Effects of Mobile E-Commerce on Retailers - E-Commerce Report from Canadian Government Sheds Light

In 2012, as a result of the dramatic changes that Canadian society has experienced as a result of technological changes over the past several years, the government conducted research on e-commerce as an industry. Called E-Commerce in Canada: Pursuing the Promise, Report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, this report shed a great deal of light on the impacts of e-commerce and mobile e-commerce on retailers.  

According to the report, 79% of Canadian households have internet access, and of this 79%, 74% use the internet to browse or shop for goods or services online.  In 2010 alone, online purchases resulted in $15.8 billion in sales. The online market is booming – but how is it affecting your business?

Now, more than ever, Canadians are coming to rely on their smartphones for far more than just talking and texting – realistically most of what can be done from a laptop in the home office can be accomplished anywhere from a mobile device. This on-the-spot purchasing power that mobile e-commerce represents is great for consumers, but not so good for retailers trying to deal with the competition.

So how can you handle the impacts of mobile e-commerce? It is simple. Sure you may not be able to offer the same convenience that comes from the ability to give consumers what they want at the tap of a finger, but by working with a retail merchandising company you can keep those consumers in the store and maintain sales.

Where grocery stores are concerned – a great deal of shoppers do their shopping in store. If you offer CPG brands that are sold in a grocery store then your customer’s in-store experience is key, especially if you want to keep them coming back to buy more.

Think about it, when a consumer makes a purchase online, generally as far as they can see the product is available, clearly priced, they expedite payment and then their product is delivered. Customers must have the same experience when they visit a retailer to purchase your product. Product should be in stock, clearly priced and where it is supposed to be according to your planogram.  

Experiential marketing and promotional campaigns are also a great way to manage the mobile e-commerce rivalry. Once you get consumers through the door an intelligent way to influence their purchases is to make suggestions through campaigns that offer sales or give them a chance to try.

A great way to manage your retail merchandising and have boots on the ground, without the cost of a huge team, is to work with a retail merchandising company who has the coverage and expertise to support your needs at a fraction of the cost of having a front line workforce.

For many retailers, e-commerce represents a huge market for sales – as long as you are using it to sell. If you are not, you need to be looking at other methods to deal with this competition.

For more information about how to handle the competition created by mobile e-commerce, please contact Storesupport today by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visit us online at www.storesupport.ca.

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.

Retail Merchandising Over the Summer Holidays

The Labour Day holiday weekend marks the official end of summer, and the stores are filled with a variety of shoppers stocking up for the various items this weekend represents. And it isn’t just consumers taking advantage. Summer long weekends area major boon for retailers for many reasons – so making the most of it is just a smart business practice. Here are some ways to reap the benefits of this retail merchandising win.

Retail Merchandising: Camping. Consumers heading out to brave the traffic over the long weekend will need to stock up before they head out, so marketing to this crowd can equal big profits. Whether tent camping or cottage camping, families will want those quintessential ‘camping’ necessities: marshmallows, sunscreen and bug spray, even gear. Make the most of these ‘needs’ with a retail merchandising plan that  caters to the campers by ensuring shelves are well stocked and any sales are well marked. Consider an in-store promotion or experiential marketing campaign to attract shoppers and get them spending.

Retail Merchandising: BBQs. Most long weekends of the summer mean a BBQ, and the Labour Day holiday weekend is no exception. Again, this is an area where an experiential marketing campaign can be a big win. Set up an in-store BBQ, providing live product samplings.   Live product samplings are one of the best ways to shift brand loyalty. A consumer who stops to sample your product, if they like it will be likely to buy.

Retail Merchandising: Back-to-School. The shopping bonanza that comes with the end of summer can be a retail goldmine – but with it can come extra-long line ups or empty shelves. Retail floors quickly become disheveled as back-to-school shoppers pick things up, put things down and dig through products looking for deals. It is important to have a strong plan with respect to retail merchandising and back to school shoppers. If customers can’t find what they are looking for at your store, they will likely turn to a competitor – and this can have not only short term but long term impacts as well, especially with regards to customer loyalty. Make sure that you are prepared to avoid lost sales by having the necessary people support required to make the weekend a sales success.

Retail merchandising doesn’t have to be a challenge. Retail merchandising companies that offer wide coverage often have people scheduled to attend the stores where your products are sold for other brands anyways. A retail merchandising company that can plan and execute promotional or experiential marketing campaigns, provide extra staff support and more… 

For more information about how to turn the summer holidays into a potential retail merchandising pot of gold please contact Storesupport today by calling 1-877-421-5081.

Retail Merchandising “Down” Your Business

Target Corp. has been in the news a great deal recently and retailers across Canada are modifying their retail plans as a result of the influx of new stores that are being opened. Although Target, as a big box store, does present some stiff competition, many previous big box retailers are moving in a different direction – down.

A recent article in the Globe and Mail, “Goodbye, big box?”, speaks to the issue of how this competition has led to a realignment of big box thinking, sending current retailers on a new course to keep up. One of Canada’s largest providers of automotive parts and home products, formerly focused exclusively on doing things ‘big’, is making plans to ‘downsize’ in an effort to see sales increase. Focusing more on the retail merchandising factor plays a big role here.

How is this retail merchandising downsizing going to help? Well, in an effort to ramp up customer service, it actually makes a lot of sense. More mature consumers don’t want to spend as much time walking up and down isles – and so a smaller store will allow them to get their shopping done faster. It also allows for higher customer service levels – something that is crucial with this generation. Brand loyalty suffers when a customer feels unsatisfied with a retailer’s service, and so giving more to the consumer means higher levels of brand loyalty.

Retail merchandising in this situation is also key in order to retain those customers that tend to turn to online shopping. The younger generations, millennials for example, are often tempted by the lure of online shopping – so a strong retail merchandising plan will help you retain their business with things like experiential marketing.

If you are thinking about traveling the same route as those big box stores, you have to make sure that you have a strong retail merchandising plan in place to ensure that customer service does not suffer as a result.

People support: Many stores are keeping their big box locations as temporary inventory spaces, and a retail merchandising company can provide the personnel required to staff each location. Well-trained, professional employees, available on short notice and a temporary basis, can mean the difference between customers leaving happy and planning to return and leaving unsatisfied and shifting their loyalties.

Planogram set-up: A retail merchandising company can also set-up, tag and price, and install any signage in the new location. This ensures planogram compliance.

Store closures: If you are closing a store and sections of the store are being closed as inventory is sold, let a retail merchandising company assist in rearranging the store so that it is still shopper friendly. This way your employees can remain focused on providing excellent customer service at a time when it is crucial, and a retail merchandising company can make sure that customers can still find what they need.  

If you are planning to downsize in the future, don't ignore the importance of retail merchandising in these scenarios.  For more information about how retail merchandising can ensure your customers don't feel pressure to switch please contact Storesupport by calling 1-87-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca

Experiential Marketing to the Summer BBQ Lover

Barbeque season is in full swing and what better way to get people excited about your product than with an experiential marketing event which targets the summer bbq lover.  Whether you sell hamburgers or buns, paper plates or all the fixings, showing off your products and letting people test products that perhaps they have yet to try represents a great opportunity to boost profits.

Sure television commercials or social media can get consumers thinking about a brand, but that one-on-one is still very important. Building a relationship with your consumer is never a bad thing, and if you bring emotions into the mix, the decision to purchase is influenced even more.

New to the experiential marketing field? That’s ok – now is a better time than ever to get yourself acquainted. Experiential marketing is really just the act of connecting people with products in a live interaction. Whether it is through a product demonstration or a taste test, giving consumers an experience is one of the best ways to build brand awareness and increase customer retention.

The stats speak for themselves. A study done by the Event Marketing Institute found that almost 60% of customers reported that an experiential marketing campaign has led them to purchase the product demonstrated and over 80% said that these events have led to them becoming a regular customer! If you are looking to both retain current customers and attract new ones, experiential marketing is a great way to do it.

Whether you conduct experiential marketing campaigns on a regular basis or have never taken advantage of the opportunities these types of events represent, there are a few key things to keep in mind.

When it comes to an effective experiential marketing campaign, expertise is key. When planning an event, it is critical to make sure that those working the event have a solid knowledge base in order to be able to answer questions correctly and provide the information that customers need. An experienced CPG merchandising company will be able to provide the training and ensure that employees are experts.

Personality is key too. When you hold an event, you need to make sure that those working it are approachable and confident. Having individuals with previous experience working these types of events makes all the difference. Again, those staff members provided by a CPG merchandising company will be qualified and experienced.

So how do you take advantage of bbq season and conduct an effective marketing campaign that gets attention and boost profits? Harness the power of experience and let a CPG merchandising company plan and execute an experiential event!

To get started on your experientialmarketing campaign, please contact Storesupport by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

 

 

Focus on Customer Retention - Canadian Brands Can Learn Something From Our US Counterparts

When the economy was hit hard in 2008, many retailers in the United States adopted strategies for cutting costs. For many companies, there seemed to be very few options as far keeping costs down and the first place that they looked for savings was in their labour costs. This had a definite impact that is still being felt by consumers.

One of the most popular cost saving methods in the United States was (and often still is) downsizing, or, as many prefer to call it, rightsizing. But this trend has led to major impacts as far as customer retention. Saving profits by cutting the cost of employee overhead can mean gains short term, but what about long term?

A recent Ernst and Young report, Cutting Costs Not Customers, relayed some important things that need to be considered with regard to staff reductions and their impact on customer retention:

1. A retailer’s cost-saving initiatives are likely to reduce the support offered to core customers, thereby reducing customer loyalty.

2. Customers are likely to see staff cost cutting changes, such as staff reductions, as making their lives more difficult.

These two major conclusions say a great deal about the difference in trends between how U.S. and Canadian retailers handle customer retention.  If layoffs mean fewer employees in-store, customers are likely to notice these reductions, thereby feeling a decrease in customer loyalty and customer retention. 

How do staff reductions impact customer retention? Think about it this way, if line ups at one retailer seem to be long every time a customer shops, the decision to shop there may be compromised. What about if product is not stocked, or can’t be found, and there are no employees around to ask for assistance. Profits will inevitably begin to decrease if a customer finds very little satisfaction in their shopping experience.

In Canada however, the trend seems to be very different. One of the main differences, especially more recently, is the fact that Canadian CPG companies are recognizing that layoffs are not the way to go, especially when focusing on customer retention. Instead, Canadian companies tend to focus more on long term goals and how to achieve them. Since sales, realistically, depend solely on consumers, it is common sense to remain focused on them.

So how, then, do Canadian companies focus on customer retention? A strong merchandising plan that accomplishes things like promotional experiential marketing or relies on in-store people support at peak times makes sure that customer experience does not suffer. Although some staff reductions may be called for, they are not the only solution – and are used in a balanced approach.

When you focus on customer retention, layoffs should be the farthest things from your mind. After all, cutting costs now can lead to major losses because of a dwindling customer service experience.

For more information about how a Canadian merchandising company can help you keep costs down while ramping up customer retention, please contact Storesupport by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.