Is Your Merchandising Preventing Sales?

Has this ever happened to you?

You are shopping and something on a high shelf catches your eye. You'd like to know the price, but you can't reach it. You look around for a clerk to help you, but don't see anyone. You try standing on tiptoe, maybe even with one foot on the bottom shelf, to see if you can reach, but you can't.

Or, maybe the product isn't on a high shelf. Maybe it's in a locked display case.

Maybe you can reach the merchandise, but the price sticker has fallen off.

If you are really interested, you might look a little harder for someone to help you. Maybe you'll even wait at a counter for the cashier to finish with the line of customers.

The more difficult it gets, the more likely it is that you'll decide that finding out the price is just not worth the trouble.

These situations create barriers that prevent shoppers from buying.

You might be saying to yourself, "Yes, but I don't have those problems in my store. My products are all accessible."

There are many ways your merchandising can be preventing shoppers from buying, and you don't even realize it.

The barrier in your store could be poor lighting.
It could be a confusing store layout.
It could be the lack of product information.
It could be ineffective signage.
It could be poor merchandise placement.
It could be ineffective displays.

There are three steps to eliminating these barriers in your store.

1. Take stock.

Find out how you are doing right now.

Listen to your customers. What do they need help with? What are they asking for? What frustrates them? Keep a notebook of what your customers are saying.

Next, take a look at your store performance.

-- What are your current sales levels? Are you meeting your daily sales goals?

-- What is the size of an average transaction in dollars? in number of units?

-- How many shoppers come into your store daily? How many make a purchase?

-- What are your sales per square foot?

-- What are your sales per staff hour?

-- What merchandise is selling vs. not selling?

-- What areas of the store are selling vs. not selling?

Create a chart or spreadsheet to keep track of your performance on a regular basis.

2. Take action.

Walk through your store and evaluate it critically, from front to back. What can you do to improve your merchandising?

You might need to create new displays.
You might need to improve signage and product information.
You might need to rotate merchandise.
You might need to adjust the lighting.
You might need to improve your store layout.

Do whatever it takes to make it easier for your customer to shop. Make your plan and implement it.

3. Take measurements.

Now, go back to your store performance. Measure and record your results.

-- What effect did your changes have?

-- What are your customers saying?

-- How many people stop to take a look?

-- How much time do they spend at each display?

-- Do they touch the merchandise, or just move on?

You will find that some things will work, some will work better, some won't work at all. You can't tell unless you are measuring results.

You might create a great display and hardly sell anything. It might be the signage, it might be the wrong product, it might be a bad location.

Sometimes you'll get it right, sometimes you won't.

There are general merchandising and sales principles that work, but each store is also unique. You have an individual mix of customers, products, location, staff and all the other things that make up your business.

Getting the mix exactly right is like cooking.

First, you follow a recipe. Then gradually you make small changes to adjust the recipe to your taste. You get feedback from your partner, family or guests. Each time you make the dish you tweak it a little, until eventually you get it right - and it becomes your own.

In a store, you follow the merchandising recipe and then make little changes until you get the right taste for your customers.

To eliminate barriers to sales, be vigilant. Make small adjustments to your merchandising, measure your results, and start again.

Don't let your merchandising keep your products sitting on the shelves!