Managing Product Recalls: What You Need To Know!

What happens when your product is found to have traces of Salmonella or undeclared allergens? Typically, when listing a product at retail, such issues as these are one of the farthest things from your mind, but they do happen, and relatively often. The result: voluntary (or in some cases involuntary) product recalls that can cost your company a lot more than just money! Take a look at this very brief list of some of the many CPG recalls that have taken place in the last few weeks: 

a.      Undeclared soy in certain Christie brand Rice Thins

b.      Certain Fresh Sprouts brand Fresh Bean Sprouts recalled

c.      Undeclared gluten in certain Bob's Red Mill brand Sweet White Sorghum Flour

d.      Certain Canada Garden brand Tahini recalled cue to traces of Salmonella found

e.      Undeclared sulphites in certain Blue Marsh Farm & Kitchen brand jams and jellies

These brands are all well known, and so demonstrate that product recalls can happen to any company, big or small. And these can become big issues with resounding impacts, no? In today’s competitive retail environment, the management of product recalls can make or break a brand’s reputation, so careful management of the situation is critical.

Costs and impacts of a product recall: resources need to be allocated for the removal of all recalled product. This leads to empty shelves that then need to be refilled with product that is safe. These can both represent a significant cost to a brand – one that needs to be mitigated by any means. Brand reputation can also be impacted, so ensuring concerns are fixed in a timely fashion helps to safeguard against any negative feedback.

How do you manage a product recall to ensure continued brand recognition and customer loyalty? The simple answer: as quickly as possible. And this doesn’t just mean taking recalled product from the shelf – although this is crucial – it also means restocking those empty shelves ASAP. After all, if your product isn’t on the shelves for customers to purchase, they are inevitably going to go for something else. Furthermore, the quicker the response, the more exposure is contained – a definite plus.

Product recalls can be a major pain, and if they are not managed properly the results can be disastrous. Make sure that you work to maintain a positive brand image and keep costs associated with these unfortunate issues at a minimum.

Facing an emergency product recall? Storesupport has the resources to help you overcome it quickly and effectively, at a significant cost savings. Contact us today at 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

Taking Control of Your Retail Management

Successful retail management, or the control of your brand at a retail location, is crucial for success. Meeting your customers’ needs and wants is one of the major ways to increase both your bottom line and customer retention and brand loyalty. But what does this include? What are we talking about as far as retail management? 

Firstly, what do we mean by retail management? Well, simply, the management of your brand. When you rely on a retailer for everything from stocking/restocking shelves to pricing you have to be sure that they are meeting your expectations. In order to retain as much control as possible in a situation such as this, knowing what is going on in-store is vital. This is a key component – make sure that you are able to keep tabs on what is going on on the ground.

Another important aspect of retail management is distribution resource planning. This includes establishing inventory control parameters to measure inventory requirements over time. When you rely on a retailer, you have to make sure that your product is on the shelf, otherwise it isn’t going to sell. There are many factors requiring attention when it comes to this planning, including on-hand inventory, back-ordered demand of a product, required quantity of a product, and constrained quantity of a product. Keeping on top of these will help ensure that your stock is where it should be, when it should be there.

When your retail management is effective, this in turn positively impacts your customer retention and brand reputation. For example, what if a consumer enters a store intent on purchasing your product but then cannot locate it in-store or it is not stocked on the shelf. Instead of asking an employee they may choose your competitor’s product. What if they like your customer’s product just as much as they like yours? Or what if they feel it offers the same quality at a lower price? Companies lose, on average, 20% of their customer base annually, and this is one of the ways that this comes to pass.

Yet another important factor in effective retail management: social media community management. When you take advantage of the many benefits offered by social media, you also have to be aware of the impacts that this can have. Setting up a Facebook page and developing a following, only to ignore it once this has been accomplished, can be problematic.  Complaints going unanswered or a loss of interest will reflect poorly on your brand. Keep up with what is going on online. Treat complaints as a gift – if you respond to customer concerns it shows an awareness and interest and a commitment to making things better.  

Be smart about your retail management – make sure that you are always aware of what is going on in-store.  Want some help accomplishing this? Storesupport has you covered – contact us today at 1-877-421-5081.

Retail Inventory Management: Store Closing Dos and Don’ts

Whether for relocation or consolidation, or whatever the reason may be, stores close all the time. But far too many stores go about it in a way that can have negative, and lasting, effects overall. Overseeing and executing a store closing properly can be difficult, but it is vital to both brand image and customer loyalty that things are done right, right from the start.  Here are some things to think about: 

 

Managing timelines is crucial. Make sure that you get your inventory in order, think about a discounting plan, come up with solutions for liquidation (if necessary). Keep in mind your deadline for getting out of the building and make sure that racks are down and the store is clean on time. Store managers often underestimate the amount of work and time involved with store closings, so set a schedule and stick to it.  Skill matters – if you are thinking about a temp agency, this is generally the worst choice, so make sure to do your research.

Managing inventory. Keeping the stores as well stocked as possible is essential – product won’t sell from the stockroom. Sales are a great incentive to see product movement. If the shelves are empty when customers come in looking for sale items, but those products are in the back, they may not ask for them and just forget the purchase altogether. Devise a plan for shipping inventory to other locations, and ensure that you have the manpower to see this task completed. The store should remain customer-friendly up until the last day, so ensure that procedures remain in place and followed.

Keep customers happy – the brand relies on this. The perception of the store/brand needs to remain high, so maintaining your image is important. Decreased inventory can negatively impact customer experience, so try to ensure that other aspects of the customer experience do not suffer as well. 

Employee morale plays a big role in managing store closings. When employees stop caring, their performance levels decrease and providing high levels of service becomes a minor priority (if a priority at all). And then they start leaving. Having a contingency plan in place in key. Make sure to keep the communication levels at a high – make sure they know that the store is closing, but the company is not. If there are other stores in the area, try to get them transferred. Try to help them see the big picture. 

If a store closing is in your future, think about the many different aspects that work to ensure the retention of a positive brand image. Manage your closing appropriately using these strategies.

For more about closing a retail location and how to avoid disaster, please contact Storesupport today by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

Retail Intelligence: What’s Your Brand Performance IQ?

If you are a brand located at retail you know how tough it can be to ensure performance when maintenance and compliance are out of your hands. When you place your confidence in a retailer, you are trusting them to do what you would do if given the chance. Can’t seem to get a handle on why your numbers are the way they are? Step back for a moment and test your brand performance IQ – this may help you better understand what you do and do not know retail intelligence wise. 

What’s your brand performance IQ? Think about these questions – do you know the answers? 

1.      Is your product stocked or is product in the storeroom but not on the shelves? In a perfect world, shelves would restock themselves – but in today’s retail marketplace you have to rely on employees to ensure your product makes its way to the shelf whenever stock gets low. If a customer can’t find your product chances are fairly high that they will just choose the next best thing – never a good thing for brand recognition or customer retention.

 

2.      Are employees at the retail location able to answer customer questions about your product? If a customer has a question about your product that an employee can’t answer, think about how this might impact their decision to buy. Or, what about if the customer has to ask for the location of your product and that employee is unsure of its whereabouts within the store? These things need to be remedied as soon as possible, but if you don’t know that the problem exists, how can you fix it. 

3.      Are your products priced correctly to reflect sales, promotions, etc.? If your product is on sale and marked accordingly, this can positively influence an individual’s choice to try or buy your product for the first time or return to it if they have recently switched to another brand. However, if you have let the store know about an item you want priced at a certain price point but the sales tag does not reflect this change, how can you determine the impacts of a change in price (or worse, influence them to purchase)?

4.      Are displays set up the way that you intended them to be? You spend the time and resources creating and designing displays to attract customers – but what if your product is not the only one reaping the benefits? Customers will remember those displays that peak their interest or stick with them long after leaving the store, so if your display isn’t just displaying your product there is no way to ensure that it is your product they are thinking about! 

5.      Are planograms executed according to plan? Again, you spend the time and money to develop a planogram that will best meet the needs of both your brand and your customers – don’t let compliance issues compromise the impact. If a planogram is not implemented the way that you want it to be there is no way to ensure the intended results. 

The answer to all of these questions should be yes if you want your brand to perform at its best. If they are not, perhaps it is time to think about having a method in place to get the retail intelligence necessary to ensure that they do.   

Need some help with retail intelligence? Storesupport can send out those people who can get the answers you need. Contact us today at 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

Craving Customer Retention? We’ve Got You Covered

The easiest way to grow your customer base is to keep as many customers as possible, but considering the average business loses 20% of its customer base annually, this is easier said than done. However, it needs to be a priority if you want your bottom line to expand (who doesn’t?).  Furthermore, according to the Harvard Business School, increasing your customer retention rates by just 5% can lead to a 25-95% increase in profits – clearly nothing to frown upon.

Customer retention in the retail world can be tricky, so this week we thought we’d give you a hand with some tried and tested methods for keeping people happy! Here are our 5 Cs to customer retention that actually work! 

1.     Customer Service. Ok, this is a no-brainer, we know. Any intelligent retailer or brand knows that to keep retention levels up service levels also need to remain high. Don’t make them search for products, deal with long line-ups, or non-existent employees. No one likes that. 

2.     Cost. Remember that cost isn’t always the determining factor in a person’s decision to buy. Just because something is on sale doesn’t mean that they will choose it over a favoured product. So, when you are attempting to build customer retention keep in mind that cost isn’t always a means to an end. 

3.     Complaints. Ok, maybe this seems odd as a customer retention strategy, but not when you think of each complaint as a gift. Most people (most studies say over 90%) who receive poor service won’t complain, but those that do expect some form of response. So, instead of ignoring complaints or treating them with disdain, make the most of them. When a customer complains they are giving you the chance to not only learn what irks them but also to return them to a state of satisfaction, thereby garnering customer retention. 

4.     Compliance. When you plan out a merchandising strategy (something every company in the retail industry should do), make sure that it is followed and adhered to. Taking the time to devise a plan to encourage purchasing means nothing if customers either don’t get it or can’t see it because it isn’t executed properly. And better yet, as far as retention, if it works it will keep them thinking about your brand – long term gains abound here!

5.     Consistency. Keep the things above consistent. Try and keep in mind that every day offers the opportunity to catch a new customer, so don’t ever let things fall by the wayside. For example, if holiday times represent increased traffic, ensure that there are enough staff members on to handle the rush. Have a product recall? Ensure that it is dealt with quickly and effectively each and every time. 

Customer retention plays a primary role in how your brand performs. It also creates strong brand recognition. Use these 5 Cs to influence your strategy for customer retention and see real results. 

Storesupport has the tools to help with customer retention, so give us a call today at 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca to find out how we can work with you to satisfy your customer retention craving.

Retail Marketing Myths: Don’t Fall Prey

The Loch Ness Monster, Sasquatch, mermaids: all myths we have heard about and likely dismissed as false. Just because someone tells you something is true doesn’t mean you should automatically take it as fact, right? So why fall prey to retail marketing myths that seem so common? Need some clarification? No worries, we’ve debunked the four most popular.  

Myth #1: Customer retention is a lost cause. Sure, gauging repeat clientele can be tad difficult, this is no surprise, but it isn’t impossible – and that by no means suggests that these costs are not worth it. In the retail sector, your bottom line often relies a great deal on repeat customers, so money invested in retaining them is never a waste. No matter what retention strategies you adopt, implementing them is critical. People want to be loyal (well, most of them do), and when they feel as though their patronage is valuable, they are more likely to return – and recommend your products or services. 

Myth #2: Online will become the new in-store. Nope. Sure, online shopping has definitely become more popular with the rising popularity of smartphones and tablets, but this doesn’t mean that the retail location is becoming obsolete. Online sales are expected to continue to rise in the years ahead, but the likelihood of these channels overtaking the bricks and mortar store is slim to none. True, having an online presence is always a good idea –or rather not having one is a bad idea – but that doesn’t mean that relying solely on online will be the only way to survive in the future retail market. What does this mean for you? To compete you have to stay a cut above, so having creative marketing, inventive merchandising, and high levels of customer support and service are crucial. 

Myth #3: Social media doesn’t matter. Big mistake. Social media has become a major part of many successful marketing plans – and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg! Social media has become a significant tool to influence too – people like your store, they’ll like you online. But watch out, if they don’t like your store, product, etc. they will talk about that too! Managing your online presence gives your customers the chance to see that you care – a good tool for customer retention. 

Myth #4: Price is the main determining factor. The most recent Price Waterhouse Coopers’ global survey report found that price isn’t always king. Instead, the report noted a 10% increase in spending when retailers focus on and provide innovative marketing and high levels of customer service. Just because something is on sale, doesn’t mean that it will be what gets put in the shopping cart. There are many other factors that determine influence, so don’t rely exclusively on price point.  

There is no magical retail marketing book that you can use to solve all of your woes – trust us, we’ve looked – but avoiding common misconceptions is always a smart idea. 

For more information about retail marketing myths, or marketing at retail in general, contact Storesupport today by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

  

Seasonal Superpower: The Strength of Visual Merchandising

With the growing popularity of multichannel retailing, it has become increasingly important to make sure that bricks and mortar stores are actually going to entice people to walk through the doors rather than sit at home and shop online. Not only that, in-store displays go a long way as far as persuading people to buy, so a store’s visual merchandising must do this as well. Seasonal shifts represent an important opportunity to not only change things around a bit, but also take advantage of emotional triggers and tap into them with your merchandising plan.  

Most people respond best to visual stimuli so you have to cater to this. Still not buying into the importance of this strategy? Maybe this will change your mind: according to a recent study done by Retailworks Inc., “good visual merchandising can increase sales from 10 percent to 15 percent.” That is not an insignificant number, is it? We didn’t think so either. Clearly attraction goes a long way as far as beefing up your bottom line. 

Furthermore, the research suggests that displays that are poorly presented or just downright bad can negatively impact all of the other good things that are going on in the store. Is your in-store display lacking? You may not think it’s a big deal, but one poorly executed display can actually turn shoppers off the entire store. 

One of the biggest mistakes that stores make is keeping things static. Not changing displays, especially when the seasons change, is a big no-no in the retail world. In this case, visual merchandising can be a seasonal superpower. Halloween is now behind us, and most retailers will make the automatic switch to prepping for the upcoming holidays. And shoppers expect it; if you don’t have displays in place that showcase this, people will notice.

Other mistakes: too much going on (remember the KISS principle), no common theme or connections between display stock, and the mess caused by holiday shoppers – make sure that these things don’t negatively impact your visual merchandising’s effectiveness.

Don’t discount the strength of visual merchandising or linger when it comes to changing things around. Make sure that you are taking into account seasonal changes and customers’ expectations with regard to them.

Storesupport can help – contact us today to find out all about our suite of merchandising services including planogram and display set up to get ready for the holiday season. Call 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca