Downsizing school supplies

This week I was looking at photos from a store I had visited in 2012. The photos were of a 12 ft long by 7 ft high school supply section; deep shelves and 12" hooks. I asked the manager and the store owner how well school supplies sold in their store. The answer was, "Great." But they couldn't prove it to me. None of the items, including two styles of steno pads and 29 different choices of pens, were set up in their POS system. If you are contemplating reordering schools supplies for the back to school season, I urge you to either run a sales report or at least do an inventory and compare it to purchases over the last 16 months. It's probably time to transform your school's supply section to a 4 ft home office and mailing center. If you are not sure what to put in the new open space, then let's meet at NCPA 2019 Annual Convention where we will come up with something that will generate revenue.

Top it off

Have you passed up a deal on a floor display because you simply don't have the floor space to place it? The next time an opportunity comes up for a floor display, buy it! Merchandise the product on an end-cap; display the header card on the top shelf. See an example here. (Make sure to place retail price stickers on the product!)

Stock up for the Sniffles

August is the month that most merchandisers will reset the Cough and Cold department. It's not too early to think about making room and ordering items that create companion and impulse sales. Things that you will want to add are natural remedies, immune boosters, hand sanitizers, thermometers, and facial tissue. To free up room for the product use the combination of two reports: sales reports from your POS and your wholesaler's fast movers. Both reports should list popular items by unit sales, not dollars sales. Consider removing items from the very bottom of the list.

Vocabulary Test:

Turns
There are a few terms in retail I have found that can be considered confusing, such as "turns" short for inventory turnover. It is the number of times that retailers sell and replace the items in a specific category in a year. How vital is it to have no less than one turn a year? Less than one turn a year for a department means you are not making a profit. Pat yourself on the back if you have averaged at least two turns a year.

Double-face
When setting up a department, it is wise to add a double-face item (two of the same item placed on a shelf parallel to each other), preferably a private label item, to each 4 ft shelf in the set. When it comes to adding a new or forgotten item to a shelf, you can simply reset the double-faced item to a single face and voila, a space appears. Try this; I guarantee it will come in handy!

Don't wait for this WONDERful deal to end!

Skincare is in style this summer, which is why you need Haruharu's WONDER Korean Beauty Skincare product line in your store. Receive a 20% discount on initial purchase AND a free display with testers. The WONDER Skin Care product line uses patented technology that delivers active ingredients deeper into the skin core in order to preserve natural skin health. You have until August 15th to claim this deal, but don't wait!