Posts Tagged ‘holidays’

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Tuesday Tip: Gear up for Valentine’s Day

 Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

You have probably noticed the Valentine’s Day merchandise already hitting the shelves. Although most Valentine’s Day sales come three days prior to the 14th, getting your Valentine’s items out earlier this year could be to your benefit, for a couple of reasons:

Valentine’s Day is on a Sunday. Historically when Valentine’s Day falls on a weekend, retail sales drop a bit. This is because instead of buying products, couples go out to restaurants and date destinations. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), when Valentine’s Day was on Saturday in 2009 consumers spent about $14.7 billion compared to $17 billion in 2008.

The Super Bowl is early this year. With Valentine’s Day falling on the week after the Super Bowl, retailers will have to be on their best selling game. Men’s attention will be preoccupied, so getting them into the Valentine’s mood may be tricky. Start reminding them early that they need to think about the ladies in their lives.

The most popular items purchased for Valentines from the NRF include:

  • Cards
  • Evening Out
  • Candy
  • Flowers
  • Jewelry
  • Clothing
  • Gift Cards

If your store sells these items, highlight them at the front of your store, near registers and with Valentine’s Day sale signage. Appeal to men’s shopping behavior by making it easy to see items that would be perfect for their wife or girlfriend.

What is a big Valentine’s Day seller for your store?

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Friday Feature Product: Pricing Guns and Sale Labels

 Friday, January 1st, 2010

Happy New Year’s!

Wow its 2010 already. Is your store open today?

More and more stores have kept their doors open on the first day of the New Year, advertising extra savings to rake in shoppers looking for a deal.  Along with the tips from Tuesday about how to maximize after holiday sales, changing the look of your labels along with the discounted price will highlight reductions.

An easy way to draw attention to lower prices on price tags is with a one line pricing gun or a two line pricing gun. Pricing gun kits come with white labels, fluorescent red labels and sale labels. These sticker labels are perfect for going over a paper price tag or another sticker. With a wide selection of pricing gun accessories, stores will be able to find labels that will meet their needs.

SSW 1-Line Labeler Kits SSW Regular Tagging Gun Kits

1-Line Labeler Kits |        Regular Tagging Gun Kits

If you are having a storewide sale, an efficient way to mark all discounted merchandise is with a system using color labels, discount labels or sale labels. For example, you can mark all items that are 30% off with a green colored label and items that are 50% off with a red label. Likewise, you could use discount labels that have 20% Off, 30% Off and 50% Off already printed on for easy markdowns.

Blue Color Labels Discount Sign Kit Plus Labels Sale Labels

Blue Color Labels |           Discount Kit + Labels |           Sale Labels

To totally change your tags use a tagging gun that connects a paper tag to an item with a plastic fastener, refer to previous Friday Feature Product Post Tagging Guns and Accessories.

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Tuesday Tip: Maximize After Holiday Sales

 Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

With Thanksgiving and Christmas past, after holiday shopping is in full gear. Shoppers are still looking to save money where they can, which means they are out coupon hunting and sale searching to find the best deals out there. Independent retailers are going to have to price items very competitively to drive customers toward the registers.

According to the National Retail Federation, the number of shoppers was up but spending was down on Black Friday. If you were disappointed with Black Friday and December 26 sales, there is still time to increase your December/January figures. Independent store owners can take advantage of the holiday foot traffic by effectively highlighting marked down merchandise and displays.

The key for store owners is not only to get customers into your store but to spend money there as well. The first thing to consider is communicating to roadside customers or passersby that your store is featuring sales. You have about three seconds to let people know what they can expect to find inside. Especially as mid-January approaches, shoppers will still be looking for those holiday signs. Key places for signage are in window fronts, sidewalks and by the road. Remember to keep your signs simple, direct and professional. Easy-to-read, attractive signs will relay important messages to your target market.

Along with coupons and mailers, stores will attract more buyers by featuring merchandise with store fixtures and supplies that are designed specifically for highlighting sales. We have always recommended using a mix of hanging racks, bins and shelves. Round racks and dump bins are an economical way to feature a large amount of items and do not require lots of maintenance throughout the day. Because these fixtures stand alone, they are optimal to place in high traffic areas and draw customers to a particular area of the store.

Sell holiday merchandise quickly to make room for new 2010 items. We also recommend setting goals for employees and rewarding those who are keeping a positive attitude.

Everyone have a safe and happy New Year’s!

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Tuesday Tip: How to Store Seasonal Merchandise

 Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Hopefully after the holiday season you won’t have too much Thanksgiving and Christmas merchandise left on your shelves. If you don’t have vendors that you can ship back to, most of the left over items have to be stored away until next season. It may seem like a huge undertaking now, but taking extra precautions in storing your seasonal merchandise will keep it looking new for a profitable season next year.

It should go without saying that nothing should be left out in open bins. Keep in mind all the elements that could cause harm or damage to your products. If you building floods when it rains, keep boxes off the ground and use plastic containers instead of cardboard. Clear plastic containers can be helpful so you can see what is in them.

Labeling takes almost no time at all and will save you hours of going through all your boxes next year. Make sure when you stack and store your boxes that the labels are facing out so you can read them, they won’t do you any good hidden away.

With breakable items, it’s better to wrap in a paper without any ink. Newspaper and color tissue paper could get wet and stain your products. Also, be mindful of what products you combine in one box. We recommend keeping scented items separate from everything else, so your products do not permanently smell.

Unless you are absolutely sure that some of your food products will be like new in a year, do not try and store them. On items that are going to expire or that are outdated, consider having a clearance sale to get these products out of your store. And instead of throwing them out if they don’t sell, you can donate items to food banks or charity organizations.

Even though the process is a hassle for you now, you will be so happy that you made the extra effort next year when unloading holiday merchandise back on your shelves with ease.

How do you store your holiday merchandise? Any tips for new store owners?

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Tuesday Tip: Highlight Holiday Merchandise

 Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

From decorating to cooking, people always get into the holidays. So this is your chance to capitalize on holiday merchandise sales. Just putting out your seasonal merchandise is not going to put you above your competition. You have to go the extra mile and really make your seasonal merchandise stand out. Appeal to your customer’s senses and put them in the holiday buying spirit.

Sight
Your displays are going to be a huge factor in attracting customers to your holiday merchandise. People are going to go towards attention grabbing things like lights, moving objects and sparkle, not a tower of boxes. Here is where you should let your creative talents shine. If you are not very artistic, consult employees or friends who can help.

Smell
Draw customers into your store with a holiday scent like gingerbread or pine. This would be especially helpful if you’re selling holiday candles or potpourri. Many people associate the holidays with certain smells, so put them in the holiday mood with the sent of their mom’s fresh baked apple pie.

Sound
“Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la, la la la …” Nothing puts people in the holiday spirit more than Christmas or holiday music. Make sure it’s not too loud and try to have a variety of music play. Also try to avoid religious music and play songs such as Frosty the Snow Man, Let it Snow, Winter Wonderland, etc. or make sure you represent all traditions in your musical selection in order to keep all customers happy.

Taste
Everyone loves samples. If you have a special holiday drink mix or dip consider putting out samples. This is a great marketing tactic because people won’t have to guess at what they are buying. And it shows that you believe in your products enough to put it out and know that people will like it enough to buy it. This will also make people stay in your store longer and lure in others who are wondering what is so interesting.

Touch
If your merchandise is packaged in a box, we recommend having a display out of the box so that customers can pick things up and touch them. If you don’t, people will end up taking items out of boxes themselves. This could potentially damage several products.

Think of what would appeal to your customer’s senses this holiday and you might be pleasantly surprised at the difference it makes in your store.

How do you attract customers into your store?

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