Black Friday Boom? Canadian Retail Trends

It used to be the norm to hear about Black Friday and associate it exclusively with the U.S. However, this trend has changed recently and Canadians are taking to stores during this busy season and seriously altering typical Canadian retail trends.

 

Check out this recent article from the Toronto Star: http://ow.ly/DwDNG. According to the article, November is the new December in Canadian retail: “Over the last couple years, Canadian retailers have been offering more and more late November discounts in an effort to reduce the flow of Canadians’ spending money south of the border on Black Friday sales that traditionally kick off the U.S. holiday spending season. While many Canadians are still attracted to the Black Friday spectacle, similar discounting at Canadian retailers has proven extremely popular.”

Additionally, Canadian retail trends have seen November sales grow from 8.2% of full-year sales a decade ago to 8.7% for 2013. And even though December remains the most important month sales-wise, this importance is declining: December accounted for 9.3 percent of annual sales in 2013 compared to more than 10 percent a decade ago.

So what does this mean for you? Well, most importantly, are you taking advantage of Black Friday as a way to increase sales and ramp up customer loyalty? If you are not, you should be. But you can’t just offer discounts and hope for the best. Things like sufficient people support to ensure high levels of customer service as well as highly attractive and attention-grabbing merchandising are considerations to take seriously.

For more about Canadian retail trends and how to take advantage of what is going on in the Canadian marketspace please contact Storesupport today by calling 905.847.6513.

From Browser to Buyer: Retail Displays that Grab Your Customer’s Attention

It is common knowledge that the amount of time you have to grab a consumer’s attention in-store is very minimal. Making your retail displays work for you takes more than just attracting attention – it also means keeping their attention – which can be incredibly difficult.

Check out this great infographic from Business 2 Community: http://www.business2community.com/infographics/increasing-retail-sales-store-display-mobile-0794001.  The information contained within it may shock you! However, it may also make you re-think your retail display strategy!

 

-        6 seconds: The time it takes for a consumer to switch to a competitor when they can’t find their usual brand on the shelf.

-        76%: The in-store decision rate (or the total of unplanned and brand-switch purchases).

-        13%: The percentage of time customers spend looking at in-store displays.

-        3 minutes: The maximum amount of time customers will spend waiting in line before becoming aggravated by the wait.

-        90%: The percentage of shoppers who use their smartphone for pre-shopping activities.

Retail displays are a huge factor when it comes to influencing buying behaviour – so they have to be well thought-out and planned.

Whether you are a retailer or a brand at retail, don’t leave your retail displays to chance. Let Storesupport help you execute your retail display strategy, one that takes note of these findings and secures real results. Call us today at 905.847.6513.

 

Empty Shelves = Lower Brand Loyalty: How Are You Preparing for the Holiday Season?

It is no secret that empty shelves can wreak havoc on brand loyalty. When a customer heads to your store intent on making a specific purchase but finds that particular item unavailable, their first instinct is always going to be looking for it somewhere else. If this happens often enough, you could be facing a significant decrease in overall sales as customers consistently choose your competitor (with shelves well stocked) over you. 

Walmart is one such company currently dealing with the ill effects of empty shelves. According to a Bloomberg News report, people quickly notice those empty shelves and are no longer staying quiet about the issue: people noticed “that many items were not being replenished, leaving some shelves bare. Hundreds of e-mails poured in from once-loyal customers complaining they could no longer find what they were looking for and so were shopping elsewhere.”

One of the biggest reason for these empty shelves? Well, according to Walmart employees, merchandise has been left piling up in aisles and in the stock room largely because the corporation doesn’t have enough people to ensure it is where it needs to be, when it needs to be there.

The issue of empty shelves becomes even more essential to deal with during this seriously busy time of year. Holiday shopping often necessitates an increase in your overall staff, and to ensure sufficient stocking capabilities this is really important.

So what are your options? Last week we spoke to the pros and cons of hiring seasonal workers. As much as this may seem like the only viable option – it isn’t. Hiring additional people support from a merchandising company – a team of retail experienced, professional, fully trained, and available on short notice for a short period of time, gives you the best of all worlds – without the cons. If you are concerned about keeping shelves stocked during the holidays, this might be something to seriously consider.

For more about keeping store shelves well stocked over the busy holiday season, or throughout the entire year, please contact Storesupport today. We have the people support that makes dealing with stock issues, quickly, easy. Call us today at 905.847.6513.

Holiday Staffing Challenges: Pros and Cons of Hiring Seasonal Employees

Retailers get ready! The holiday season is fast approaching, and that means getting prepared to face the rush of shoppers. This is a great time of year to ramp up your sales – but the hordes can actually have a negative impact on your bottom line if not handled properly. One of the best ways to ensure customer service levels remain high during this time of year is to increase your labour pool – but there are pros and cons to hiring seasonal employees. 

So, is hiring seasonal employees a short term fix for long term gain, or do the cons outweigh the pros? 

Pros:

 

-        Manage workload – increasing your pool of available labour helps to significantly increase customer service levels. Not only can you ensure shelves remain stocked and line-ups manageable, you can also use these additional employees to ensure that the store remains tidy and that customers can ask questions and receive answers rather than becoming frustrated and leaving for the competition.  

-        Cost savings – since these temporary workers are just that – temporary – you do not have to worry about the costs associated with hiring full time employees (benefits, etc.) or promises of salary increases down the road. Most of these employees understand that their positions are only good for a finite period of time and therefore don’t expect an increase or promise of more.  

Cons:

-        Training investment – even though these employees are only there for the short term, you are obviously not going to send them out on the floor with little to no training. Therefore, one of the most common challenges here is that you invest in these employees (both time and money) only to see them leave after the holiday rush is over. 

-        Lack of loyalty – it is a well-known fact in the retail world that short term workers are not nearly as loyal as those you hire for the long term. Most are aware of the fact that their employment contract is short, and so they may not be super concerned with how their work impacts your bottom line. Of course not all seasonal employees act on this knowledge-but can you risk even a few that do? 

Regardless of the pros and cons, going without that extra people support over the busy holiday season is often a really bad idea. If shelves are empty, line-ups long, and customers can’t get the service or attention they want, not only will your current sales suffer, but so too will your customer loyalty.  

A smart alternative to hiring seasonal employees is to turn to a merchandising company that has experience providing retail support and can offer highly trained, loyal staff on a short term basis. This means that the pros associated with hiring holiday staff are there, without having to worry about spending the time training employees that are not actually committed to your company – it is the best of both worlds! 

For more about professional people support versus hiring seasonal employees please contact Storesupport today by calling 905.847.6513.

 

Building Brand Recognition – The Dos and Don’ts

In the ever-evolving world of retail, building brand recognition continues to be that ever-present thorn in your side, that branch that seems to continually be out of reach. Once established, brand recognition is never static, and loyalties change like the seasons (if not even more often). Does this mean then that attempting to create and harness brand loyalty has become a fruitless endeavour? We don’t think so.

Here is our list of the top dos and don’ts when it comes to building brand loyalty. Don’t give up – just think differently.

Do: Recognize that there are differences between the generations as far as brand loyalty. The research shows that differences do exist, and that often the younger generations are less loyal than their predecessors.

 

Don’t: Assume that, since many Millennials tend not to identify as brand loyal, that they should be largely ignored as an attainable target group. Furthermore, don’t assume that because the older generations tend to identify as more brand loyal that they then make easy targets and that once obtained will never switch.  

Do: Consider a customer loyalty program that offers real incentives – but make sure that those incentives are attractive enough to have real value. A points system that takes years to materialize isn’t much in the way of motivation.

 

Don’t: Assume that this is the be all and end all of the brand loyalty game. Just because a customer gets something in return for their purchase, doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t ever shop anywhere else.  

Do: Take visual merchandising seriously. Develop a plan to grab consumers’ interest. Take advantage of seasonal themes, the science of colour, and even interactive displays if possible.

Don’t: Retailers – change things up and then leave them for months at a time. Stagnant displays quickly lose their value. Things need to be fresh and creative to attract attention.

Brands – don’t set it up in store and assume that the retailer will manage it correctly. Make sure you have a system in place to ensure that it is stocked and located in the right spot throughout the entire campaign period.  

Do: Offer various avenues for customers to provide feedback. Social media is a great space for this, if managed correctly, as is the good old suggestion box.

Don’t: Offer various avenues for customers to provide feedback and then ignore that feedback. When a customer takes the time to provide you with this information, use that valuable intel appropriately. Research shows that only a small minority will ever provide feedback (most will just choose to shop elsewhere or buy something else), so take whatever information you are given and act upon it. And, whenever possible, respond to feedback you receive (i.e. on social media). Customers want to feel as though their opinions matter (and they honestly do).

Building brand loyalty is a game without a finish line, and when you take the time to work with what you’ve got you can actually make some important inroads. Take this list of dos and don’ts and apply it to your own approach.

For more about building brand recognition please contact Storesupport today by calling 1-877-421-5081.

How to Avoid a Product Recall Panic

Product recalls are an unfortunate reality in the consumer packaged goods industry. Both brands and retailers have to deal with this on a regular basis, and when managed poorly the outcome can be disastrous.

Here is a list of just a few of the most recent product recalls from the CPG industry:

-        Advantage Health Matters and Noorish Inc.: various products containing chia seeds or sprouted chia seed powder from the marketplace due to possible Salmonella contamination have been recalled.

-        A-R Perogies brand perogies and tortellini recalled due to undeclared wheat.

-        Various Old Country and Winnipeg Old Country brand meat products recalled due to undeclared mustard.

-        Goody Shop brand sweet goods recalled due to undeclared eggs, milk and wheat.

-        Boulangerie l'Escale brand products recalled due to undeclared soy.

When a product is recalled, either through a voluntary or mandatory recall, the end result is the same - that product needs to leave the shelf. When a product is recalled, the typical process is as follows:

·        The product is removed from the shelf

·        The product is shipped back to the warehouse

·        The new product packaging is re-labelled if required

·        The new product is shipped back to the store

What differs here is how the entire process is handled. If the recall takes too long, and the shelves remain empty as result of the recalled product, brand loyalty can quickly suffer due to the delay. However, if handled quickly, and safe products are delivered and restocked in a timely manner, loyalty will be far less impacted.

When a company practiced and proficient in dealing with product recalls is utilized, many of the costs associated with dealing with a product recall can be avoided. With many of the examples above, the product recall solution was as simple as a product re-labelling. When product is shipped back to the warehouse for re-labelling, the costs can become quite substantial. However, when you work with a merchandising company who can perform the re-labelling in-store, these costs are significantly reduced, as is the time it takes to have the product back on the shelf and ready to sell, thereby diminishing the loss of profit associated with most product recalls.

If you are facing a product recall, Storesupport’s emergency response services can help you deal with the entire recall and help mitigate any losses as a result of the recall process. Contact us today for a quick resolution: 1-877-421-5081.