Toronto, CANADA Retail Merchandising Takes a New Approach.

The manual is geared for the smaller retailer and is
affordable for any organization. Merchandising for many
small retailers has been a secondary consideration. Today however, a well designed merchandise plan is critical in today’s hypercompetitive marketplace.

Retailers must plan their merchandising in a strategic
manner that makes time starved customers feel comfortable in the stores and easy to understand. Many customers are so time starved that the time they spend is very limited when shopping.

“They need to get in, navigate the store and understand
it quickly..” advises Ron Pawlowski, managing partner of
The Retail Institute. “Beyond that, the [merchandise] plan must induce a buying decision and motivate the customer to buy multiple items”.

Merchandise plans must be well thought out so that they
make the store easy to understand, shop and generate
increased multiple sales and portray the brand of the retailer. Merchandising when properly presented can express a branding message of selection, price, convenience or a combination of all three.

Developing a plan should start with setting a list of objectives. These should include expressing a brand message, laying out the store into different zones that promote new merchandise as well as sale/promotional goods and finally staple items. Using plan-o-gram software can create an effective merchandise plan at low cost that can also be changed every two weeks at low cost.

Today, merchandise plans must also be measured against
financial parameters, in order to truly measure their
effectiveness.

“Sales per square foot, zone performance, sell through
rates and merchandise turns per year are just some of
the metrics that contemporary retailers must scrutinize on a monthly basis.” added Pawlowski.

Merchandise planning has become far more structured than random placement of goods for the smaller retailer. A good manual, plan-o-grams and measurement tools are critical to maximise sales, cashflow in inventory turns as overheads increase and margins get thinner.

Contact:

Ron Pawlowski
The Retail Institute
Toronto Canada
905 778 1234
ronp@retailinstitute.ca
www.retailinstitute.ca

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