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.