6 Merchandising Tips for 2021
No matter what kind of retail operation you run, you’ll need to pay close attention to your merchandising operations in 2021 or run the risk of losing customers to the competition. Merchandising is so important for retail that you can lose customers, profits, and your reputation if you don’t stay on top of it. That’s why ChainDrive offers the following six merchandising tips to increase sales in 2021. These tips should work for any kind of retail operations.
- Replenish your supply automatically – In 2021, there will be no excuse for not having merchandise on hand. If it’s stock you carry on a regular basis, establish minimums that trigger an automatic replenishment per SKU. This will ensure you always have merchandise in stock.
- Buy in bulk – For more merchandise, you’ll get discounts if you order in bulk. If your retail chain has several store locations, order for all of your stores at once, get the discount, and allocate the merchandise intelligently.
- Establish inventory level alerts – If you have a product that just doesn’t move, you might want to re-allocate that product to another store that can move it or put it on the bargain rack. Inventory alerts can notify you of merchandise that has overstayed its welcome.
- Think one season ahead – At Christmas, you should be thinking about Easter, or spring. At Easter, you should be thinking about Memorial Day, or summer specials. Think one season ahead and make sure you receive merchandise in plenty of time to put it on display for the right season.
- Reduce holding costs by ordering only the best-selling merchandise – You’ll never have to mark your merchandise down if you don’t order too much of it. Some retail stores, like Amazon’s brick-and-mortar location, only stock the best sellers. With the rest of the merchandise, you can offer to order for each customer upon request. This will cut down on holding costs and protect your profits.
- Display your merchandise well – How you display your merchandise may depend on location as well as the merchandise, but you need to make it easy for your customers to find. Pick a merchandise organizational system that works for your customers.
Keep these merchandising tips to increase sales in mind as you plan your retail merchandising operations for 2021.