|
Wall Stencils, Dimensional Plaster Stencils, Ceiling Stencils, Wall Molds, Decorating Ideas We Now Ship Internationally! Please note that we will be closed from July 2nd-8th for the 4th of July holiday. Orders placed during that time will be shipped on the 8th. |
|
Retailing Tips
|
|
I've been a vendor in major craft stores globally for over 15 years. In that time, I have learned so much from the retailers who have purchased and displayed my products. I've seen the successes and failures of industry professionals and I've taken to heart their plights to sell product consistently. In this section, I give to you a little of what I have learned. It not only applies to my product, but to any product you carry in your store. I'm delighted to share this valuable information because it helped make me a success, by helping retailers realize their mistakes and sell more product.
|
|
1. Display: I remember once, that a particular "Ben Franklin Craft Store" was not selling one of the designs they had ordered from me. They were desperate and wanted me to trade that design for something else I carried. But there was an obvious solution..... They had 12 in stock and they hadn't moved in months! I took it upon myself to stencil a "display" of that design. I did it on an apron they carried in the store. They hung it on a board above the stencil display.... within a week, they were sold out of that design AND the apron and ordered 24 more of the one design they couldn't previously sell. Lesson: The consumer is an odd creature. Sure, some of them are visionaries and can see a use for a particular design. But most are not. Those are the consumers who demand to know the "exact" colors and paint brands that were used to create the design, the ones that need to ask you with endless questions and get "need to know" details. You know the ones I'm talking about, because you've had them in your store a million times! Some people are leaders and some followers... but that's a good thing in your case, because these are also the consumers that will take your advice, purchase the products you recommend and be happy and more confident with their choices because of you! When a design is no longer selling (or never sold to begin with), simply create an "idea" display using the item and watch it sell out in no time! Do something "creative and fun" with the item. Use it in a different way. Put up a sign that gives them ideas as to different things they can do with it.... use it on something else you carry in the store and watch your business sell out of BOTH items! Retailing isn't always easy. Vendors sometimes have the answers! 2. Move your merchandise by Re-Arranging! When sales slowed in a particular store, I had an instant "fix" for the problem. "Re-arrange" the product! Seems silly, doesn't it? Such a simple fix! You have regular customers... right? They come in your store every few weeks but every time they come in, everything seems the same. They tend to "look past" things they've seen 100 times. They glance at it and pass right by.......They're used to seeing the same product in the upper left hand corner of an aisle, the same items in the same places, week after week. Well change them! Take the same product and the items at the bottom of the rack, now move to the top. Suddenly, things look different! To your customer, something "new" has been added when all the while it was there all along! I can't tell you how many times this worked in how many stores nation wide! "Micheal's" craft stores invented the "power aisle" for just such a reason... they not only used that absolutely disgusting "obstacle" in the path of getting where one had planned to go to move "non-moving" merchandise, they also created it to deter you from your one "mission".. the one thing you came to get... it forced you to look at and maybe examine, other merchandise! It was "in the way"..... so much so, that you had to "go around" it and in many cases, has made the consumer buy more than they had originally planned. Merchandise in the "Power Aisle" changed regularly and typically featured items that were being closed out. Sometimes, vendors get blamed for having "bad" or "non-selling" product, when it's really just a matter of knowing tricks to "selling" product. That's certainly something we ALL want to do!
3. Customer Service: I will go back to a restaurant even when the food is bad if the customer service is "excellent". This means that the waiter didn't "bug" me, (bucking for a tip) but kept my coffee cup filled and asked me if I needed anything. That person shows concern and that's what your employees (or you) must do in order to make a return customer. I don't know how many times I would be working my product area in a store and found that customers would wander aimlessly trying to find someone to help them. In many case, I would overhear that employee have no answers for that customer. Was it that they didn't care? Or was it that they were poorly trained or inexperienced? Many times, I acted as a guide to their customers, helping them find wanted items in the store, showing or helping to find out how to use it properly and giving them ideas on which to build further sales of product. If you have the greatest product on earth at the most reasonable prices, you won't succeed without outstanding customer service. What does that mean? It's simple: Remembering that it's your customers who pay your bills and provide your income... they are your future, your past, your beginning and possibly, your end... Many VERY long and wonderful relationships have been built, resulting in a long lasting and loyal customer base just through good customer service.
I would LOVE to hear your retailing tips! What is working for you? How could that information help other retailers across the nation? Email them to me at stencilstoplaster@yahoo.com
|
|
Click here to order our free print catalog! (if you haven't already done so, please fax your business license to Victoria at 425-258-6812) Click here to submit feedback directly to Victoria
|
|
Painting Stencils Raised Plaster Stencils Ornate Wall Molds Wholesale Stencils Rose Stencils Architectural Stencils Mural Stencils Cherub Stencil Floral Stencils Music Stencils Fruit Stencils Vine Stencils Victorian Stencils How to Stencil How to do Raised Stenciling How to Cast Plaster Molds Ideas for Wall Murals Fabulous Plaster Ceilings and Walls Raised Plaster Wall ideas Ideas for Stenciled Borders Ideas for Faux Finishing Victoria Larsen
All Stencil Product designs Copyright © 1990-2008 by
Victoria Larsen.
All Rights Reserved. Website designed, created,
and maintained by Larsen Productions. All images, graphics, and
intellectual content are © Copyright Victoria Larsen 1990 - 2008. All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced
for any commercial intent or purposes without expressed
written consent. This website is dedicated to the loving memory
of Joyce Bakken, Brandon Layton and Dorothy Kirkwood.
|