-877-421-5081.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-amazon-is-one-of-the-most-successful-companies-in-the-world-2012-12

People Support During Busy Back-to-School Season: Merchandising Companies Have You Covered

Retailers get ready! September is almost upon us and with it comes the back-to-school shopping blitz. Children heading back to the classroom all need the newest duds and gadgets – so make sure that they are coming to you for them – and leaving your store satisfied.

During the back-to-school craze, retail merchandising is crucial, and you need to be ready. Having sales clearly marked and shelves stocked is important – but these are not the only things that will make this shopping season profitable.

One of the hardest things for retailers with regard to back-to-school shopping is the crowds. As soon as the calendar hits August, most parents get their lists together and head out to prep for September. This requires a delicate balance for retailers. You need to make sure that you have enough people on the floor to cover this extra volume, both in departments to offer assistance, at the cash registers to prevent long line-ups, and in the stock room making sure that shelves and racks do not go empty, leading to lost sales. That being said, you don’t want to have to go through the process of hiring a new group of temporary employees just to cover this one month. And even though you may not be planning on retaining these employees after back-to-school shopping is over, they still need to be trained - and training costs time and money.

A retail merchandising company that offers people support is the best way to handle this demand. Instead of having to go through the entire hiring and training process, a merchandising company can provide you with experienced, professional, well-trained individuals to fill any positions necessary: cashiers, sales associates, floor staff, or employees to stock. This takes care of all of the hiring costs and training resources that you would need to spend to do it on your own. Additionally, since these employees are contracted on a temporary basis, once their assistance and support is no longer needed you don’t have to go through the messy and costly process of letting them go.

Don’t wait until the week before to devise a plan for back-to-school shopping – after all most stores have had ads promoting sales out for weeks already – and it is only July! Get going on your back-to-school shopping retail plan now to ensure that it is implemented correctly thus achieving the biggest returns. Don’t get lost in the shuffle; make sure that you have enough people – and the right people – there to support you.

For more information about a retail merchandising plan which includes people support for back-to-school shopping please contact Storesupport by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visit us online at www.storesupport.ca

Ernst and Young Back-to-School Shopping Study – Retailers Get Ready

According to an Ernst and Young study of last year’s back-to-school shopping season, Canadians were heading out far earlier to start their shopping, following the lead of our neighbours to the south. If this year is anything like last year, most shoppers will not be waiting until the week before to get those school supplies. The annual back-to-school shopping season can mean big ROI for retailers, and Canadian merchandising companies can make all the difference.

Here are our top 3 reasons why retailers need to make sure their back-to-school retail plan is ironclad, and how merchandising companies can help.

1.      Back-to-school shopping is highly lucrative. The back-to-school shopping season offer retailers the biggest sales aside from holiday shopping in December. Need some numbers? Statistics Canada reported $123.6 million was spent on school supplies in 2012, and the overall average education expenditure for all households in Canada was $1151. No matter what is being sold, recognizing that the opportunity is there is crucial. Knowing this, a smart plan is to rely on a merchandising company to ensure that your retail merchandising plan is effective.

 

2.      Kids are shopping too and you need to market to them. Parents often shop with their kids for those items to take back to the classroom, so you need to be sure to cater to their wants – they heavily influence the purchases made by their parents. A great way to do this is through an experiential marketing campaign. Kids love to try new things – and what better way to get them interested in a product than by trying it. For example, with parents out there filling their cart with back-to-school lunch items, kids can work for you. Get a merchandising company to develop an experiential marketing campaign with this in mind (lunch snacks for example) and the marketing is easy.

 

3.      Discount stores are getting a big share of the profits. Keeping in mind the amount of money most families spend on back-to-school shopping, many parents are opting for the sales that discount stores offer, so you have to be able to compete. Sales and promotions play a big role (and merchandising companies can help with this), but so too does customer service. Many consumers will remain loyal if a company offers excellent service. Merchandising companies can provide the necessary people support at this busy time to ensure that your customer service levels remain high.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take advantage of back-to-school shopping. Let Canadian merchandising companies assist in your retail merchandising planning. And don’t wait until the last minute – if this year is anything like last year, those sales will start rolling in very soon.

For more information about how merchandising companies can help you implement a smart merchandising plan for back-to-school shopping please contact Storesupport at 1-877-421-5081.

Is Canadian Grocery Chain’s Moderate Growth a Result of a Declining Customer Experience?

Canada’s largest grocer recently released its fourth quarter numbers for 2012. The company reported a profit drop of 17.8 percent over this period, and stated that they are considering consolidating some of the company’s many well-known banners. So what accounts for this significant drop in profit? Is a declining customer experience to blame? And if this is the case, what can other retailers learn from it? 

In the consumer packaged goods arena, the customer experience plays a crucial role in acquiring and retaining the consumer, and if retailers do not take the customer experience seriously this will have a considerable impact to both the retail brand’s bottom line as well as the brands who list their products there.

Many of this company’s banners are known for their appealing store layout – but when it comes down to it, that may draw consumers in but does it keep them coming back? Not necessarily. Once the customer is in the retail environment continuing a positive customer experience is critical. Long line ups, poor customer service, lack of staffing and substandard retail merchandising can all lead customers away from your store, regardless of how great the store looks aesthetically or how it is laid out.  If product is not in stock, or not located in the appropriate place, customers will quickly realize that an appealing store layout accounts for little when it comes to their needs.

Employees play a major role in overall customer experience. Being knowledgeable about the products, their location in-store, and their ability to provide assistance when necessary all lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction. But what about those employees who see their jobs as little more than a stepping stone? Or what impact does protective unionization have on the level of service provided? If the incentive to perform is not there and the retailer is not creating an air of accountability the results can be damaging. These things all need to be managed correctly to ensure that the customer experience is not declining.

We recently had a customer tell us that they attended a store on a Sunday (a prime shopping day) and that there were significant line ups, only four check-outs open, and when they approached a manager to complain they were told “what do you want me to do, our employees are union”? That is not good customer service and it is not a good reflection of the brand. The individual who reported this to us will never return and so not only is the retail brand impacted but also the CPG brands who list their products there.

CPG brands looking to improve or build on their existing customer service levels need to recognize the importance of retail merchandising. When your product is listed at a retailer you still do have some control. Having a plan in place to tackle things and put your own feet on the ground. Retail merchandising companies proficient in these types of issues can help – establishing a plan for effective merchandising that will get real results. They can also have their merchandisers go into retailers on your behalf to ensure that everything is working the way that it should be and alert you to challenges at the retail level that need to be addressed.

The Canadian grocery chain has listed several different tactics that may be used in the coming months in an attempt to regain their profit lead, but if declining customer experience has played a part in the declining profits, improving it will be essential. The same rings true for any retailer, and in order to keep sales up, the customer needs to feel satisfied with their overall experience.

 

For more information about how merchandising services can improve customer experience, please contact Storesupport by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.  

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.

The Days of Clips Boards Are Over! How Technology is Improving Brand Management

Staying Informed about your brand at retail is integral if you want to succeed. Effective brand management means keeping on top of product placement, restocking, and product movement. If you find yourself struggling to maintain control over your product, this can be a big problem – so how can you solve it? By leveraging merchandising technology and working with a merchandising company that employs this in their suite of merchandising services is key. 

According to a recent study done by The Parker Avery Institute, only 57% of retailers have a well-formed merchandising strategy, and these are the ones who experience 3% or better sales growth from year to year. Those that don’t have a well-defined brand management/merchandising strategy don’t see these results. Clearly there is something to be said for planning ahead.

What are the benefits that exist when you leverage merchandising technology as part of your brand management strategy?

1.       Speed. What if you sent out a planogram but are unsure whether or not it was executed properly? What if you see that your product is not moving well compared to last month? Knowing the answers to these issues – in real time - is crucial for effective brand management. Merchandising companies that leverage merchandising technology can send out a rep and send you information, before and after pictures, and stock updates right from a mobile device.

2.       Accuracy. Using merchandising technology that uses a store’s ‘store data’ system to report on your brand means that no manual inputs are necessary – ensuring accuracy. The days of clip-boards are over, so relying on them instead of merchandising technology will put you at the bottom of the retail hierarchy!

3.       Competitiveness. Being aware of how the competition is performing is also a crucial part of effective brand management. Merchandising companies use merchandising technology to do this by comparing pricing (which again can be sent to you immediately), checking display execution, and gauging customer satisfaction. Get a leg up on the competition through effective brand management and merchandising technology.

4.       On Demand Access. By syncing store data to a web portal, you can have on demand access to reports and data mined by merchandising companies. Relying on updates from the store (if they will even provide them) can be costly and time consuming, so taking advantage of the services offered by merchandising companies that leverage merchandising technology for on demand access is a really smart idea.

Most of the big brand names leverage merchandising technology to ensure that they maintain control over their own brands. This doesn’t mean though that this kind of brand management has to be expensive. It is actually a smart way to achieve cost savings that allow you to stay in control and always be aware of what is taking place with your brand.

If you are having trouble controlling your product in-store, or if you just want to ramp up that marketing campaign, a merchandising company that leverages merchandising technology as a part of their merchandising services is the way to go. An effective brand management strategy should include technology which will ultimately make your life a lot easier.

For more information about leveraging merchandising technology for effective brand management, or any other merchandising services you may need, please contact Storesupport at 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

What to Look for in Merchandising Companies

Making your way in the retail world can be tough – but doing it properly can mean the difference between whether you sink or swim. Making sure that your customers are getting the best retail experience possible is crucial. The role of merchandising companies is to combat this and increase your brand recognition and brand loyalty. But what should you be looking for in merchandising companies to ensure that you are working with the right one? 

There are several criteria that you should look for when seeking out merchandising companies and enlisting their services. Make sure that they provide: 

National coverage - Working with merchandising companies who offer national coverage is very important and for different reasons. Typically merchandising companies who offer national coverage have experience working with national brands which bodes to a merchandising company’s credibility. Also, if you sell a brand nation-wide it is important to look for merchandising companies that can accommodate you nationally because this will greatly reduce cost and confusion, providing you with a single point of contact. Another reason seeking out merchandising companies that offer national coverage is important is because they are there to support your growth.

A skilled team – Merchandising companies that offer a highly skilled team is important. Whether the service you need is merchandising, distribution support or an experiential marketing campaign, a major benefit to working with good merchandising companies is that their staff have a high level of expertise in the retail industry so there needn't be a substantial learning curve. Working with an experienced and skilled team means that your projects will run smoothly and more efficiently.

A wide range of services – This is huge because working with merchandising companies who offer a wide range of services will mean that you don’t have to look far for help when a project comes up. This often keeps costs down and makes it easier to implement your projects. Merchandising companies who offer a wide range of services should offer services that include: merchandising services, experiential marketing, retail intelligence, staff support and emergency response services.

So how can you evaluate merchandising companies to choose the right one?

1.       First, look at the company’s case studies. What types of brands do they work with? What types of projects have they worked on that have had successful outcomes?

2.       Check references. Ask for references and call them. When contacting references, inquire about bumps that may have occurred on a project and how the merchandising company overcame challenges.

3.       Check their social presences. Look them up on LinkedIn and see how active they are in social media. This will give you insight into the culture at the merchandising company and reviewing the content they release will attest to the depth of their expertise.

There are many different merchandising companies available out there that may promise you quick results. However, the right one needs to employ an effective strategy that involves a multi-pronged approach to retail merchandising. The criteria listed here are crucial if you want your brand to be successful at retail.

For more information about merchandising companies, what they can offer, and how to choose the best, please contact Storesupport at 877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

Retailers Give Preference to In-store Brands Through Retail Merchandising

Private labels have been immersed in a battle to compete with store brands in the consumer packaged goods space for many different reasons. This represents a huge challenge to B and C level brands. 

Store brands are more competitive than ever, offering lower prices on the backs of the brands that they compete with. In addition to lower pricing, better packaging, marketing campaigns and preferential retail merchandising has made is more difficult and more expensive than ever before to compete.

National brands with deep pockets are definitely better positioned to compete. Smaller B and C brands are in a vulnerable position and in a virtual war zone because they not only find themselves having to compete with the store brands but also with the national brands.

This is a real catch 22 because in order to sell product, private brands must maintain strong relationships with the very stores that have brands that they are competing with, and in some cases, even white label their products to. Without the retailers, brands don’t have a place to sell their products. Without strong sales, brands face having their products de-prioritized and even de-listed.

If you represent a brand, you know that you pay big bucks to have your products listed with retailers. Retailers who sell their own brands give preference to the retail merchandising of their brands which means that private brands must make a more assertive effort to control their retail merchandising at the retail level.

When a retailer gives preferential retail merchandising to their brands, what does this mean for you?

It means that they see better product placement and more effort is made to see that that product is properly priced, in stock and on the shelves.

The only way B and C brands can compete in this environment is to make more of an investment in the customer’s experience through increasing their investment in retailmerchandising at the point of purchase to ensure customer retention and customer loyalty.

So how can you do this? By knowing where you stand at the retail level at all times and having eyes on the ground at the retailers. When customers are in-store the three most common reasons that they shift brand loyalty are when products are moved, when products are not properly priced and when products are not on the shelves.

If you represent a smaller private brand you can work with retail merchandising companies to come up with a plan to ensure that your product is where you expect it to be, is not in stock but not on the shelf, is not out of stock or is not improperly priced. This could include scheduled visits by the retail merchandising company to ensure that your in-store presence is in order. Retail merchandising companies can be provided with your product so if it is out of stock, they can place more product in-store. If product is sold out on the shelf, they can go into the stockroom and place more product on the shelf. If your product has been moved, you will be made aware of it and they can even correct incorrect pricing.

These small changes can make an incredible difference in your sales. When customers visit the retailer, your product will consistently be available to them. When other brands see their products sell out now you are in a position to shift the customers’ loyalty to you because you not only offer great product but your brand is reliable.

For more information about how you can compete with store brands or for more information about our retail merchandising solutions please contact Storesupport at 1(877) 421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

Merchandising Companies are the Resource for Staffing Up Over the Holidays

As a retailer, you are no doubt aware of the strains created by the holiday season. The surplus traffic that is inevitable can be daunting, and often the only solution is to increase your staff on a temporary basis to meet the needs of customers. But what impact does this have on your customer service standards, retail merchandising and your bottom line? Does hiring new staff for the holiday season actually create higher customer satisfaction, and does it mean a better productivity rate?

In order to keep customer satisfaction and customer loyalty up during the holidays, maintaining a sufficient staff is necessary – but there are 2 ways to go about doing this. Both need to be carefully considered in order to determine which option best meets your needs as far as customer service and retail merchandising are concerned.

The seemingly effective go-to option of hiring seasonal staff is one of your choices. But what are the actual costs and benefits of this? More than likely the negatives far outweigh the positives.

Recruitment costs – since the first step to hiring a seasonal employee is recruitment, make sure you factor in all of the costs for recruitment. How would you advertise the position? How many applicants will you interview, and who will do the interviewing? How much time will be spent on background and reference checks? These things all take time and money – things that could be spent more productively elsewhere.

Training – so every employee needs to be trained. How much time is spent – both by the new hire and the employee doing the training – doing this? And how long does it take. Furthermore, according to a study done by Investopedia, if you are hiring just for the holiday season, chances are that employee will only ever reach about 25% of their potential before the season is over. It isn’t until around the 5^th week that an employee reaches even 50%, and it takes on average 13 weeks to reach even a 75% productivity rate. Knowing this, it is undeniable that training often costs more than the benefits of having the employee there.

High turnover/reliability – how can you ensure that that employee you have hired to work for only a few weeks in interested in doing the best job for you? Often you cannot. More often than not, as a seasonal employee, your new staff member is more interested in quick cash than long-term career goals. Relying on this may leave you in a lurch or lead to decreased morale or a high turnover rate (which could then result in further recruitment and training costs…).

So what other options are there for staffing up over the holidays while still maintaining a high degree of customer service and retail merchandising standards during this busy time? Relying on a third party partner that specializes in retail and provides staffing resources to meet your needs is often a much better choice. The right partner will be able to provide highly trained, experienced retail staff even on short notice. Since these staff members are employees of the third party partner, they have already been checked, hired, and trained, which means you can avoid the hassle. Since they are permanently employed by the third party partner, you know that they are experienced at retail, reliable and will work with your existing staff.  Partnering with this type of organization will also remove the burden of training, turnover and scheduling so that you can focus on what’s most important, your customers.

Hiring staff for the holidays doesn’t have to be a headache – working with a third party retail partner that can provide you with the resources required will allow you to overcome the stress while maintaining a strong bottom line.

For more information about how to best staff up for the holiday season and how to keep customer service and retail merchandising in check, please contact Storesupport at 877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca. We are your third party retail resource for this holiday season. 

Merchandising Companies Ensure That Brands Keep at the Same Pace as Their Customers

There are many challenges to be faced by brands who locate their products at retail. Good customer service, product location in-store, and employee compliance are just a few of the things that merchandising companies deal with in order to help you secure your place at the top.

The role of merchandising companies is to show you how to be the most effective in selling your product. 

When you are trying to keep up with the changing retail market, it can be difficult to know which strategy is best to adopt. Knowing which route to take in order to keep current customers loyal, while at the same time attracting new customers, can be a challenge. Merchandising companies can help you ensure that you keep your brand current.

Customer satisfaction research studies show that those customers that are loyal to a certain brand will continually purchase that brand, even if there is a slight increase in price. However, if a brand fails to keep up the pace and meet the needs of a constantly evolving market, customers, especially younger customers, will grow impatient and quickly move on to a competitor’s product. Merchandising companies work with you to make sure that you are keeping pace, and meeting the needs of the changing market.

The human mind is both emotional and rational, and so it is important to keep emotion as part of your overall merchandising strategy. Relying solely on fact-and figure-based strategies can severely limit your ability to reach your target market. Merchandising companies will show you how to implement merchandising solutions that employ both a fact-based and emotionally driven merchandising campaign that is much more appealing to consumers.

An engaged customer is a loyal customer. Merchandising companies ensure that brands keep pace by catching the attention of a brand’s consumer by making sure that product placement is efficient, that brand presentation is effective, and that staff at retail are promoting your product well. 

Keeping up with the newest trends and appealing to what is current is essential, and merchandising companies will show you what kinds of strategies to implement in order to do this. By working with a merchandising company, you will be more capable of appealing to the customer through the adoption of the newest market tactics, ensuring that you do not fall behind.

In-store demonstrations or samples, product placement and mystery shopping are all ways that merchandising companies work to make sure that your brand is receiving the attention in needs at retail. Helping you maintain control of your retail presence is an important part of your business, and merchandising companies will help you achieve it!

Falling behind with current trends can spell disaster for your brand, but utilizing the services of a merchandising company will help keep you a step ahead, meaning more brand loyalty and a bigger consumer base.

For more information about the benefits of working with a merchandising company and how it can help you keep pace with customers, or to learn about any of the services provided by Storesupport, please call 1 (877) 421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

Merchandising Companies Ease In-Store Barriers at Retail

There are so many barriers that brands can encounter at retail. Keeping your brand on top at retail requires constant and consistent focus, and many brands are turning to merchandising companies to ease barriers that they encounter at retail. Many brands, especially smaller brands, don’t have the infrastructure and support to address barriers that present themselves at retail that can have major long-term implications. 

The top three barriers that brands encounter at retail that impact their sales and profitability are in-store merchandising, sales and promotional support, emergency services when things go wrong, and. Brands simply cannot count on retailers and their employees to ensure the best representation of their brand in-store. Brands that want to achieve top sales must ensure that their customers have a consistent experience with their brand from one retailer to the next, which is why measures must be but in place to ensure that consistency.

In-store product demonstrations influence your customers’ buying habits and are your time to shine, as are brand events, promotions and new product launches. Sufficient sales support provided to retailers by your brand ensures that your brand is properly promoted at key retailers. This can pose a logistical challenge to some brands, especially smaller brands, which is why working with experiential marketing companies can be particularly helpful for these brands.

Distribution and merchandising can make or break a brand’s success at retail. Effective distribution planning ensures that products are in the places that will make the most positive impact to a brand’s sales. Merchandising can be a huge barrier because brands rely on retailers to ensure optimal product placement and that products are always in stock and on the shelves. However, often products will:

·         Be displaced

·         Be moved to a different location in-store where a customer is not conditioned to look for them, or

·         There may be times when the product that is on the shelf sells and more product is in the back but retail staff are pre-occupied with other things, so hours or even days may go by before the shelf is re-stocked.

This is one barrier that brands must overcome because if the above occurs it can result in the customer shifting their loyalty to another brand altogether. Brands turn to merchandising companies to overcome this barrier because merchandising companies offer the support and infrastructure to ensure that this doesn’t happen because they take control of the brand’s merchandising at retail.

There are so many things that can go wrong with a brand’s products at retail. Merchandising companies are also able to deal with product pick-up and returns, emergency product recalls, the relabeling of products, product movement and repair, display builds, planogram implementation and compliance, and more… Brands face so many moving variables at retail that merchandising companies are able to help overcome these challenges affordably.

The effort that brands make to get into retailers is significant and staying there becomes a constant undertaking. Investment in sales support, product response and in-store merchandising is a brand’s best chance at building brand loyalty and profitability.

For more information about how merchandising companies are easing barriers that brands are encountering at retail or for more information about our solutions for brands at retail please contact Storesupport at 1 (877) 421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca