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One of my clients recorded the best day in 22 weeks last Sunday because a new sales assistant - decided to focus only on this one thing she learned from Sell$mart. (She said she lacked the confidence to try all/more things.)
Before I tell you; here is why it is NOT [...]
Filed under: Customer Service, Retail Operations, Selling | Tagged: Retailing, Sales, Salesmanship, Sell | No Comments »
1. Be Something. Everything = Nothing.
2. Be different. If you aren’t different to your competition, you are dead.
3. Be prepared to pay to acquire and to keep customers.
4. Honour thy customer. Customers owe you nothing. Their patronage is a privilege to earn.
5. Retail is not an ‘over the counter’ business only - not any [...]
Filed under: Branding, Management, Marketing, Retail Operations, Strategy | Tagged: Customer, Marketing | No Comments »
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The Oldest Retail Disease is RTD.
There is an area of the brain called the ‘nucleus accumbens’ – or to use the plain English version, the craving spot. This is the spot that literally ‘lights up’ when (for instance a smoker feels the craving to light up.)
Most people would know that intuitively or believe [...]
Filed under: General, Marketing, Retail Operations, Selling | 2 Comments »
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This is the full list of sales promotions that I can think of. The list is old; and the success of the promotion lies in:
The quality of the idea.
The execution of the promotional mechanics.
The timing.
The relevance to the target market.
I thought it is a good idea to run through the list and [...]
Filed under: Marketing, Retail Operations, Selling | Tagged: Sales promotion, buy one get one free | No Comments »
How good is your customer service?
The attached graphic should be worth the proverbial thousand words – but since I am not a very good designer, it probably needs some help.
1. Dead contact
The only interaction is by complaint form or voice mail.
2. Dumb contact
There is a person at the other end… but it does not help [...]
Filed under: Customer Service, Management, People, Productivity, Retail Operations | Tagged: Customer Service | No Comments »
Retail Marketing is about delivering a proposition (supply side) that meets a customers needs (demand side).
By now you understand that the proposition is more than product, but the whole ‘package’ wrapped up in price & presentation.
We also know that ‘product’ is not the ‘steak’ but the ‘sizzle’.
That is the supply side taken care of, now [...]
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People don’t decide, they react - then post-rationalise decisions with advantages and benefits.
When they try and justify their decisions, they take shortcuts:
a. Whatever everybody else does (follow the crowd)
b. Price is a shortcut for quality
c. Scarcity is shortcut for popularity
Survival instinct is the strongest motivator: find out how it manifests in your industry/ category. (Physical [...]
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There are 2 fundamental things to get right when discounting stock. (Quite amazing considering all the mistakes you see around the traps.)
Pick the right product!
Choose products with high elasticity. An increase in price would result in a decrease in revenue, and a decrease in price would result in an increase in revenue. Typically, [...]
Filed under: Finance, Marketing, Merchandising, Productivity, Retail Operations | No Comments »
Some stats for the retail geeks out there
Typical Stockturns: Specialty Retailers
Dairies » 95 x
Butchers » 60 x
Newsagents » 9 x
Chemists » 7 x
Fashion » 6 x
Hardware » 4 x
Jeweller » 2 x
Filed under: Finance, Merchandising, Productivity, Retail Operations | Tagged: Stockturns | 2 Comments »
Cost of sales can typically represent 50% - 80% of a retail business’ cost. It is absolutely imperative that merchandise management strategies are effectively employed to manage this cost. Some strategies require you to (increase sales or) reduce your stock. Such a reduction can be achieved in the following ways:
Sales (up)
Stock (flat)
OR
Sales [...]
Filed under: Management, Productivity, Retail Operations | Tagged: Stockturn | No Comments »
