Don't Let This Happen In Your Store! - By: Jed McCall

Have you seen the view? When did you last stand at your payment point, can you remember? go and look now and make a note of what you see.

Your customer's view is often not pretty - tangled cables and wires, pieces of paper, pens and pencils, rubber bands, used staples and many other bits of rubbish. All of this is made worse when covered in dust. Checked your pos equipment lately, dust loves to gather in the air vents.

As part of the daily opening routine, check all of this and more. Include the cash desk, counter area, wall or fixtures behind the payment point, window, ceiling and floor. If you don't like what you see - you know what to do.

The latest survey among store/shop staff confirmed that they found impulse lines the hardest to manage. Confectionery accounts for approximately 46% of sales, soft drinks 45% with crisps and snacks 30%. These categories were the hardest in terms of filling up, merchandising (don't forget stock rotation), positioning point of sale etc. You may think that fresh product or even news and magazines would be viewed as more difficult.

Remember that impulse lines are amount the top sellers, higher sales will mean more refilling and managing. Promotion's are the highest impulse lines with more facing in more than one place, to attract more impulse purchases, meaning more refills and more managing.

You need to encourage your customers to purchase more impulse lines, you won't do that with empty fixtures. Have you reviewed your replenishment procedures? take a look at this area and consider when filling up and merchandising takes place versus your customer flow. Equally important your average customer spend, and the time of maximum customer flow. You need to assess this to ensure your staff are not replenishing at peak buying times, when you need all hands taking the money.

Consider this - consumers are increasingly leaving home without eating breakfast... Reveiw your early offering - it needs to be as substantial then as your lunch time offering. 50% of store staff believe that an in-store bakery would improve the appeal of their shop. 47% of shoppers say their reason for not making a purchase is 'out of stock'

Your staff will have the views and requirements of your customers, listen to what they tell you. Research is pointing towards consumers requiring more fresh ready to go product. Locally sourced and grown product is also a growth area to take into account. Good luck with whatever you take from this article.

About the Author

Experienced retail professional, with a particular interest in the success and development of the independant retail business. Independant's have the ability to move their business development quickly to meet consumer demand and a vested interest in excellent customer service. http://www.how2retail.co.uk

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Jed-McCall/54661

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