#merchandiserecovery

[tattletale2020]

My Pet Theory of Perceived Value #4: It just keeps happening!

How do you make it stop?

It all starts with people.

People to Shop, People to Help, People to Tidy

Customers, Sales People, Merchandisers.

In perfect balance.

True Story: As I mentioned in My Pet Theory of Perceived Value #2, when I got there, The Bay Market Mall was a scary place, especially after having just come from the Pristine Harry Rosen. I spent my first day as Assistant Marketing Manager picking things up off the floor in the Women’s Sportswear Department. If my boss hadn’t been so awesome I would have walked. This was not what I’d signed up for. I’d built my career by making stores look organized and beautiful. This was pretty..….. far from that. But she treated it all like a normal Monday Morning. So we just got to it.

And this wasn’t even the scariest part of the store. The Women’s Designer Department had no less than 17 overly full rolling racks of TryOns. I was so gobsmacked, I even took pictures. As a team of Merchandisers and Visual Presentation, we could work on it for a solid day and not make headway. I even enlisted my son that summer and after a day said, ‘Mother, never make me do that again’.

As Marketing Manager, I eventually developed a system of X racks, with size rings labelling each Designer so the Fitting Room People could sort as they went, and it would be faster to put things away, but still, when we had head office visit, the Store Manager found it more cost effective to rent a trailer to store the full rolling racks, than to hire enough people to simply put it away. Wow.

The Spirit is Willing

Now this was not happening for lack of trying, or lack of pride in the store. It had been beautifully reno’d just couple of years before and the staff were very proud of the work they had put into it. None so proud as my new boss who had poured years of her life into making it a Jewel in the Chain. The volume of merchandise and customers was just so great, and the payroll budget so small, that in the 3 years I was there, those racks were never fully emptied. And every Monday we spent the day picking merchandise up off the floor, and removing Yogen Fruz and Coffee Cups.

Again $10,000’s of top name designer merchandise made to look totally worthless. Just think how much more money the store would have made if they didn’t have all those dollars/ sizes/ styles tied up in ugliness.

So what’s the solution?

But the Budget is Weak

My Boss and Store Manager were both extremely smart and experienced, and even though they were both a decade younger than me, I learned so much from them. If they couldn’t figure it out, who could? Not the head office we had to hide things from, for sure.

Occam’s razor, the only thing left to address would be the budget. You have a bunch of super smart people, with a vested interest in making the store look good, but there aren’t enough of them to make a difference. And when the economy takes a downturn, what do big companies do first? Cut Payroll.

So, the bottom line is, pun intended, hire more merchandisers and sales support to maintain the Perceived Value of your product. Or just don’t cut their hours.

You’ll get top dollar for your product before the Season ends and the Markdowns begin… Before it ends up in a stockroom, or several in the case of the Bay Market Mall, and on to the Dreaded Clearance Rack. The money you make Regular White Ticket will more than pay for the extra hands.

Stay Tuned for more Horror Stories and Happy Endings in the next chapter of My Pet Theory of Perceived Value: Crowded House.

And Check Out the previous articles in this Series:

My Pet Theory of Perceived Value

Perceived Value #2: How does this Happen?

Perceived Value #3: Make it Stop!

And if this horror just keeps happening to you, I can help you find the money from your Mark Down Dollars to Fill Out your Marketing/Merchandising Budget and Increase your Sales Figures. Not Scary at all! [email protected]

Images:

httpswww.nasdaq.comarticles3-best-apparel-stocks-to-buy-now-2020-06-20

https://www.businessinsider.com/hm-zara-compared-photos-details-2018-5

https://www.businessinsider.com/target-kohls-sears-jcpenney-have-messy-stores-photos-2019-9

#marketing #media #merchandising #Perceived Value #people #salespeople #smallbusinessmarketing #shoplocal #merchandiserecovery #sales #visualmerchandising #visualpresntation