The Key to Brand Loyalty is Effective Brand Management and Customer Retention Strategies Where Aging Consumers Are Concerned

Customer retention occurs when businesses conduct themselves in a way that results in repeat business, thereby retaining their customers. 

Customer retention strategies should be executed from the moment that a customer becomes a customer, and should extend throughout the lifetime of the relationship. Retaining your customers long-term will largely rely on your ability to service them. Customer retention strategies and maintaining a standard of excellence through great service will not only improve your ability to retain your customers, but will also result in positive word of mouth which will lead to additional new business.  

The most successful brands put the value of their customer before profits through investing in providing a superior service and striving to not meet but exceed their customers’ expectations. This model leads to brand loyalty that can last a lifetime. There have been studies released that have substantiated the direct correlation between customer retention and a company's overall profitability. While customer retention involves investment, the long-term payoff is immense. One study showed that engaged customers generate 1.7 times the revenue than normal customers do.

Brands need to have different customer retention strategies for different demographics. Older consumers represent the most loyal demographic. Brands must adopt customer retention strategies aimed at targeting these consumers and making their needs a priority. Small considerations like package sizes, legible labels with larger text, and packaging that’s easy to open are some examples of ways that a brand can go above and beyond the call of duty to retain customers in this demographic.

Older consumers are habit driven. They like to visit the same retailers again and again and tend to be very brand loyal. They are also more apt to spend more time at retail locations. The older demographic responds to service. In-store demonstrations and product testing are important if a brand plans to lure a customer in this demographic away from the brands they are currently loyal to.

Retaining these customers is less challenging because they have a tendency to fall into a habit. The fastest way to lose a customer in the older demographic is to allow your products to become unavailable to them. When retailers don’t restock a brand’s product on the shelf, it forces the consumer to try a different brand if they don’t want to endure the inconvenience of going to another retailer to look for the product. If the customer likes the new product that they try, in many cases the original brand will lose the loyalty of a customer in an older demographic.

Brands need to ensure that their products are consistently available across all retailers where their products are available, and counting on retailers to ensure this is a risky proposition. This is one area that brands should invest in and make a part of their customer retention strategies.

Customer retention strategies result in brand loyalty, and in the consumer packaged goods industry brand loyalty is the reason that some brands become a household name. The most successful brands at retail are only successful because of their ability to retain customers.

For more information about customer retention strategies, or if you would like more information about Storesupport’s services for brands, please contact us by calling 1 (877) 421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

The Most Effective Retail Management Solutions Often Cannot Be Replaced With Technology

Effective retail management in today’s retail market is crucial to a brand’s success. Keeping pace with constantly evolving retail management strategies is so important when you are trying to remain ahead of the competition. One of the current retail management solutions being adopted by different companies is to replace people with technology – but is this effective?  

The limitations of technology - do people still have a role to play in retail management? The current reach of technology for ever expanding business is incredible. However, implementing technology to the point where it can take the place of people can be hazardous in a retail setting, especially in the retail food industry. In some industries, technology may seem like the most effective retail management solution, but in the retail food industry, employees still remain the most effective way to maintain a high level of customer service. 

Take this example as an illustration of the importance of effective retail management:

Karen goes the grocery store with the intention of buying laundry detergent, and enters the isle where it is usually located. Having just purchased a new high-efficiency washer, Karen wants to know if HE detergent is required, or if she is able to purchase her regular brand, which is cheaper. Unfortunately, the HE version of the detergent she normally purchases is on sale, and has been moved to an end-cap. She looks around for a sales associate, but is unable to locate one. All she can find is a digital display which outlines the benefits of a particular brand of HE detergent – but does not tell her whether or not HE detergent is necessary. As a result, Karen decides to buy the competitor’s product. A customer has been lost!

This is an all too common occurrence. Technology as a retail management solution often leaves the customer feeling unsatisfied and unappreciated. The ability to ask questions or to find products that have been moved is drastically reduced by replacing people with technology. When you are relying on retailers for the timely re-stocking of your product on the shelves or on their employees for the ability to provide the correct information about your product, an effective retail management solution is one that does not rely on technology in the place of an actual person.

Many companies have attempted to implement technology as an effective retail management solution, but have found it to be less than ideal. Esso, for example, tried to use digital screens at their gas pumps to market products in-store. However, after finding that it was not profitable or well received by their customers, the project was scrapped.

Maintaining customer loyalty and attracting new customers to your brand is the ultimate goal of effective retail management. However, implementing a technology based retail management solution, such as that of replacing people with digital displays, can have a devastating impact on your bottom line.

Not only does replacing people with technology as a retail management solution not meet the needs of your customers emotionally, it can also inhibit their ability to physically access your product. Building displays, product demonstrations or sampling, and product ‘quick-fixes’ are all unachievable with a retail management solution that puts technology in the place of employees.

Technology may be able to provide effective product information or teach customers about the benefits of a new product, but employees are the ones that ensure customers are getting the information that they want, that they can easily find the product on the shelves, and that they are able to get answers they are looking for.

For more information about effective retail management solutions and how replacing people with technology is not always the best retail management solution, 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  

Cost Cutting of Customer Support Services at Retail Directly Impacts the Customer Experience

In the retail industry, the customer experience is paramount to the success of brands and retailers. The customer experience is what will lead to brand loyalty and repeat business. Today’s consumer has so many choices and the retail industry is extremely competitive. Online shopping, mobile technology, big box stores and the introduction of American retailers like Target into the Canadian market space make it more important than ever for retailers to be competitive. 

The cost of labour is one of the largest expenses that retailers face, and unfortunately it is one of the first places that retailers cut costs when doing business. Cost cutting of customer support services in retail directly impacts the customer experience and can do more harm than good in the long run. Cost cutting of customer support services can cost more long-term business to the retailer than cost savings may achieve in the short-term. 

When a retailer implements cost cutting measures that result in cost cutting to customer support services the only person who suffers is the customer. Cost cutting measures in retail result in:

1.       Longer line ups

2.       Customers not being able to find all of the brands that they need because items that are in-stock appear to be sold out because shelves have not been re-stocked

3.       The inability to find a customer service representative to ask questions to

4.       Demotivated employees who are overworked and as a result provide a lower standard of service and more…

Jobs that keep the customer happy and coming back are vital.

In the retail food industry especially, when a consumer has a bad customer experience, for example not being able to find all of the brands they like at a single grocer or long line ups, it doesn’t take long before the consumer will make the choice to switch to another store where they have a positive experience, even if in the end shopping there costs more. This is a classic reason why more expensive retailers exist and thrive. Retailers who offer a better customer experience can get away with charging higher prices because customers will pay to have a better experience.

Do customers have unrealistic expectations with regards to the service that they demand? We don’t think so. At the end of the day if you want to dominate in your market space and be the most competitive, the old adage “the customer is always right” rings as true as ever.

The investment that a retailer makes to keep their customers happy and that will lead to the best customer experience results in increased brand loyalty and profitability for both the retailer and the brands that they sell. The consequences of cost cutting measures that impact the customer experience are too severe to be ignored.

Retailers need to find ways to save without cutting in places that impact services to customers with proper planning and with good guidance. Planning is key, and impacts to the customer must be considered and minimized where cost cutting is a consideration. 

For more information about how you can find ways to affordably improve the customer experience in your store, please contact Storesupport at 1 (877) 421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

Visual Merchandising Companies and the Psychology of Visual Merchandising

Visual merchandising is not as simple as popping up a display promoting your brand and products. There is a psychological aspect to visual merchandising that must be considered if you want to optimize the success of your visual merchandising. 

Consumers often make purchasing decisions based on emotion. Psychology is a science of the human mind and human behaviour. The dictionary defines psychology as the science dealing with the mind and mental processes, especially in relation to human and animal behaviour. The connection between what your customers think and feel and how you market to them makes an incredible difference in how effective your visual marketing display is.

The retail industry is very competitive and visual marketing is a major way that brands differentiate themselves from one another. Even if your products are unique, all brands have competitors and you must differentiate to stay competitive. Some retailers and even brands see visual marketing displays as merely cosmetic and don’t understand how they directly impact brand loyalty and sales. Visual marketing is one area that all brands should allocate budget funding to because with all of the choices available to consumers, visual marketing displays continually remind consumers that your brand is available in-store.

The best visual marketing displays will capture the attention of the consumer and translate into increased sales and so they must attract the customer. This requires more than art direction. The best visual marketing focuses on the phycology behind what motivates your target customer. Your visual marketing display is not about you, it's about your customer.

Your visual marketing displays are even more successful when coupled with an in-store sales representative or demonstrators, whose role is to engage passers-by and talk with them about your product or even offer them a sampling or discount voucher enticing them to buy. This is especially crucial with respect to new product launches.

Some of the most successful visual marketing campaigns are successful because the brand has had the foresight to work with a visual marketing company to ensure that their displays are distributed at retail effectively. Visual marketing companies that handle display builds and sales support are able to make sure that visual marketing displays are set up at key retailers and that there are sales support representatives that work for the brand and not the retailer available to engage and capture  consumers.

Often brands will invest in visual marketing displays and then the employees at the retailer will place them in a place that doesn’t give them the exposure that they need to be effective. Where your visual display is set up in-store is very important because an optimal location will ensure that more customers see the display. Visual marketing companies help brands overcome this challenge by attending the retailer with the visual marketing display and influencing where it is placed in-store. They are also able to alert the brand if a retailer is asking that the visual marketing display be placed in an area where it is not going to be effective.

Understanding the psychology behind visual marketing and working with visual marketing companies are the two best ways that a brand can have more success at retail, boosting sales and increasing their brand exposure.

For more information about the psychology of visual merchandising or to find out about our solutions for visual merchandising and in-store marketing, please call Storesupport at 1 (877) 421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

Brands Who Cannot Control In-Store Merchandising Look to Retail Merchandising Services to Boost Brand Sales

At a recent Retail Industry Council event a major topic of conversation was the future of retail and what impacts e-commerce will have on bricks and mortar retail locations. While e-commerce is resulting in major changes to the way we shop in some types of retail, such as electronic stores, book stores, music stores and more, the food industry at retail is unique. 

When you are shopping for food, you want to be able to touch and feel the produce you are buying, feel the texture of baked goods, and thoroughly inspect your meats. These are reasons that many consumers will continue to want to physically go to the grocery store to purchase their foods. While there have been grocery services around for years that enable you to buy online and have the food delivered to your door, they haven’t managed to make an impact whatsoever in the way people buy food. 

This is why the in-store experience that a customer receives continues to be so important to the success of brands that sell their products at food retailers. It is also a major reason why brands must ensure that they maintain some level of control over in-store merchandising.

Leaving in-store merchandising to the retailer is a dangerous plan because the consequences to the brand can be significant.

Consumers are creatures of habit, especially in the retail food industry. Once a consumer gets hooked on a brand they will often add it to their grocery list to be purchased week after week. When a consumer visits a store and suddenly the brand that they love is not available because it is not on the shelf or has been moved and they can't find it, many consumers will try another brand that sells the same product. If they love the product, the original brand could lose their customer’s loyalty altogether.

A brand’s success at a retailer depends on its sales. Brands that sell more will be able to negotiate better product placement and priority, so it is crucial that brands that are not dominating their market space at a particular retailer hike up their socks.

Many brands are turning to merchandising services to boost their sales at retail. Merchandising services take the control of in-store merchandising away from the retailer and empower the brand to have more control over their customers’ experiences, which then results in increased sales. Merchandising services will go to all of the retailers where the brand’s products are sold and ensure that products are stocked and on the shelves and also ensure that if there is a product placement issue that the brand is made aware of it immediately, rather than finding out when seeing that sales have dropped at a particular retailer. Merchandising companies also assume the role of setting up in-store displays and literally become the brand’s ambassador at retail.

Brand’s that want more control over their in-store merchandising are best served by looking to retail merchandising services  to ensure that customers are always able to access them, and to ensure consistent profitability across the retail stores where their products are sold.

For more information about how you can take more control of your in-store merchandising and our merchandising services, please contact Storesupport by calling 1 (877) 421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.

Labour as an asset, not an expense

Written by Nancy Kwon

Published in Canadian Grocer

June 20, 2012

What do QuickTrip convenience stores, Mercadona, Trader Joe’s, and Costco all have in common?

If you guessed lowest prices, you’re only half correct.

Not only do these retailers have the lowest prices, but they also invest heavily in store employees, which in turn results in better customer service than their competitors.

In an article in Time, Zeynep Ton, a professor of operations management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, says that her research has shown that by underinvesting in their employees, retailers are actually making their operations much more inefficient, and less profitable.

With globalization, companies have moved good paying manufacturing jobs overseas, leaving low-wage, low-skill service jobs in retail outlets that don’t offer many benefits.

But Prof. Ton says in her research on low-cost retailers who spent more on labour and still competed on price showed that there are more efficiencies that result with a highly trained, and motiviated employees.

Ton’s research showed that in a typical supermarket that carries nearly 39,000 products, runs 100 promotions a week, and serves 2,500 customers a day, store employees must constantly shift inventory from storage into the right shelves to meet demand.

She writes: “In my field visits, I consistently found that with so many products, promotions, and storage areas, a task that ought to be simple–such as shelving toothpaste–is not. Such a surprisingly complex operation requires something uniquely human: judgment. Poorly paid, poorly trained, and poorly motivated employees have to monitor which products have sold, decide what to keep on the selling floor and what to move to and from backrooms, and remember which backrooms contain which items.”

She adds that the best information technology in the world can’t help you if your products aren’t where they’re supposed to be and your employees can’t find those products; you’ll only lose a lot of sales.

Simply put, Ton’s research showed that cutting labour costs would only help short term.

Here’s how some retailers are doing things differently and succeeding, according to the Time article:

Full-time employees at Trader Joe’s earn $40,000 to $60,000 a year, while Costco promotes from within (98 per cent of store managers being promoted from within); QuickTrip meanwhile has a huge “floater” staff to allow employees to take more vacation and sick time; and Spanish supermarket Mercadona employees are cross trained so that everyone can do a variety of tasks.

Not surprisingly, Ton’s study showed that turnover in these companies is much lower than the industry average.

And with the growth of e-commerce, investing in human resources is more important for brick-and-mortar retailers.

At a time when consumers can buy anything, anytime online, the key differentiator for grocers could be about the people again.