Retail Product Advice: Norma's Blog

Make It Easy To Buy More

2012-02-01T02:09:34Z

Add-on Sales

"Adding on" is an essential part of the selling process. When you add on, you sell more and your customers will be happier with their purchase because you’ve either made the buying experience easier or have saved them money. What is the easiest way to add on? Create bundles.

Following are two types of bundles that are adaptable to almost all types of retail stores.

Bundle Items That Are Commonly Sold Together

Putting together this type of bundle makes it easy for your employees to sell and easy for customers to say yes to the bundle.

One example I heard of was a company that sold kites. Did you think buying a kite was simple? Not really - at least not time-wise, and in most cases - not "expertise-wise". After picking the kite, you have to pick a kite string (often depending on the kite size and the typical weather conditions where you'll fly the kite, to name two considerations). After that, you still have to choose the tail and something called a "snap swivel".

Finally, someone decided to bundle the separate pieces together. In fact, they created three bundles - good, better and best. Each bundle was given a catchy name. In the first bundle, items were chosen that would deliver the best kite flying experience while giving the store the highest profit margin. Realizing that most customers wanted to drive a Ferrari, they also knew that not all customers wanted to spend that type of money - thus the reason for creating the good and better categories. These were still wonderful products for their price point.

It's important to note that with this type of bundle, it isn't necessary to discount the items. And the fact that you've taken the guesswork out of the process has made it easier for your clerks to sell while adding value to your product for your customers.

Bundle Multiples of the Same Item

This type of bundle works especially well for consumables or perishable items, but it can be used with all kinds of merchandise - candles, sweaters, flats of annuals, paint rollers, dog food. Think about your store's products. I'm sure you'll see all types of possibilities.

You will most likely want to use some type of discount with these bundles. It could be a straight % off of one or a larger percent off of multiples. Another choice is a BOGO discount (Buy one/Get one....). One store I know of uses BOGO pricing and also has a customer loyalty program. They sell high end products. Their "bundle" consists of a customer's buying 10 of "xxx" over time. When they buy the 11th "xxx", it's free.

Because they use CounterPoint SQL software, it’s easy to track customers' BOGO purchases. In addition they can award loyalty points based on all the dollars each customer spends. These loyalty points are redeemed like cash when making future purchases. And unlike Safeway, the points don't expire in 60 days (unless, of course you want them to. If so, CounterPoint can handle that also).

Talk to you soon ~Norma

Are Your Email Customers Unsubscribing?

2012-01-27T02:35:53Z

Why Readers Unsubscribe from Email Lists

Everyone hates it when they get "unsubscribes" from their email list. And when all you see is the word "unsubscribe" your immediate reaction is probably to ask yourself "what am I doing wrong"? Maybe nothing! Or maybe something you could be doing better.

The First Consideration:
Ask yourself if you're giving your readers useful, valuable, interesting or important content. If you are, they'll hesitate to unsubscribe - even during periods when you are emailing frequently about products and promotions.

If you're not giving them useful information, it's easy for even your biggest fans to ditch your emails.

A Second Consideration:
There is almost always a direct correlation between your email frequency and sales. The more you send, the more you sell. Unfortunately, frequent emails may also lead some customers to unsubscribe.

You should be willing to lose some casual readers - the ones who probably aren't that likely to buy that much from you anyway - in order to really engage and activate the amazing customers on your list who are ready to buy.

So remember this the next time you ramp up your email frequency and start getting those "unsubs". Take a deep breath and remind yourself that you're giving your readers great content on a regular basis. Those unsubscribes simply mean happier customers overall that you're reaching. And these are the ones most likely to buy.

Addendum:
I've always thought there should be another entry line for "reason" when an "unsubscribe" is submitted. You don't want a "book" written, but how about a 25 character line where the customer could enter something like "duplicate email", "no time to read" and I suppose the occasional "stop bothering me" entry.

Knowing why you're receiving unsubscribes may help you improve your emails or it may give you an opportunity to interact to a) apologize, b) find out what you could do better, or c) simply say thank you for.....your input, feedback, past business etc.

Talk to you soon. ~Norma

Boost Your E-commerce Sales with One Letter

2012-01-20T05:18:47Z

Personal Service and Selling Online

I recently read an article written by Miles Burke for SitePoint. It dealt with his experiences ordering from companies online during the holiday season. In fact, his family did most of their shopping online this season. Although they received all of their orders, there was one company that stood out from all of the rest. The majority of companies' packages arrived with a packing slip and a receipt - although a few didn't. The only way to tell who sent some packages was by the address label.

But what made that one company special? I'll let Miles tell you inis own words.

"It was a letter. That's right, one of those paper items you used to receive before email. One A4 page on letterhead, with a nicely merged letter thanking me for choosing them to purchase from, and welcoming me to get in contact with them should I have any questions or feedback about the products, the purchase process, or the delivery experience. Even better, it was hand signed by someone senior in the business." (To read the complete Sitepoint article go to http://www.sitepoint.com/boost-your-e-commerce-sales-with one letter/ ).

As I've said in previous posts, if you are not giving your customers the opportunity to order from you online, you're missing out on a sure way to increase your sales. Think of it. No additional overhead for retail space, lights, heat, insurance - less seasonal help requirements. What's not to like?

If you're using NCR/Radiant's CounterPoint Point of Sale software, it's as easy as adding CPOnline Integrated eCommerce. You use your own brick and mortar inventory and download the online orders directly into CounterPoint for processing.

If you still haven't created an online presence, it's time to seriously start considering it.

Talk to you soon. ~Norma

It's Taken Less Than Two Years! - Continued

2012-01-13T03:34:07Z

First Annual Shopper Experience Study

This is the second half of the First Annual Shopper Experience Study published 16 months ago that was about future shopper mega-trends that have now become part of the selling landscape. As my previous blog stated, these are trends you should seriously consider implementing if you haven't already.

Generation Y Changes the Behaviour of All Previous Generations
The massive adoption of shopper-friendly technologies forces retailers and other generations to adapt to Generation Y shopping styles. Think online. Think mobile.

The Death of the Task Worker
In order to deal with the dramatic increase in shopper product knowledge, retailers will transform their workforces into knowledge-based workforces. They will dramatically increase the hours employees spend with customers while increasingly automating back-office tasks.

Real SKU Rationalization Takes Hold
Retailers will continue to reduce supplier and SKU counts. Cross-channel order management will allow retailers to pinpoint the best locations for their SKUs - shipping slow-moving products into the warehouse or back to the supplier and increasing inventory for key items. Slow moving items that can't be returned to the supplier will get price reductions (sooner rather than later).

Shoppers Demand Consistent Cross-Channel Experiences
A divided organization drives separate strategies and experiences - and this will be increasingly unacceptable to Generation Y shoppers. Customer service, merchandising, pricing, inventory and supply chain business processes will be seamlessly integrated within the organization.

Death of Static POS Becomes as Possibility
Increasing customer acceptance of out-of-queue check-out and mobile check-out, and the cost benefits associated with it, will enable retailers to finally have an alternative to the tyranny of massive, future POS investments. By-products include reduction of employee-based shrink, lower capital expenditures, increased sales per square foot, and reclaiming premium store space.

So there are your 10 mega-trends. The good news is that if you are using CounterPoint Point of Sale software, you have the tools to implement these changes now - if you haven't already. If you aren't using CounterPoint, I would strongly suggest you take a look to see the advantages you will gain by using this forward looking product.

CounterPoint is not an old-fashioned point of sale system. It has embraced the features that customers are looking for.

Mobility? It has it.
Integration for all phases of retailing? It has it.
Customer connection? it has it.

I could go on, but instead, I'll simply state again, take a look. See what CounterPoint can do for you. Contact us so we can help you see CounterPoint's Great Feature Set.

Talk to you soon. ~Norma

It's Taken Less Than Two Years!

2011-12-22T03:32:13Z

First Annual Shopper Experience Study

Less than two years ago, Steven Skinner of Cognizant published an article about the 10 future shopper mega-trends resulting from an exclusive consumer study on the future of retailing and the impact of shopper empowerment.

To gather this information, RIS News teamed with Cognizant to publish the "First Annual Shopper Experience Study: Changing Priorities, Resetting Expectations". Over 2000 participants were polled to learn the likes and dislikes of the retail shopping experience.

Now - 16 months later - it's amazing to see how many of their findings have moved into the mainstream. Why is this important to you? Because retailers who don't adapt to these changes are putting themselves at a disadvantage.

Sales and Product Information via Mobile Phone
Shoppers will opt-in to networks that send them content-rich messages about their products, prices, promotions and special services.

Taking the Store to the Shopper
Retailers will bring their full arsenal of capabilities to the shopper, regardless of location, whether the shopper is in the store, at home, or walking in the park.

Distributed Order Management Integrating All Retail Channels
All Enterprises will integrate order management across the enterprise to provide one view of customer orders regardless of the way they were purchased.

Mobile Shopping Comes of Age
Talked about since the turn of the century, this trend will be fueled by shopper acceptance, new technologies, increased network bandwidth, and retailer adoption that will increasingly become virtual.

Social Media and Product Development Collide
Product life-cycles will be integrated with social media feedback to improve relevance, increase speed to market, and reduce costs associated with creating products. Shoppers will provide ideas for new product development and will help determine how existing products can be improved.

Does any of this sound familiar? They have all come to pass. If you haven't managed your brick and mortar store to take advantage of these changes, this should be first on your list in the upcoming year.

Check tomorrow's blog for the remaining five trends that are now part of the retailing landscape.

Tale to you soon ~Norma

Fake It If You Have To!

2011-12-15T02:37:07Z

Christmas Cheer

It’s December 14th. You’ve been working non-stop during this holiday season and you have 10 more days of Christmas ahead of you.

I guarantee that sometime during the next 10 days you and your staff are going to get cranky.

    ~ And tired
    ~ Possibly pre-occupied
    ~ Or annoyed
    ~ Even disgruntled

In short, your Christmas spirit will have headed south. That’s understandable. But it’s not okay to let your customers feel that lack of Christmas cheer. If you don’t feel it, you’ve got to fake it.

Your customers are counting on you to make their Christmas shopping experience fun and festive. They might be tired and grouchy too, so the last thing they need to hear is grumbling from you or your staff. Think of your time on the sales floor as being an actor. It’s showtime! Put a smile on your face and try for a spring in your step, even if you’re feeling Grinchy in your heart.

Funny thing is – when you start faking all that Christmas cheer, pretty soon you really do start to feel it! And I'll bet your customers will remember. And if they remember, you'll have created a customer who will return.

Talk to you soon. ~Norma

You Have Gift Cards - Fun Ideas For Selling Them

2011-12-01T02:01:33Z

Selling Gift Cards

It's true that gift cards can boost sales during the holidays and help you generate revenue through the year. All of your competitors are going to be competing with you for a big slice of the gift card pie this season. Obviously you can place the cards by the registers and put marketing materials in your store - but what are you doing that your competitors aren't.

Try using social media to promote and sell your gift cards

If you have a Twitter or Facebook business account
Run a hastag contest on Twitter or a trivia contest on Facebook. Choose a participant at random to receive a $5 gift card. When the card is redeemed, the winner is likely to spend more than the value of the card. Better yet, that person will most likely tell his/her friends about the great experience he had with your business. Note: When you use Facebook for any type of solicitation, make sure you adhere to Face book's guidelines.

Hold secret giveaways
People love to be part of something exclusive. Encourage your fans and followers to buy cards with a "secret password" giveaway on the same day of the week every week. Give that day a catchy name. For example: Magic Monday, Terrific Tuesday, Wahda U Know Wednesday. On that day, release a password and give away a $5 gift card with any gift card purchase of $5 or more when your customer uses that password at the counter. Another option is to allow the use of the password with any online gift card purchase of $50 or more.

Make it a scavenger hunt
Hide a fully loaded gift card somewhere around town or around your neighborhood. Once it's been carefully secured, start giving clues on your social media pages about its location. As you continue to release clues, you are also reminding your fans that you sell gift cards.

IMPORTANT: Require the winner to post or tweet a photo of the location once it's found so that the rest of the searchers aren't left hanging and wondering about where/if the card was found.

Sign them up
Create an email marketing sign-up form on your Facebook page if you don't already have one. If you're not sure how to do that, you can use a third-party application to help. Promise to give a $50 gift card to one lucky winner who signs up for the email campaign during a specified time frame. Then add those email addresses to your database and use them for an email campaign. And the first campaign? Gift Cards, of course. Again, make sure you are following Facebooks guidelines.

(Excerpted from an article from NCR/Radiant Systems)
Talk to you soon. ~Norma

There's Still Time For A Fun Christmas Promotion

2011-11-24T01:52:09Z

12 Days of Christmas

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. The following day - commonly known as Black Friday - actually started a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't prepared for the Black Friday blitz by now, it's too late. BUT, there's still time for "The 12 Days of Christmas".

A "12 Days of Christmas" promotion has become a big event in many areas. It features one - and only one - "super sale priced" item on each of the 12 days before Christmas.

This is a fun, easy promotion you can plan today. If you aren't familiar with this type of event, read on.

Pick your items, pick your percentage
Pick items that are either high margin so you still make some money while giving your customers a killer deal (best idea), or items that are woefully overstocked.

Items don't have to be picked way in advance. As it gets closer to Christmas, you'll have a better idea of what needs an added incentive to move.

Get the word out
Email your customers the super sale item of the day on each of the twelve days before Christmas. Make it a quick, one paragraph email with a catchy subject line. This gives you a chance to send emails for 12 days in a row without seeming like a pest.

Post signage at your location. Remember to only list that day's item.

Post the item of the day on your Website or Facebook page. Tweet if you Twitter.

You may want to include a "while supplies last" notice wherever you list your "super item".

Here is what one store owner had to say about this promotion:

" I have run this promotion for several years now. Each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas, I have one featured item on "super-sale" for that day only. I make it a good one.

Customers come in daily to check and see what's on sale that day. They usually want to know what's on sale the next day... but I never tell! Or they'll ask if a particular item will be on sale later on, and of course, I never tell that either. Now, office managers from different companies call the store in the morning to find out what's on sale that day and gets the word out to their employees.

When I started doing this promotion, I was just trying to move things that needed a push, but now I 'shop' for it in advance."

My thought? If you get them in the store for your super-sale item, they are likely to buy other items too.

Talk to you soon. `Norma

38 Days Until Christmas! What Are You Doing?

2011-11-18T01:11:50Z

So what do you do? How do you complete? Do what you do best.

It's still a week until Thanksgiving and already stores have had their Christmas merchandise displayed for a month. We may not like it, but the big box stores are driving the start of the season.

So what do you do? How do you complete? Do what you do best.

Personalize the shopping experience for your customers. One idea that has proven successful for a number of store owners is creating a Holiday Gift Guide to email your customers. Make it simple - VERY simple. This isn't the time for a big complex catalog. Leave that to the big box stores. This is what we suggest for a more personal touch:

Think about 3 to 5 gift-giving categories that fit your merchandise
For example: Gifts for Him, Gifts for Her, Gifts for the Beginner, Gifts for the Expert, Gifts for Dogs, Gifts for Cats.... And don't forget Stocking Stuffer gifts - This category will make up in volume sold even if the prices are lower.

Pick 4 to 6 of your favorite gift items in each category
These could be items you have a lot of, items you're getting great margins on, bestsellers, or just items you love. Remember - we're keeping this simple, so no more than a half-dozen items. (Of course you can always add a note like "come in and see more of the delightful items we've picked for you".

Create a Word document with a page for each category
-Add a picture of each item and a little bit of copy telling why it's a great gift. Notice that I didn't say "what it is" but why it's great. (Of course if it's a cherry pitter, you might want to say "this cherry pitter makes a great gift for....or because....".

Ask your vendors if they have professional shots of the items you're featuring. They'll most likely be thrilled by the free advertising. If you can't get shots from your vendor, then take a picture with a camera or with your cell phone. You don't have to strive for perfection here.

Include some kind of call to action
Prominently display your store name, location, phone number, an email address and a message like "Come shop with us today" on every page. If you have an eCommerce website, include the link.

Add a cover sheet, a table of contents, and a short letter from you
The letter is extremely important because this is an invitation to visit and shop with you.

Turn your Word document into a .pdf file
Google "pdf creator" and you'll find many free programs that you can use.

Email your Holiday Gift Guide to your customers
If you have a Facebook page, post it there, or tweet it and put it on your Website. You can also include copies in the store for your shoppers.

Think about partnering with another local store for wider coverage and a 2nd email list - but more about that next time.

Talk to you soon. ~Norma

Reminder: Basic Email Security Tips - Don't Be A Victim

2011-11-16T02:12:17Z

Email Security Tips

I know. You've heard all of this before. As malware attacks and phishing expeditions grow, it's more important than ever that you do whatever you can to protect yourself, your company and EVERYONE in your address book.

Consider this a refresher course on what to do and not do with email.

Now for the basics:

Never allow an email client to fully render HTML emails without careful thought. If your client is Outlook, you can set it to only use simplified HTML. Check the protocols if you use a different client.

Protect the privacy of your data. Use a local POP3 or IMAP client to retrieve email. Be very careful if you use Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail.

Ensure that your email authentication process is encrypted. This applies even if your actual email isn't encrypted. The reason is simple: it helps keep malicious security crackers from "listening in" on your mail server session.

Digitally sign your emails. If you observe good security practices, it is highly unlikely that anyone else will ever have the opportunity to usurp your identity.

If you absolutely positively must access an email account over an unencrypted connection: Never ever access that account from a public or otherwise unsecured network - never - ever - under any circumstances.

Be aware of both your virtual and physical surroundings when sending email. Be careful. Trust no one that you do not absolutely have to trust, and recognize the dangers and potential consequences of that trust. Remember that your email security doesn't just affect you - it affects others too.

Talk to you soon. ~Norma