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Do you use effective merchandising? By Peter Segal of srcg, a consultancy specialising in retail strategy, category development and training.

Merchandising is the most powerful form of communication in outlets. When implemented successfully it creates a strong and memorable point of difference in customers' minds.

However, despite the apparent "simplicity" associated with merchandising, it could be regarded as more of a fine art.

Merchandising should act as a medium to communicate to customers that there is a wide choice of products on offer to meet their needs. The key to mastering merchandising is to ensure all activity contributes to the overall proposition being made to customers. It is all too easy to offer a bit of everything but actually deliver nothing.

Retailers must take responsibility of defining their proposition to customers. In simple terms, you must understand your customers' needs and how exactly you are going to meet them. Having this front-of-mind provides clarity to all other areas of decision-making.

Developing your merchandising plan​

Merchandising should be planned to ensure it fits in with every other activity within the outlet. The merchandising plan or checklist should address some key areas:

• what behaviour is the merchandising trying to influence?
• what message will the merchandising send?
• what customers are being targeted?
• does it communicate category strategy?
• is it meeting customers' needs?
• what is the expected return?
• what is the impact from / on other activities?
• how easy is it to implement and manage?
• how can we review activity success?

If activity is properly planned it will be easy to see if merchandising will influence customers or if activity overload simply causes confusion.

While merchandising should strive to be exciting, dramatic and innovative it must also be consistent in the message it is delivering to customers. This message is simple: "We understand your needs and have created this merchandising activity for you."

Selecting the right type of merchandising activity​

This is where merchandising starts to get creative and exciting again. Activity can range from something simple such as a back-bar display of a new product, or something as "discreet" as branded glassware and uniforms, through to the more flamboyant efforts of neon signs inside and outside the pub.

Remember, though, that the watchword is clarity. Clear simple messages that are consistent and avoid clutter will be far more successful than a "Sunset Boulevard" approach. The secret to success here again goes back to clearly understanding your objectives. Selecting the right type of activity to match your outlet and customers' needs is key.

Exploring the variety of merchandising solutions available is where retailers should look to their suppliers for expertise. Suppliers have the challenge of making their brand the most appealing one to customers in an outlet. The more successful merchandising efforts are generally those tailored to an outlet, or at a minimum a channel, as it understands the needs a brand can fulfil within a specific environment.

Activity around heavily branded initiatives in the marketplace benefits you as customers have far higher awareness and recognition and are primed to purchase. However, you should ensure that your outlet does not over power by creating a shrine to many brands.

Implementation​

Implementation of merchandising activity is all about ensuring what goes where, when and for how long, and who is responsible for making it happen? Suppliers and retailers should work together to produce simple and clear guidelines on how to effectively implement the merchandising solution. This needs to be communicated to staff to ensure they understand why this activity is taking place, and the role they have to play in delivering it.

Review​

The ultimate measure of merchandising success is to measure sales in each category before and after implementation. Equally important is canvassing your customers' views and acting on feedback. If something is working well, identify why and potentially replicate it. Likewise, if a solution is failing, act quickly to rectify it. Staff knowledge and supplier involvement should also be sought to benchmark against the market for continuous improvement.

Conclusion​

Merchandising is all about simple and clear messages that encourage customers to buy more. Think about what your outlet says to them from the moment they enter, through to the purchasing and consuming of drinks. Merchandising opportunities exist everywhere, but it is only through careful planning, execution and evaluation that these can be exploited.

Time to take DIY off the menu​

According to Waverley's 2003 trade research, visibility is one of the largest barriers to sales in the on-trade. Using menus is one of the easiest and most effective ways of overcoming this barrier. They operate directly at point-of-sale making them one of the most powerful marketing tools that a pub has at its disposal.

The Publican​ has recently conducted its own wine research with 2,000 consumers. The results revealed that consumers look to menus first and foremost when choosing a drink. Menus, whether for wine, food, cocktails etc, need to be more than an availability list and blackboards can perform this task. Menus speak volumes about the type of outlet you are and reflect the quality of your offering.

Here are just some of the benefits you can expect from a well-designed menu:

• increased awareness
• promotes and enhances outlet image
• increased spend/profit
• impulse purchases
• increased adventurism
• consumer retention
• attract new consumers

One company that is leading the way in providing menu solutions is MenuActive. ​It can be contacted on 01603 750065 or email: info@menuactive.com​

srcg​ is a consultancy specialising in retail strategy, catgory development and training. srcg​ facilitates collaborative working between retailers and manufacturers in the On-trade, Multiple Grocery and Convenience. Tel: 020 8948 4048 or visit www.srcg.com