Month: September 2013

There is No Such Thing as Being Too Prepared: Tips on how your business can survive the impending holiday season

Posted onAuthorericw@specialtystoreservices.com

 

It’s not uncommon to spot Halloween and fall                                                  black-friday-crowd                                         merchandise on the sales floor by September 1st. For most store owners, managers and employees, this incites a sense of pressure and anxiety for the upcoming holiday season. There are simple steps and action plans you and your team can take to ensure you are prepared for the chaos that’s to come.

Here are four important tips to help you plan a stress-free and successful holiday season:

 1.     Train Staff. Your employees are the backbone of the operation, so take the time to make sure your team is knowledgeable and trained for holiday traffic.

  •  Is your staff trained for potential shoplifters? The month of December can be a costly month for a lot of retailers. Prepare your staff in advance on what to expect and how to handle a shoplifting situation.
  •  Schedule regular meetings to stay connected to what’s going on in all areas of the store. What needs improvement or more support? Communication can prevent inventory disasters, unhappy customers and store fixtures that need fixing.
  • “Happy wife, happy life”- the saying goes for store associates as well.  You can’t achieve results without your staff being at its best. Develop staff incentives to encourage motivation. Friends and family are heading out of town for the holidays, taking the spirit out of the holidays for many of your employees. Give your staff an extra reason to work their hardest to offer customers the best possible experience.
  • Plan for employee time off before the holiday season. This is smart for two reasons: 1) making sure you’re staffed appropriately for the entire season with enough team members to cover expected high traffic weeks 2) ensuring there won’t be any surprises for you or your employees. You’re able to plan ahead and they can plan ahead for time off with family and friends.

2.     Review history. The best way to improve is to learn from past mistakes. Look at past sales records, staff schedules and promotional calendars. What worked last year? What didn’t? Plan ahead and safeguard against past complications. Although the holiday season is hectic, try to note happenings as they come or after the holidays for you or other associates to reference the following year.

 3.     Inventory. You can’t run a store without merchandise. Was there enough last year? Was there inventory on the floor at all times? Have the right inventory available by developing a replenishing function as part of the staff routine, which holds a specific individual accountable to ensure the sales floor is stocked at all times.

 4.    Maintenance. Even in a busy environment, it’s critical your team maintains the clean look of the store. An article from DMS Retail has a great checklist for keeping your store clean: Be sure all light fixtures are working, exit signs are lit, fitting rooms are tidy, fire extinguishers have been checked, your flooring and carpets have no turned up edges that can trip people, your POS and printers are working properly, your doors or door grills are in good repair, ceiling ducts are clean and dust free, fitting rooms are clean and welcoming, shelves are firmly in place to avoid accidents, no chipped glass anywhere, no rough edges on sign holders, the back room is well organized, the plumbing (if any) and any illuminated store signage is working properly. Be prepared so store upkeep is not taking away from sales.

These tips are designed to help streamline your holiday selling season to make it as successful as possible. Plan ahead in all aspects of your business to reduce anxiety before the holidays come; they’ll be here before you can say, “Deck the halls with boughs of holly.”

Not prepared or don’t know where to start? The retail experts at Specialty Store Services can help. Call us today at 800.999.0771 or click here to visit our website for more information.

Top Retail News for This Month

Posted onAuthorericw@specialtystoreservices.com

 

imagesAs you prepare your stores for the holiday season, don’t forget to stay up-to-date on retail news and trends. The weeks will get busier and busier, so you want to make sure you’re well-informed and discovering new ways to display and sell your merchandise. To make your life a little bit easier and help spark some creative ideas, here’s some top retail news from this month:

Visual Merchandising

Retail Trends

I’ll leave you with a great quote to end the week:

“If eyes are the windows to the soul, then shop windows are just as revealing. They reveal the soul of the shop.” –Debra Templar, retail business coach

Need a little more inspiration? Our team of talented and creative project managers and customer service representatives can help with anything from store planning to fixture design. Call today at 800-999-0771 or visit our website: www.specialtystoreservices.com.

Learn from the Best: Thoughts from Famous Retailers

Posted onAuthorericw@specialtystoreservices.com

During busy weeks, it’s helpful to take a few minutes to stop, think, and improve. There’s always something to learn, from improving customer service to building a stronger company culture. Here’s some inspiration from some of the top leaders in retail to start your week off well:

“In the end, the customer doesn’t know, or care, if you are small or large as an organization…she or he only focuses on the garment hanging on the rail in the store.” –Giorgio Armani, Founder of Giorgio Armani 
 
“Our mission statement about treating people with respect and dignity is not just words but a creed we live by every day. You can’t expect your employees to exceed the expectations of your customers if you don’t exceed the employees’ expectations of management.”–Howard Schultz. CEO of Starbucks

“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.” –Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon
 
“If you’re a big-picture guy, you’re not in the picture. Retail is detail.”  –James Sinegal, CEO of Costco
 
“The secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want. And really, if you think about it from the point of view of the customer, you want everything: a wide assortment of good quality merchandise; the lowest possible prices; guaranteed satisfaction with what you buy; friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; free parking; a pleasant shopping experience.” –Sam Walton, Founder of Walmart
 
“We believe that customer service shouldn’t be just a department; it should be the entire company.” –Tony Hsieh, CRO of Zappos.com
 
“Your vision is very important. You should know whom you’re selling to, what your marketing and advertising says about you, and whom it’s speaking to. Me personally, I don’t try to please everyone. I understand who I am selling to and I work towards that vision all the time.” –Ralph Lauren, Founder of Ralph Lauren
 
“The friendly smile, the word of greeting, are certainly something fleeting and seemingly insubstantial. You can’t take them with you. But they work for good beyond your power to measure their influence. It is the service we are not obliged to give that people value most.” –James Cash Penney, Founder of JCPenney
 
“What is good for our customers is also, in the long run, good for us. “ –Ingovar Kamprad, CEO of IKEA
 
“Those department stores that have survived the decades did so by keeping pace with customer needs and preferences.” –Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy’s

 

Visit our website today or call us at 1-800-999-0771 to find out how Specialty Store Services can help with your store fixture and display needs. Maybe in a couple of year we will be quoting you too. 

Smart Retail Choices: 4 Considerations When Building a Store Fixture Budget

Posted onAuthorericw@specialtystoreservices.com


The decision to buy retail store fixtures is a fairly easy one—you’re going to need to buy fixtures at some time or another to keep your store going. The hard part is deciding how much to spend and what to buy. Fixtures are the backbone of your business, and you definitely want to get the highest ROI from them as possible.

As you build your fixture budget for the holiday season and upcoming new year, there are some important factors to consider:
1.      Current Store Sales
What do store sales look like right now? If sales are flat, it’s probably time to look into a store makeover. Adding some more polish and excitement with custom fixtures may be just what your store needs to attract more customers. You definitely don’t want to break the bank buying new retail fixtures, but it’s important to have good-quality fixtures that reflect your store’s branding and accentuate your merchandise.

If you have multiple stores that are suffering from low sales, try testing new fixtures in one of them. Do a complete transformation of your store’s look, and keep a close eye on how sales perform and customers react. After the test period, your findings should help you decide how much to invest in store fixtures for your entire chain of stores.

2.      Design Options
Having a small budget doesn’t mean you can’t invest in high-quality retail store fixtures. It just means you have to be smart about what design you choose. Find or create a versatile fixture design that can be easily adapted to your floor space and work for multiple products. This approach gives you a double-win—you end up with fixtures that create a cohesive look throughout your store, and look great when it comes time to roll out new merchandise.

A large budget is easier to work with, but you still need to be smart. Versatile displays and fixtures are good choices, but also consider developing a custom-made display for a special piece of merchandise. A display or fixture made specifically for one product can really help that product stand out and appeal to customers. 

3.      Type of Material
Different materials come with different price tags. If you like the look of a certain material, like wood, and are working with a small budget, ask your fixture supplier if they have less expensive options that have a similar look as wood. Metal is always a good choice—it adapts well to other fixtures, is durable, and is less expensive than many other materials. With a larger budget, choosing a material like wood may be a special touch that your store needs to stand out. Choose a material that supports your store’s brand and creates a store atmosphere that appeals to your customer base.
4.      Level of Maintenance
How much work do you want to put in to keep your store fixtures looking clean and presentable? Probably not very much since the store employees are already busy helping customers and putting out merchandise. When you start planning out your fixture budget, make sure you’re looking at store fixtures and displays that are easy to maintain. A fixture that requires daily polishing, cleaning, and dusting might not be the best choice for a busy staff—especially during the holidays. Talk to your fixture supplier and get their thoughts on what materials and designs tend to be the easiest to take care of.  

 

Find out how Specialty Store Services can help answer your store fixture budget questions. Call us today at 1-800-999-0771 or visit our website for more information and a FREE store fixture consultation.