Taking Control of Your Retail Management
Successful retail management, or the control of your brand at a retail location, is crucial for success. Meeting your customers’ needs and wants is one of the major ways to increase both your bottom line and customer retention and brand loyalty. But what does this include? What are we talking about as far as retail management?
Firstly, what do we mean by retail management? Well, simply, the management of your brand. When you rely on a retailer for everything from stocking/restocking shelves to pricing you have to be sure that they are meeting your expectations. In order to retain as much control as possible in a situation such as this, knowing what is going on in-store is vital. This is a key component – make sure that you are able to keep tabs on what is going on on the ground.
Another important aspect of retail management is distribution resource planning. This includes establishing inventory control parameters to measure inventory requirements over time. When you rely on a retailer, you have to make sure that your product is on the shelf, otherwise it isn’t going to sell. There are many factors requiring attention when it comes to this planning, including on-hand inventory, back-ordered demand of a product, required quantity of a product, and constrained quantity of a product. Keeping on top of these will help ensure that your stock is where it should be, when it should be there.
When your retail management is effective, this in turn positively impacts your customer retention and brand reputation. For example, what if a consumer enters a store intent on purchasing your product but then cannot locate it in-store or it is not stocked on the shelf. Instead of asking an employee they may choose your competitor’s product. What if they like your customer’s product just as much as they like yours? Or what if they feel it offers the same quality at a lower price? Companies lose, on average, 20% of their customer base annually, and this is one of the ways that this comes to pass.
Yet another important factor in effective retail management: social media community management. When you take advantage of the many benefits offered by social media, you also have to be aware of the impacts that this can have. Setting up a Facebook page and developing a following, only to ignore it once this has been accomplished, can be problematic. Complaints going unanswered or a loss of interest will reflect poorly on your brand. Keep up with what is going on online. Treat complaints as a gift – if you respond to customer concerns it shows an awareness and interest and a commitment to making things better.
Be smart about your retail management – make sure that you are always aware of what is going on in-store. Want some help accomplishing this? Marketsupport has you covered – contact us today at 1-877-421-5081.
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