Merchandising, by definition, is a form of marketing done to promote the sale of goods, especially by the style and display of products in a retail store. Merchandising mainly applies to retail outlets wherein the arrangement and presentation of products stimulate interest in the customer and entice them to make a purchase.
Have you walked across a retail store and noticed that everything is laid out in a specific arrangement. Retailers carefully design the positioning and arrangement of products such as it catches customers’ eyes quickly, and they are tempted into a sale. In departmental stores, you would have noticed that even though Snickers are neatly arranged in the chocolate section, you will still see Snickers arranged beautifully at the cash counter. This is to convert customers into a sale by tempting them of a quick chocolate bite while they are waiting at the check-out counter.
Ever thought this was part of merchandising?
Many customers walk into a retail store looking for a few specific products. If the customers don’t find it in a short span, they tend to quit and shop elsewhere. Merchandising also helps customers to find the product they are looking for by arranging products in such a way that they are easy to locate.
This article explores the importance of merchandising in small business and how different ways of merchandising can help you grow your business.
Promoting Add-On Sales
Retail store outlets will have a good understanding of their target audience and will do everything possible to attract a deal from them. But, what about people who accompany your target audience? Suppose your store is targeted towards women, and you have everything for women arranged beautifully. Wouldn’t women come along with their husbands or boyfriends?
People who accompany the prime audience usually have nothing to do and get bored waiting. What if you had arranged a few men’s wallets right at the check-out counter? People accompanying might take a look while standing bored. Women who shopped for all that they need, in their ecstasy, might consider purchasing something for their partner even if it’s high-priced.
The key questions for business, especially a small one, have to do with keeping the customers around and promoting add-on sale products this way by targeting the secondary audience can help you generate better revenue.
Giving the Right Visual Appeal
Displaying products for easy navigation while positioning the highly profitable products at eye-catchy locations is the fundamental lesson in merchandising. This way of boosting the visual appeal of your store is part creativity and part science. Many stores invest a lot of time and money in experimenting with different layouts and arrangement configurations. This investment is considered worthy as this data can contribute to the long-term merchandising strategy.
Enhancing the Store’s Basic Layout
The retail store must have a basic layout that is natural and lets the consumers walk through the entire store without help. Customers wouldn’t want to revisit a store that is too congested or doesn’t have proper walkways to explore the store.
This can majorly impact the footfall for your store, and, ultimately, the revenue coming in.
Helping Customers With Their Budget
Though you have a target audience, their financial capabilities at that moment might differ. Hence, it is always good to keep different products of a narrow price range, and customers get to choose one according to their budget. Be sure to keep the price difference to a maximum of 30% difference.
This will compel the decisive ability of customers to choose an item. Keeping huge price gaps in your offerings will leave customers in a dilemma, and in most cases, they decide not to buy. Always find additional products that fill the gaps in the price range and reduce the differences.
Arranging Products at the Right Height
How do you think Disney gets all the sales done even for high-priced products? Arrange kids’ items at a height that they can grab it. For example, display toys for 3-year-old kids at the height of 75cm and dresses for 10-year-old children at a height of 120 cm. Kids will grab what they want by themselves and urge parents to buy it for them.
Setting Up Better Locations for Specific Items
You display 20-pound sacks of rice just at the entrance of your store. Can you expect a sale? Customers would want to buy it, but they will delay the decision, thinking of the tedious task of carrying it till the end. Certain items that are bulky, heavy, or perishable are best arranged at the exit of the store to ensure a sale.
Cross-Selling Relevant Products
Trying to sell an additional product is always a worthy attempt. If you run a ladies’ garment store, you can attempt to cross-sell ladies’ beauty care items. But trying to cross-sell groceries in your garment store will be a worthless idea.
Giveaways for Customers
Giveaways will undoubtedly cost you a little more but can help your customers remember your store and indirectly persuade them to come back. Examples include mugs printed with your store name, printed tees, or even a discount voucher valid for the next visit.
Displays Can Promote Scarcity Marketing
Scarcity marketing is a marketing technique based on the principle of customers wanting to buy things that are or may get challenging to obtain. The retailer can intentionally leave some high-demand products low in stock to show scarcity on the shelves. Customers would choose to buy even more than what they need with the fear of scarcity.
Gathering Sales Data
Inventory management is a difficult task without the knowledge of how fast different products and brands are selling out. Having this knowledge handy can help retailers to plan their inventory requirements. This data can also help to promote scarcity marketing.
Conclusion
So these are the top 10 ways merchandising can help boost your sales, increase revenue, and help your small business grow. You can try the above-listed merchandising tips and tricks in your store to scale heights. You can get more info on websites for entrepreneurs or forums where business questions and answers are discussed among small business owners and experts to get more ideas to implement this strategy.
retail merchandising – DepositPhotos
