Retail businesses have a lot to contend with day in and out. Business today is not a case of “If you build it, he will come.” In fact, if you’re trying to attract the masses you’re going to have to do a lot more to get the word out about your business. Getting people in your doors is only half the battle though. You still have to make the sale once they come inside.
This is where merchandising comes into play and it’s not as much about picking the right products to sell in your store, though that certainly helps. It’s more about presenting the products and goods you have to sell, in the perfect light.
Product Placement and What it Means for Your Business
You must have a strategy for displaying and placing items in your store. There are some items that customers are coming into your store to buy. These are items that are highly coveted and specifically sought. In other words, destination items. Placing those in the back of the store forces customers to walk buy other items on their way to purchase the item they came in for. This allows for excellent opportunities to sell additional items that may be equally attractive but not specifically sought. It’s an excellent strategy to employ.
Another strategy to consider is to capitalize on impulse buys. This is one reason you’ll see that a lot of clothing retailers and boutiques have jewelry and accessories placed near the checkout kiosks. They are hoping to capitalize in people waiting in line to check out who might spot the perfect shiny little accessory to complete the look they’re going for.
Another key for product placement is to play high profit items near the entrance to your store. This is the area where people generally tend to pause upon entrance to take stock of the retail environment. This is where you want to place the items you want every customer who walks in your doors to see.
If you don’t think product placement is important, pay attention the next time you’re watching a sitcom or playing a video game. Notice how many products and brands are included in these games that you might not even notice when you’re not paying attention. They are solidifying their brand and reinforcing their image in ways that are subtle, but highly effective and they are spending millions to make that happen. You may not have that huge budget to work with, that is why how you display your products is so important.
Types of Display Racks and Shelves
There are many different types of display racks and shelves available for retail businesses. They not only come in a variety of styles, but also in a variety of designs in order to accommodate a wide range of décor and design 
options. The key is to find display racks and shelves that are aesthetically pleasing, functional, and practical for your business and inventory needs. Options available include three-tier display tables, two and four-way clothing displays, jewelry displays, dress forms, mannequins, grid walls and accessories, slatted panels, display cases, wall-mounted displays, pegboard displays, display pedestals, and more.
Your goal is to choose display racks that show off your wares to their best advantage so that they can appeal more widely to your customers.
Merchandising and Inventory Management
How you display your merchandise is ultimately up to you. What you may not realize, though, is that your POS system, if you use Clover POS, can help you keep your inventory in check so that you have plenty of the items that have proven to be your best sellers while helping you quickly identify products that aren’t exactly flying off the shelves – giving you the opportunity to try different product placement for greater visibility, or to take action to reduce the excess inventory.
There are two apps for the Clover Station that are ideal for inventory management.
- Inventory – A free App by Clover, the Inventory App allows you to manage your inventory and other items by categories and modifiers for your convenience.
- StockIt – This feature rich App allows you reorder inventory directly through the App. It’s a paid App that works with Clover Mini, Clover Mobile, and the World Wide Web in addition to working with the Clover Station. It is a full-service solution for inventory management that automatically deducts items when sales are made, performs analytics, and saves a huge amount of time when it comes to record-keeping and reordering.
Merchandising for your store is one of the most important tasks you’ll face as a retail business owner. It is often a bigger task than it appears to be at first glance. Combining the power of product placement and display with state-of-the-art technology can help make the task far more manageable for your business.
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