I was struck recently by two retailers who took part in the Academy in Action project, where executives from leading suppliers visit their stores to discuss what they have got right from the perspective of a shopper and what could be better. Inside both shops looked great, with good displays and ranges. The "shoppers" noted the commitment to customer service and warm welcome. However, the exteriors of both shops were poor: One had a torn canopy; the other a long-damaged fascia. Do shoppers notice? The answer is yes. Think about when you get a present. Think of the care that someone puts into wrapping the gift, personalising it for you. That takes time and effort and magnifies the value of the gift. Think about what it feels like if the gift is unwrapped! There is a simple remedy: walk across the street from your store, close your eyes, imagine you are a visitor, open your eyes and ask yourself would you cross the street to visit that shop.
Retailers need to introduce new products to provide their shoppers with "good news" and to generate interest. But for each new product that you introduce you need to consider delisting an existing line. Easy, you might think. I will just print out the list of products in the category and take off the one with the lowest sales. However, if you do this research from the US suggest you might be wrong. What you need to consider is what sort of demand you have for each product, a white paper by Demand Tec, a US specialist software provider shows. It says that there are two kinds of sales: incremental sales, when products add to the total shopper spend and are not readily substituted by another item transferable sales, where shoppers find an alternative easily when it is not available. Using its software, it shows a category with 50 products from top seller to bottom seller. At the same time it also measures the incremental sales each product provides. The number 50 in ove...
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