Way to increase sales

Do you think that from the rearrangement of places of terms the sum does not change ?! Just not in retail! Correct display of goods will increase store traffic and sales. Marina Polkovnikova, an expert on merchandising, is sure that simple methods of working with goods can bring your business to a new level.

Marina Polkovnikova -

founder and head of VMC Retail agency, expert in visual merchandising and store building; @marinapolkovnikova_official, Vmcreta

Addition and Subtraction Examples

Knowing the capacity of the trading floor will allow you to extract the maximum from each square meter, increasing profits as much as possible. How does merchandising a store begin? With the definition of its pricing policy. The design of the room, the amount of equipment purchased and the further display of goods will directly depend on the segment of the shoes you represent. The higher the price segment, the fewer pairs or half pairs represented on the 1 square meter of retail space. So, in the segment of medium and premium shoes, the number of models, as a rule, does not exceed 1,5-5 units. In the lower price segment, the layout is always denser. But here there is a certain limit: the buyer should freely take the goods he liked from the shelf, not being afraid to bring down the entire structure.

As a rule, a reference point is a shelf with a length of 120 cm. If you work in the middle and high-medium segments, then on this area you will have about 6 pairs of shoes, for example, two in full, two in full and again two in full . Of course, the presentation of shoes in profile gives the buyer the opportunity to better see the product - to evaluate the height of the heel, the overall design of the model, but a similar layout - at times reduces the capacity of the trading equipment. For the same reason, in most stores on the shelves are semi-pairs. Thus, the store owner saves space, allowing himself, if necessary, to expand the range of the store. Saving work space forces store owners to exhibit small models - 36-37. But before laying out the goods, it is necessary to take into account the existing demand: if 80% of your customers choose larger shoes, trying to save space on the shelves may turn out to be unnecessary problems: store employees will be forced to run to the back room more often for the necessary pair, which in turn can affect sales volumes.

Presentation tables and island structures use free display. In this case, you will have to manually calculate each shelf and each islet: here the calculation is based on the maximum capacity. For example, if the calculations gave you a figure in 100 units, you can decide to lay out exactly this number of pairs or set 200 half pairs in the same space.

Dimensional slide and right order

Based on the received figures, an order is formed: how much goods will be in the trading room at a time, plus stocks, taking into account the speed of formation and receipt of the order. Models in one size range can be purchased, and running models in several dimensional grids. When forming the assortment, it is very important to observe the correct proportions - how many units per size to order. The popularity of models must always be considered. A good manager is well aware of his clientele and "running size", which are sold in percentage and quantitative ratio better than others. There is a certain formula according to which, in a percentage, the buyer orders the sizes (emphasizing the most demanded "sizes, and minimizing the" non-working ") - this principle is called a bargain. In this case, the order of certain models can be formed as follows: 36-th size - 1 pair, 37-th - 2, 38-th - 2, 39-th - 1.

It should also be borne in mind that voluminous models of the autumn-winter season take up more space on the shelves, so the capacity of the “cold season” is usually 20% lower than in the summer period.

More colors and accessories!

Merchandising affects not only the number of units of goods to be purchased, but also the color palette ordered from the manufacturer of shoes. And here we must proceed not only from sales analytics! It is obvious that dark shoes, especially in the winter season, will be in great demand. But even if the sales analysis demonstrates the confident advantage of black shoes in the shopping basket of your store (up to 90% of the entire assortment), you need to buy colored shoes! This is dictated not only by the emerging market trend in recent years, but also by merchandising rules. However, color models must be chosen, focusing on the target audience of the store. If the main buyer of your store is a 40 + woman, bet on calmer colors - beige, brown. If you are focused on a young audience, you can experiment with red, wine and even more extravagant blue and purple tones.

Spread the goods, forming compositions of black and colored shoes, or alternating such models on the shelves. This will attract the attention of the buyer not only to bright products, but also to dark models. When black models stand next to each other, it is difficult to isolate their design features, to see the original design, as a result of which, there is a feeling that the product is identical.

Color models should be purchased at least 10% of the total volume, correctly placing them on the shelves, as well as in the shop windows. These are the so-called “anchor models” that draw attention to the shop window and to the focal points of the trading floor. The client may not dare to buy a similar model, but he will be interested in the goods standing nearby. It is important to remember that selling color models is very difficult, you may only sell them on sale, but with their help you will quickly sell other models.

Shoe stores often make an unforgivable mistake, forgetting the importance of accessories. Complementary products - bags, wallets, belts, gloves - when properly laid out, help sell the main product - shoes. If there are accessories in the assortment of the store, you need to place one or two models at each focal point. In the golden zone (the third shelf below, located at eye level), you can place a composition of two bags from the same collection and the same color, combining with shoe models (for example, with high heel shoes and without heels). And on the other wall - place a similar composition on the second shelf, thus creating a certain dynamic.

Change of exposure

The display of goods in the store needs to be changed often enough - ideally once in 2 weeks. The reason for the changes, as a rule, are new arrivals. In this case, it is important to place the new models at the focal points, and to put the “delayed” and unpopular ones into the background. That is, there is a partial change in both the assortment and the calculation. Allocate a new product a place in the promotional zone (the first third of the hall), as well as a storefront.

If the goods are not delivered to the store so often or imported only at the beginning of the season and immediately put up on the trading floor, you still resort to changing the exposure at least 1 once a month! What can be done? Swap the rulers: move the classics that were displayed in the middle of the trading floor to the right corner, and put the “romance” forward, on the contrary. You can go the simple way and swap the "walls", or on the same shelf, change the front layout to replace with the profile, etc. If you have a multi-brand store, swap brands collections. In the case when each brand is assigned a specific zone, change the layout inside each corner.

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The same rules apply for shop windows: a complete change of exposure occurs once a season, but the goods displayed in the window must be changed every two weeks. The buyer should “hook” his eyes on the new models, notice that life in the store does not calm down after the seasonal change of goods.

Do not be afraid that such frequent changes will confuse the customer and if he doesn’t find the goods he liked during his last visit, he will leave the store. As a rule, when customers notice changes, they are interested in new arrivals, and they even notice models that they lost sight of in their previous visit.

Another reason for unplanned merchandising is poor sales dynamics. In this case, it is necessary to analyze the reasons for the drop in traffic, the drop in consumer activity, determine exactly which positions are in demand, which ones are not, which ones need to be more aggressively promoted. For example, in the middle of autumn it is already cold, but shoes are still in demand. Place ankle boots and boots in the industrial zone, and shoes in the back of the store.

Hot sale season

In the sales season, merchandising of the store changes dramatically: zoning occurs at the percentage of the discount, or at the absolute price. The first third of the hall in December-January is devoted to New Year's collections and evening shoes, this is the short time period when such products are in demand. If in the assortment of the store there is no such product, on the days of discounts at the entrance and on island structures, you post the most popular goods, which are sold at this stage with a small discount. For example, short ankle boots, warmed models of boots ... But not all of the space is filled with them: you allocate part of the promo zone for seasonal goods sold at a regular price.

In the early days of sales, do not rush to put the most “advantageous offer” at the entrance: it is attractive for the buyer, but not for you. Expose the goods, “drawing” the path: claim small discounts at the entrance to the store and take the buyer to the cheapest goods inland. At the end of the season, when the discount is already valid for the entire collection, move the goods with the maximum discount at the entrance, with the minimum - closer to the checkout. During this period, everyone offers a discount and your task is to “lure” the buyer to your store.

When the sales season is still ongoing, but the first batch of the new collection came to the store, it must be placed in the back of the hall, and then gradually increase its presence. When the new collection takes up more than 30% of the sales area, it is necessary to move it to the promo zone. Place the remnants of the goods sold at a discount in the most passive zone near the wall, using POS materials, informing the buyer that advantageous offers are still valid.

Professional approach

It is up to you to engage in merchandising yourself, to hire a specialist in the staff or to invite a professional from the outside. A network of 7 and more stores requires a full-time employee, and not just one: in this case, one of them carries out general management, analyzes sales, selects equipment and the general concept, the other works at points, directly engaged in the arrangement.

Small networks, as a rule, invite the merchandiser from the outside. Most experts in this area work precisely on outsourcing.

The fact that a professional in front of you will tell you his portfolio, which should include experience with leading retailers. Offer the merchandiser to complete a practical task, for example, within an hour or two, change the layout on one wall or in one store corner. He must justify the new arrangement: the goods should be presented favorably, it should be convenient to pick up. It is important that you want to come up and consider one or another model of the calculation. Here is a layman, if he used for calculation not all the goods provided to him, but partly weeded out with indistinct argumentation “This does not fit!”. If the product is the same in style, but part of the merchandiser is rejected, it means that it will continue to be the same and you will not find a compromise in work.

When inviting a professional to work, you should be ready for changes, not only in the calculation. A VM specialist can justify the purchase of additional equipment or the replacement of existing equipment. If you want to see the difference and attract a buyer to the store, you need an integrated approach. The merchandiser must check the correctness of the selected lighting, the presence of mirrors, comfortable sofas and armchairs, as well as how mobile the equipment is - can it be quickly modified to increase or decrease the quantity of the presented product, depending on its availability. It is important to remember that the ultimate goal of merchandising is to make the store understandable to the consumer, attractive and commercially successful.

An objective assessment of merchandising

The main indicator of correctly conducted merchandising is an increase in attendance. If there were no mistakes in the purchase (the assortment does not meet the expectations of the buyer), this will positively affect the sales of the store. In this case, an increase in the average check and the number of positions in it is expected.

Savvy staff

The work of even the most highly qualified merchandiser will be extremely difficult if your staff is not knowledgeable about VM, does not know the basics of laying out the product, its proper presentation. Regular exposure changes involve the participation of junior staff in the process. Therefore, sellers must understand why the goods are grouped exactly the way shoes should be displayed, what should be the distance between pairs or half-pairs ... They must carry out the orders of the merchandiser consciously, understanding the effectiveness of these actions.