Anticipate! Know the needs of your shoppers and meet them

If you were to ask your customers about their experiences while shopping, they would probably tell you about the uncomfortable distances and hardships they have to go through just to get to their desired products –while they secretly crave for the long-gone old store clerks and their candy treats.

Time is Money, they say… Is Yours?

Knowing about what consumers would do before they walk into a store may be interesting, but not quite profitable in the long run.

Shoppers are not really so until they enter the store and they stop being shoppers the moment they leave. Their behavioral patterns are very different. So if you want to have some return of your investment you have to start paying attention to shopping behavior and understand shoppers better.

Can you win your customer’s everlasting loyalty?

Nowadays, you can read all existing material about marketing, retailing and sales; you can even collect and store those books and videos until they can sink a cruise ship with their weight; but it would be worth nothing if you just leave the most important factor out of the equation.

People are the bases of all interaction. Whether you call it sales, marketing, business, politics, or whatever, all that is, is human interaction. If you miss out on the bases here, you will miss out there for sure.

Get into an Active Mindset and into your Customer’s Mind!

How bad do you want to get inside your customer’s head? Do you want to figure out what makes them do what they do?

Well, for that you'll have to study them in an environment that would make research easier: the shopping environment.

Innovate and Thrive!

As with many business’s and services, the generalist can be the dinosaurs of the industry (example SEARS); as we also see the rise of speciality services that offer up an unique customer experience that are  very good at one business and then expand that model (i.e. Tim Hortons, Starbucks etc.)

Success!

Why do some businesses succeed and others fail, is it vision, the fear of failure, determination?  Yes probably all of these but in many cases it’s the overriding need that you are doing it for someone else....yes your family.  It could be your son or your daughter, but it is a need to press on and be successful as you don’t want to fail them.  You are all they have and your commitment to success needs to be bigger than just you. 

Guidelines to an Effective Direct Mail Campaign

On our last article, we’ve been reviewing the real power of direct mail, but in spite of all that information, direct mail should be planned carefully as part of an integrated campaign with their own specific objectives. Responses, leads and conversions should be identified and used as performance indicators for each business for target selection.

Direct Mail Campaign’s Stopping Power

Part 1 of 2

Even though in three years, 42% of marketing budgets will be directed to online and social methods (including mobile, of course) compared to the 32% they have today, direct mailing is a strategic alternative that shouldn’t be easily discarded.

Why Merchandising Matters?

If you want to increase in store sales, you must focus on better merchandising, studies shows that 65% of all in store sales are directly influenced by how products are displayed.

Did you know that the cost of merchandising is about 1% of the sales while this investment produces up to 15% in sales increase?

All-in-one Stop – Walmart Success

Wal-Mart staff are certainly excited about their results from so many months of hard work making sure all of their customers would enjoy the store’s new enhancements, especially the addition of fresh food.
The opening of their first supercentre (one of the nine planned) in Atlantic Canada is the continuation of an aggressive bid to win over customers in an under-pressure competitive retail market, even for already established grocery retailers.

Treating (not tricking!) customers into Halloween Sales

It’s October already and most Americans are already making plans for the coming Halloween.

Halloween celebration is quickly becoming one of the largest shopping seasons of the year, and people tend to spend more and more money each year on costumes and decorations… and not just Americans in general, we’re talking Canadians…

Location, Location, Location ?

When looking at the retail environment, the only true assessment of how a retailer is performing is the shopping experience of the consumer. For consumer packaged goods companies and retailers some times this assessment is difficult.

To do the assessment correctly we focused on a term: ”through the eyes of the consumer”. What is the shopper experiencing when they do their shopping? To properly assess this, the focus was placed on gathering in-store information at high-traffic times. This is what is termed “peak shopping” periods.. i.e when everyone is in the store for their weekly shopping expedition. The Linkage Group initiated a retail audit service that looked at the retail store environment during peak shopping periods , capturing it as the consumer would see it. During these peak periods, the shopping experience can reflect negatively on the retailer and manufacturer as this is typically when they experience higher than typical out of stock. Our service allows the CPG Companies and Retailers the ability see the experience through the eyes of the consumer.

In conducting these assessments, a common finding was discovered. In several cases stores that were pristine on Monday or Tuesday night where quite often ‘out of business’ on many key products during peak shopping times. Simple to understand, but not so easy to fix. Further assessments were then conducted to determine if there was a possibility that the product that is regularly in stock is over represented versus higher selling brands. This approach may give the insight that the retailer requires to reassess their section planogram and allot more space to brands/products that are consistently out of stock, reducing the space allocation for those brands that can hold their foot print during peak shopping periods. This is a key, yet difficult fix, as most shopping decisions are still made at shelf level, so no product, means no sale which leads to a disappointing shopping experience and maybe a customer that doesn’t come back.

For more information on this subject, please visit our website at
www.linkage-group.com

Written By Bob Proctor,
President
The Linkage Group Inc.

Merchandising is all about the people!

Merchandising is all about having the right people in all local markets and in your regional offices that have received the best training available and have the right tools to complete the job!

Is merchandising for you?

You need to be flexible, able to work independently, troubleshoot unexpected situations and be resourceful.  Can you get the job done correctly and on time?

A national merchandising business for over 12 years, The Linkage Group knows how to do it right.  The Linkage Group has strategically placed 19 regional supervisors in all provinces across Canada.  All Supervisors have previous merchandising and or in-store retail experience. Our supervisor’s point of focus is to hire the right people in the right locations with the right skill set.

Many years ago, it was very apparent to The Linkage Group that in order to be successful, you had to put your people where the calls are and provide hands on, in-store training as required.  Show the merchandisers what is required to complete the job right, quality check their work and provide additional coaching when required. 

The Linkage Group has a reputation for quality work in difficult sections and store layouts. Our business is our people, our clients and our retailers.

For your national in store merchandising and or reset needs contact The Linkage Group.
For more information on this subject, please visit our website at
www.linkage-group.com

Written By Bob Proctor,
President
The Linkage Group Inc.

Entering the World of Social Media

The Linkage Group is proud to announce that you can now follow us on Twitter Facebook and LinkedIn. For the past month we have been collaborating with an outside company to improve our social media.

Take the time to check us out and like us on Facebook, LinkedIn and follow us on Twitter.

In addition to joining the above mentioned groups, we have also renewed our website to further meet our client’s needs. Take a tour of our new website and enjoy all the new

You can also find out more about our company with updated content and a more detailed description of what we do and who we are.

Please visit us at http://www.linkage-group.com

Advantages of Using a Planogram

A planogram is a marketing tool used in retail stores. It is a diagram or drawing that provides specifics as to where a product should be placed on a shelf and how many faces that product should hold. A planogram is used by the store to optimize sales and by suppliers to justify space allocated to brands and new product development. Planograms are a precise way of presenting new ideas for product placement, testing merchandising principles and understanding optimal inventory

Working with planograms has led to many successes in the retail business. The Linkage Group understands the impact a planogram has when it comes to a products financial performance. In a nutshell, it always comes down to the fact that by using planograms and the accompanying analysis, the financial performance of a product improves. By using a planogram, you can ensure that your store maximizes the shelf space to add more products and minimizes the frequency of Out-of-Stock products. A planogram can also help you make sure that your consumer demand is being addressed in a more efficient manner. With a planogram you can rest assured that things are being completed in a superiorly professional manner than the competition. 

Let Linkage help you with your planogram and analysis to optimize your retail performance.

Key benefits

• Helpful communication tool for produced displays
• Allocated selling potential to every inch of retail space
• Assured product placement
• More rigid inventory control & reduction of out-of- stocks
• Enhanced sales
• Pleasing customers with a superior visual appeal
• More efficient product replenishment

For more information please visit our website or contact us at details@linkage-group.com

Retail Information Systems- A Must Have For Success

The value of information systems is being realized and appreciated by retailers throughout the world. Many large retailers have benefitted from the use of information systems. The systems approach has helped them 

perform efficiently, reduce costs, improve service levels, expand the customer base and manage their functional areas better.

Information systems have helped retailers meet customer demands concerning better product availability and better product assortments.

The Linkage Group offers solutions for the retail industry that can help you operate more efficiently in a market that is constantly evolving. In this day in age it is the norm to always be facing new competition and dealing with the over abundant regulatory requirements.

When you collect and manage a huge amount of data and it is not available, accessible and reliable it can slow down your business. You need the ability to data mine and perform prognostic analytics in order to turn your data into a competitive advantage.

With our Shelf Smart software, not only do we collect data for you, we also make it easy to have access to fact-based data and business analysis tools which will improve your profitability and performance.

Let The Linkage Group Enhance Your Operations

To keep up to date with today's developing retail marketplace, you need a database platform that is responsive, accessible and vigorous enough to give you the data and business insight you need to improve:

- Important business decision making

-Support and upkeep for new products

-Customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention

-Merchandising, promotion and out-of-stock management

-Industry compliance standards

With over 15 years of experience, you can Trust the Linkage group for all your Retail Information needs.

Emergency Product Recalls

One of the biggest challenges that many brands face are product recalls. Not only can the unexpected need to recall product create liability issues, but they can also impact your brand’s reputation.

When dealing with product recalls speed is key- especially when a product that is being recalled could cause potential harm to the public. Once it has been decided that a product needs to be recalled, it will need to come off the shelves as soon as possible; this is where The Linkage group comes in. Logistically, this can present certain challenges, especially if you have robust retail coverage. This is a major reason why many brands turn to merchandising companies for support.

Establishing a relationship with a merchandising company, like The Linkage Group, that has the resources to service your needs will be an important part of your product recall planning. This will ensure that if you have to recall a product you 

can do so in a fast and effective manner. The Linkage Group Deals with emergency product recalls quickly and efficiently. This not only helps reduce potential liability and litigation, but it will also make all the difference to your customers. Reducing possible negative interactions between your customers and your products and also showing your customers how quickly you react to deal with potential product concerns will bode well for your company’s credibility and is good for reputation management.

New store set-up specialists

A new store setup project requires preparation, flexibility and devotion. The Linkage team is experienced with all of these qualities. Our store setup team can execute your detailed plans to their successful completion on time and on budget. We are focused and committed to getting you to the Grand Opening with the fewest problems as possible.

Managing store openings can be a huge undertaking, and as such requires a high degree of effort. Especially for smaller retailers or those moving away from the big box models, managing store openings effectively means organization and administration, among a variety of other things.

A merchandising company experienced with managing store openings is a great resource to have on your side. The support that can come with this relationship can mean huge gains when starting up. What kind of support are we talking about? There are a number of things that can be handled externally, all in consultation with you and managed according to your own unique expectations.

When lean budgets and tight schedules are unavoidable, having a dependable and experienced merchandising company as a partner is invaluable to your new store setup. Here at the Linkage Group, we are committed to efficiently executing your critical plans. We work hard to perform to your standards and exceed your expectations.

At the center of our merchandising services are our team members, as well as our Smart Shelf Reporting System. You deserve a merchandising company who will invest in their employees and train them to execute your project properly. The Linkage Group can provide you with the best team for your new store set up.

Importance of Retail Merchandising to Boost Product Sales

Retail Merchandising has more than one objective. Yes, it serves its purpose in making a store look nicer, but it is also a tool used to help boost sales, customer loyalty, and it’s applicable to all types of stores. When we talk about visual merchandising, we are referring to anything that has to do with commercial imaging. Everything from the store display windows to the actual product placements within the store has to be arranged tactfully, in order to insure consumer attention.

Poor merchandising not only stops potential customers from opening the door and coming in, it puts up a wall, stopping customers who come in from buying. When you understand how to avoid those pitfalls, and learn how to attract customers instead, you'll be able to keep them coming back for more.

At Linkage we provide experts in merchandising to help place and display your new products. We execute professional retail merchandising displays to help boost your sales. Leave the work up to us and rest assured that your merchandising is being done the right way.

We have over 300 trained merchandising professionals placed strategically from coast to coast. They are experts in their field and understand the importance of proper merchandising to increase sales, boost customer loyalty and keep new customers coming in.

With over 16 years of experience, The Linkage Group can provide you with the best retail merchandising services to minimize your risk of product failure. Our in-store specialists work with you to ensure maximization of your display, improve product visibility and increase customer satisfaction.