Excellence In Merchandising In Modern Trade

Good merchandising is not simply an attractive display. Merchandising, to be effective, makes the entire sales-floor inviting. No store is well merchandised until all areas of its sales-floor are appealing and easily accessible to shoppers.

So, turn your store into something more than just a "convenient" place to stop to pick up necessary provisions. By following some simple merchandising techniques, you can bring your operation to life. And in doing so, you can also bring in more business!

But before we begin, you must first put yourself in your customers' shoes to get a better understanding of what you are currently doing, and how to improve on it.

Here are a quick and easy merchandising tips you can use, and watch your sales grow!

Effective Merchandising Demands:

1. Display slow-moving and low-priced items farthest from the customer’s reach
2. Always use prime display space for high-demand, seasonal, impulse, or promotional items.
3. Use point-of-sale signs to call attention to hot items in each department.
4. The best-selling height on any display is between eye and belt level.
5. Action, light and color attract attention to any display
6. No display is fully effective or complete until the merchandise is priced. And not only must the items be priced, but the prices must be consistent.
7. All the labels are facing the same direction and colors are organized so that same-colored products are never side by side
8. If feature displays do not blend with other displays around them, they may repel rather than attract.
9. Keeping displays neat and well stocked is one of the most effective “tricks” in merchandising. 

Cross Merchandising

Cross-merchandising kills two birds with one stone: by supplying customers with more items that will satisfy their needs. Here’s how to improve retail sales with cross-merchandising:

To achieve success with cross-merchandising there are four ingredients that are critical to making your display work:

Correlation: Group together products that are related in some way. For example, in front of a display of butter, a store could have a stand of freshly baked artisanal baguettes. When a buyer goes looking for butter, they will draw the connection between bread and butter and be more likely to purchase both items at once. or cross sell hot-dog condiments like Hunt’s ketchup

Relevance: Create your product display around a central theme. Cluttering it with unrelated products and no central theme will only reduce its effectiveness as a marketing tool.

Performance: After setting up any cross-merchandising display, pay close attention to your sales in the weeks and months to follow. If it’s not performing well, don’t be hesitant to make some changes.

Profiling: Think like a customer. Ask yourself — does this display make me want to buy the product? If you answered no, it’s probably time to re-think your product display.

In the end, cross merchandising is much more than the rearranging of product from one department to another. It’s all about creating a theme – ultimately finding and promoting the thread that ties the featured products together.

When done right, Cross-Merchandising can drive more sales and higher profits.