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Four Reminders about Effective Store Design

Do you like shopping at the grocery store? I do.

Why? I don’t have to think too much. Milk on the left wall. Meat in the back. Cheese on the right. Cashiers in the front. Can’t find something? A simple look at the directional signs and I got it. (Unless its something like honey  – Is that in cooking? Jam? Peanut butter? But I digress.)

Organization of a store is crucial to building sales because the merchandise can only do so much with their clever packaging.

A few weeks ago, I started a business makeover for a client about an hour outside of Manhattan.  I start any makeover with the physical aspects of the store because frequently they are the:

  1. Most glaring
  2. Easily fixed
  3. Take the most physical work

I approach the project as a new customer because they have fresh eyes. They don’t pick up what the owner feels are “obvious.” If the store has gotten sloppy with how they organize the merchandise, it will show in the way customers walk through your store (and quickly out if done poorly) Continue reading Four Reminders about Effective Store Design »

Pictures: Retailing Lessons From the Best and Worst Retailers

I recently led a walking tour through the upscale Woodfield mall in Schaumberg, IL. Here is my rant about the best and worst (you can click on each picture to see better detail.) I’ve also got some questions for your own business at the end: Continue reading Pictures: Retailing Lessons From the Best and Worst Retailers »

#Retailers Cut Your SKUS

A recent article in the WSJ, Retailers Cut Back on Variety, Once the Spice of Marketing talked about how all the largest chains are reducing choices for consumers. “Pharmacy chain Walgreen Co. is cutting the types of superglues it carries to 11 from 25. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has decided that 24 different tape measures is 20 too many. Kroger Co. has tested stripping out about 30% of its cereal varieties.

In the next year or so, these and a few of the other largest retailers are expected to slice the assortment of products in their stores by at least 15%, industry executives and analysts say. ‘All that go-go 1990s where we were adding items in and adding items in, and people wanted more, more, more, more choice… just didn’t pay off,’ said Catherine Lindner, Walgreen’s divisional vice president for marketing development, at a recent conference. Looking at store shelves, ‘People say, ‘Whoa, you’re bombarding me. Help me figure out what I need.’”

If the big guys are doing it, you should be too.  Here’s how:

  • Take a look at your inventory categories’ sales figures by month and year-to-date.
  • Within each category, look at your bottom 20% – the ones not moving
  • Cancel all orders to replenish
  • Come up with a sale to clear them out
  • Use your money saved to add to your top two categories of merchandise

It’s never easy to let go of items we personally thought would be good movers but when you have 20,000 skus, how much duplication do you need?  The big boys know: not much. Same with you.

Don't Put Retail Display Windows On "Set and Forget"

I was speaking at the Marriott Disneyland resort Saturday and I walked past the gift shop several times over a couple days, like most visitors.  There’s not much to look at in the corridor due to a good design that focuses your attention to either of two windows.img_0341

In the window on the left was a sign Brighton and several handbags nicely laid out. In the back a few yellow flowers to add interest.  After the first time I saw it, my interest waned because I’d “seen it.”

What struck me was that it didn’t change while I was there. What a missed opportunity in a resort with nearly 4000 rooms, near Disneyland and across from the Convention Center!

You want to grow sales and you have windows? Change them like you do your socks or underwear.

I learned this from a swimwear shop at the Hilton Hawaiian Village many years ago.  Every day they got there about an hour before the store opened and completely changed the merchandise in the window.  Not the whole display mind you – that would take hours if not days.

What that did was capture everyone who passed by – and there were thousands – attention because we always saw something different.  I imagine they could showcase their entire store within a month.

This is one of the easiest things to do with most gift shops, apparel shops and even bookstores in high traffic locations like downtowns, busy malls and resorts yet it is the least utilized.

Don’t put your windows on “set and forget.”  Instead, create a look for the window with an eye to how you can rotate your coordinated merchandise through the week.

This approach is not for everyone but if you’re looking for more customers, we’re often walking right past thinking, “seen it.” Stop us and grow profits.

Want more ideas for how to compete?

Real Merchants Know Men Wear Pink Underwear In A Recession

The boutiques will outlive the department stores because they are still merchants, we’ll get to that shortly but first…

jockeypinkJockey underwear reported this week that, “sales of pink underwear are soaring as men use their undergarments to cheer them up in the economic crisis.” Jockey claims that sales of their colored Y-front briefs have rocketed by an average of 60% over the last six months – and the baby pink pairs have sold more than any other, seeing a 62% boost in sales over the past three months.”

The UK’s Daily Mail website concludes, “If claims that men are perking themselves up using their underpants is true, it adds a new dimension to lipstick economics – the theory market-watchers attribute to sales of small cosmetic items rising in a recession, or the fact that hemlines rise and fall with the economic state of the country.”

Hold that thought a moment …

finn-portlandI was in Portand, OR for a presentation with the Oregonian newspaper about 6 weeks ago and stumbled on Finn in the upscale shopping district, the Pearl.  The whole store was merchandised with a merchant’s sensibility. Clearly an upscale men ‘s clothing store, it stopped your eyes from wandering with overstuffed, handmade, free-trade toys, antiques and other knickknacks that made you want to browse.

I was surprised to see a large display of fancy socks and underwear. The owner came up to me and told me socks and underwear were becoming the coolest thing to accessorize your wardrobe. “Really?” I asked. “The crazier the better,” he said. footshoesockWe chatted a bit more about the socks made by Duchamp and I ended up getting a pair myself (at right.)  That was the only time he was behind the counter.

Contrast that experience to the one a week prior at Bloomingdale’s, the store who used to be all things trendy, smart and fashionable.  Walking through the men’s aisles I found, like most department stores these days, the gang of three employees talking.  In the men’s furnishings section there were some interesting items but to this day I still have no idea what they were used for or why they were on top of a counter clearly for sale. (You can try to make them out on the counter to the left in the photo below.)

After staring at them for 2-3 minutes, I looked around for help.  Sure enoubloomingdalesgh, the gang of three was behind the castle expecting me to approach so they would graciously stop talking, lower the drawbridge and cross the moat to wait on me.

And here’s the point of this post: it is the boutique operators who will bring us out of the recession. They are the ones who are truly the merchants looking to wow us with new products and convince us to try new things.  They are the ones giving a pulse to America.  They are where you should be shopping.

Contrast the latest trends Jockey reported to your local Macy’s, Lord & Taylor and other mid to upper tier stores where all you’ll see displayed face-out will be a sign, “25% off Jockey” with a mountain of white.

You want to get more customers in a recession? You’ve got to earn it; even if it means you have to be knowledgeable about men wearing pink underwear so you’ll feature the best-selling, colorful ones upfront, along with colorful socks.  And to do that, you have to get employees out from behind the castle and talk up your products.

You can’t invent trends -unless you were Starbucks in the early 90s -  but you can ride them. Merchants know this.

Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor, has helped thousands of independent businesses compete by using his approach to business and not discounting.  He speaks to groups large and small how to grow sales in a friendly, engaging and entertaining manner.

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