The purpose of merchandise is to get people to buy things. It can use pricing, special offers, display, and other methods to affect people’s choices about what to buy. Displaying goods in the right way, at the right time, in the right place, with the right amount, and at the right price is what marketing is all about.
Strategies for Merchandising
A “one size fits all” method won’t work regarding merchandising plans. Merchandising strategies should be different by category or even by segment, depending on the overall goal for the retailer, brand, and type. This is done to reach a specific purpose, such as building customer loyalty, increasing sales, bringing more people into the store, making more people aware of your brand, and so on.
Some of the most common ways to get people to buy something in a store are:
- Touchscreens that let you interact with things using sound, smell, and movement.
- Displays in stores and windows with unusual shapes.
- Labels on shelves.
- Putting goods together based on themes (like school lunch, barbecue season, Christmas, etc.).
- There are free tastings and demos in the store.
- Samples and free stuff.
- Well-thought-out product placement at eye level.
- Shelves and displays that are well-stocked.
When it comes to eCommerce, the best ways to get people to buy something are:
- Help with customers.
- Live chat support to help customers decide what to buy.
- Putting the search bar somewhere easy to see on the site.
- Giving away free shipping.
- Progress bar to show how things are going during checkout.
- Holiday and season-specific sets, hand-picked landing pages, and special deals.
- Descriptions of goods that use pictures, text, characteristics, videos, and other digital information.
- Advice on what to buy.
- Banners for advertising.
- Review scores and ratings.
- Bundling, cross-selling, and up-selling.
- Product labeling that works.
- Ribbon accents that draw attention to a product’s best feature (bestseller, free shipping, sale, newly added, etc.).
Why Merchandising Is Important
- Different kinds: Merchandising can help customers see all the different types of goods you have in your store, giving them many options.
- Putting a product there: If you have a good marketing plan, you can put extra items in easy reach of your customers online and off.
- Promoting: If you put your on-sale items in a specific spot on your website or store, people will be likelier to look at other things nearby.
Good Things About Merchandising
Since merchandising is all about selling, the main goal of good merchandising is to boost sales and make more money. When stores can make shopping easy for customers and help them finish their purchases, they get a lot of benefits, such as:
- Profits going up
- More happy customers
- More interested buyers (stay on-site longer)
- More brand loyalty because of faster product turnover
- Better company recognition