The decision to hike or lower the prices on your products or services can be difficult and have a direct impact on your business. However the way you go about making these changes in price will determine the results of your new policy. For instance, two companies who change the prices on the same product by the same amount, may get varied outcomes depending on how they went about implementing the change.
You need to pay attention to the timing on your new policy. You need to know if your customers think you are giving them value for their money and you need to gauge the reaction of your competitors in advance.
One way of raising your prices is to implement one single large hike. This may be due to an increase in raw material costs or because you want to bring down the demand to a more manageable level.
In reality, however, most companies implement price hikes on a gradual basis. They feel their customers will accept the price rise better since they will not be hit by it in one shot. Sometimes customers may not even notice the price hikes if they are spread out over a long duration of time.
If your company produces a range of products or services, try increasing the prices on some of them and leave the others as before. It is also wise to assess the kind of product you have since some products are more sensitive to price hikes.
You should select the right time to introduce your new pricing policy. To lower prices, the timing should be such that you gain maximum mileage out of it. To increase pricing, select a time when you are likely to face the least amount of resistance. Your timing will also be decided by seasonal changes and sales cycles. For example, some retail stores increase the prices on their goods around the time Christmas is approaching since shoppers are in a hurry to buy and pay less attention to how much they are paying. A store that has recently been launched may keep prices down in order to attract clientele.
You can also modify the value of your goods while leaving the prices intact. For example, you may reduce the quantity of a product a bit but maintain the same price level as before. Most customers will not notice the change as long as it is not very substantial. The net effect of this policy would be the same as raising the price.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Sign Supports
Sign supports, otherwise known as standoffs or wall mounts are a cost effective and simple design solution that can bring a flat display to life by using different depths and levels.
They are available in a range of colours and finishes, the most popular being satin chrome, polished chrome, brass and black. They are fundamentally made up of two parts, the barrel (female part) and thread (male part). The standoff or barrel is fixed directly to the wall where your acrylic, glass or wood panel is secured by simply screwing the thread through the holes in the panel to connect it to the barrel. They are very easy to install, once they are fixed to the wall, they simply screw in and out by hand, not tools needed.
Sign supports come in a huge range of sizes, ranging in different diameters and standoffs. It is possible to create a wall display with many different depths by simply altering the size of the standoff. As they are fixed directly to the wall it ensures their durability and strength, which means they are suitable to hold large panels. It is recommended that 4 sign supports should be used for acrylic panels measuring below 800mm x 800mm and 6 for acrylic panels measuring up to 1550mm x 1550mm. For panels measuring above this or made of a different material, it is recommended to ask the advice of your supplier.
You may find that the prices of sign supports vary quite dramatically from supplier to supplier. This could be because some are manufactured in the UK (the more expensive ones) and others are imported from the Far East (the cheaper alternatives). You may find some of the ranges from the Far East are hollow, which can sometimes reflect on their price; however this is not always the case. The material with which the they are made may also reflect their price. Typical materials include brass, aluminum and stainless steel.
It is also possible to use two sign supports that are joined together to hold two pieces of acrylic to create a sandwich effect. This is an ideal solution to display photographs, prints and pieces of art. The graphic simply slots between the acrylic panel and is sandwiched together using the sign supports.
There are many different display options that sign supports can be used to create. If you have any questions regarding their versatility of sign supports, get in touch with your supplier who should be able to answer all of your questions.
They are available in a range of colours and finishes, the most popular being satin chrome, polished chrome, brass and black. They are fundamentally made up of two parts, the barrel (female part) and thread (male part). The standoff or barrel is fixed directly to the wall where your acrylic, glass or wood panel is secured by simply screwing the thread through the holes in the panel to connect it to the barrel. They are very easy to install, once they are fixed to the wall, they simply screw in and out by hand, not tools needed.
Sign supports come in a huge range of sizes, ranging in different diameters and standoffs. It is possible to create a wall display with many different depths by simply altering the size of the standoff. As they are fixed directly to the wall it ensures their durability and strength, which means they are suitable to hold large panels. It is recommended that 4 sign supports should be used for acrylic panels measuring below 800mm x 800mm and 6 for acrylic panels measuring up to 1550mm x 1550mm. For panels measuring above this or made of a different material, it is recommended to ask the advice of your supplier.
You may find that the prices of sign supports vary quite dramatically from supplier to supplier. This could be because some are manufactured in the UK (the more expensive ones) and others are imported from the Far East (the cheaper alternatives). You may find some of the ranges from the Far East are hollow, which can sometimes reflect on their price; however this is not always the case. The material with which the they are made may also reflect their price. Typical materials include brass, aluminum and stainless steel.
It is also possible to use two sign supports that are joined together to hold two pieces of acrylic to create a sandwich effect. This is an ideal solution to display photographs, prints and pieces of art. The graphic simply slots between the acrylic panel and is sandwiched together using the sign supports.
There are many different display options that sign supports can be used to create. If you have any questions regarding their versatility of sign supports, get in touch with your supplier who should be able to answer all of your questions.
Clothes Retailer
Some people say that because of the Internet, the wholesale clothing distributors are no longer needed. Simply that is NOT the case. I admit, that the Internet has made it easier for some retailers to deal with the manufacturers without the wholesaler needed in the middle, but that does not mean the end of wholesale clothing distributors!
The biggest reason why the wholesale clothing business will not die, is the fact that smaller retailers can not get their stock from the manufacturers, or if they do, it will cost them a lot. Manufacturers do not ship small orders, and if you are a small retailer, I do not think that you would like to order something around 5000 pieces of some trousers for example. The clothing distributors do have minimum orders as well, since they are selling in bulk, but those are much smaller than what manufacturers have, for example 50 pieces.
Another reason is that the manufacturers do not usually do any marketing for their new products, they just talk with certain wholesale clothing distributor and that's it. The retailers will not be able to 'see' this kind of marketing, so they would have to call the manufacturers all the time to ask about what they have. In this way it is much smarter for retailers to follow the wholesale clothing distributors, because when they have new stock, they post about it on their websites, or send newsletters to their existing customers, or even call some of their long time customers whose line of work they know.
The biggest reason why the wholesale clothing business will not die, is the fact that smaller retailers can not get their stock from the manufacturers, or if they do, it will cost them a lot. Manufacturers do not ship small orders, and if you are a small retailer, I do not think that you would like to order something around 5000 pieces of some trousers for example. The clothing distributors do have minimum orders as well, since they are selling in bulk, but those are much smaller than what manufacturers have, for example 50 pieces.
Another reason is that the manufacturers do not usually do any marketing for their new products, they just talk with certain wholesale clothing distributor and that's it. The retailers will not be able to 'see' this kind of marketing, so they would have to call the manufacturers all the time to ask about what they have. In this way it is much smarter for retailers to follow the wholesale clothing distributors, because when they have new stock, they post about it on their websites, or send newsletters to their existing customers, or even call some of their long time customers whose line of work they know.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Greater Success
Independent small retail businesses rarely have the money for big advertising and marketing campaigns. Their stores are usually not based on the latest shop layout fixtures. Their locations are often not the best in town.
No, independent small retail businesses face challenges on a range of fronts due to limited financial resources.
The one area where an independent retail store can compete is in product knowledge. They often have employees in their niche who are more knowledgeable and passionate about their product categories than you will ever find in a mass retail outlet selling similar products.
But how do you get that message out? How can the small independent retail business compete with the massive competitor?
By writing a blog about the niche in which the business operates. Even a single person business can attract more traffic to a blog than a major corporation funding a blog on the same topic.
The key is content. Write fresh, knowledgeable and useful content regularly and build your profile with the search engines. Soon enough, your small business will get known for its knowledge and this can parlay into excellent sales.
Blogging is especially useful to a small retail store since in the blogosphere, money does not talk. Content is king and anyone can create good content. By blogging, you can setup a David Versus Goliath situation for your small store.
Here are some quick blogging tips for a retailer starting out:
Make sure that you do have valuable knowledge.
Learn to write crisp sentences and how to get your message across in 300 words or less.
Write regularly.
Include photos.
Don't advertise, tell stories. Provide context and insight. Make sure that the content is valuable to a wide reader community.
Use headlines with words people are likely to use when searching for your type of business.
Blogging is useful for commentary about topics related to your business but not about your business. Such commentary, if well considered and written can add tremendous value to how your business is seen and provide kudos to you as the author.
Don't start to promote your blog to your customers and suppliers until you have found your rhythm as a blogger and have some content live of which you are proud. It is like inviting someone to your home - you want it to be furnished.
Write with authority. Try and stay away from emotion. This blog should be about business and the niche about which you are most passionate through your retail store.
Remember, big is not always better. Use your blog to show how your passion and knowledge deliver value through the blog and through your own business. Be proud but not cocky as they say.
Track your visits as this is like people walking through the front door of your shop.
No, independent small retail businesses face challenges on a range of fronts due to limited financial resources.
The one area where an independent retail store can compete is in product knowledge. They often have employees in their niche who are more knowledgeable and passionate about their product categories than you will ever find in a mass retail outlet selling similar products.
But how do you get that message out? How can the small independent retail business compete with the massive competitor?
By writing a blog about the niche in which the business operates. Even a single person business can attract more traffic to a blog than a major corporation funding a blog on the same topic.
The key is content. Write fresh, knowledgeable and useful content regularly and build your profile with the search engines. Soon enough, your small business will get known for its knowledge and this can parlay into excellent sales.
Blogging is especially useful to a small retail store since in the blogosphere, money does not talk. Content is king and anyone can create good content. By blogging, you can setup a David Versus Goliath situation for your small store.
Here are some quick blogging tips for a retailer starting out:
Make sure that you do have valuable knowledge.
Learn to write crisp sentences and how to get your message across in 300 words or less.
Write regularly.
Include photos.
Don't advertise, tell stories. Provide context and insight. Make sure that the content is valuable to a wide reader community.
Use headlines with words people are likely to use when searching for your type of business.
Blogging is useful for commentary about topics related to your business but not about your business. Such commentary, if well considered and written can add tremendous value to how your business is seen and provide kudos to you as the author.
Don't start to promote your blog to your customers and suppliers until you have found your rhythm as a blogger and have some content live of which you are proud. It is like inviting someone to your home - you want it to be furnished.
Write with authority. Try and stay away from emotion. This blog should be about business and the niche about which you are most passionate through your retail store.
Remember, big is not always better. Use your blog to show how your passion and knowledge deliver value through the blog and through your own business. Be proud but not cocky as they say.
Track your visits as this is like people walking through the front door of your shop.
Running a Competition
Competitions are an essential tactic in retail to drive incremental sales and add excitement to the retail experience. Run well, an in-store competition can generate excellent business for a retail store. Run poorly, they can cost a lot of money. Here are ten essential tips for running a successful in-store competition in just about any type of retail business:
Know what you want from the competition. Without this you will have no way of assessing its success. The goal could be sales, building your customer database, attracting new customers.
Select a prize which will appeal to your customers and which has measureable value. It will ideally be something which you can put on show in the store as a great prize display attracts customers.
Make qualifying to enter easy - a certain value of purchases or purchasing particular items. How people qualify to enter is all about what you want to achieve from the competition.
Make ordering easy - with a simple form. This needs to be able to be completed quickly at the sales counter.
Gather important customer data: email address, cell number, gender and age range.
Promote the competition inside your store. The goal is to get your customers engaging with the products you want to sell and this takes excellent visual merchandising around this impulse activity.
Depending on the nature of the prize, promote the competition outside your store.
If customers have to enter by creating something, put all entries on show if you have the space. People will come back with their families to show off their entries.
Draw the prize publicly, get more people back in for an event around announcing the winner.
Name the winner publicly and congratulate them.
Consider scheduling regular competitions in-store. Get your business known as the lucky place to shop. This can be a good differentiator over competitors. Ask your employees for their ideas on running competitions. Experiment with unusual competition ideas which are likely to attract new shoppers to your store, especially competitions people are likely to talk about to their friends.
Be proud of your competitions. This means, be loud. Competitions are all about growing your business after all. If you are timid and keep them hidden in your four walls you miss the opportunity. Competitions can really lift a retail store. The key is how you engage with the competition opportunity. be bold, loud and happy in running them and expect a good sales lift as a result.
Know what you want from the competition. Without this you will have no way of assessing its success. The goal could be sales, building your customer database, attracting new customers.
Select a prize which will appeal to your customers and which has measureable value. It will ideally be something which you can put on show in the store as a great prize display attracts customers.
Make qualifying to enter easy - a certain value of purchases or purchasing particular items. How people qualify to enter is all about what you want to achieve from the competition.
Make ordering easy - with a simple form. This needs to be able to be completed quickly at the sales counter.
Gather important customer data: email address, cell number, gender and age range.
Promote the competition inside your store. The goal is to get your customers engaging with the products you want to sell and this takes excellent visual merchandising around this impulse activity.
Depending on the nature of the prize, promote the competition outside your store.
If customers have to enter by creating something, put all entries on show if you have the space. People will come back with their families to show off their entries.
Draw the prize publicly, get more people back in for an event around announcing the winner.
Name the winner publicly and congratulate them.
Consider scheduling regular competitions in-store. Get your business known as the lucky place to shop. This can be a good differentiator over competitors. Ask your employees for their ideas on running competitions. Experiment with unusual competition ideas which are likely to attract new shoppers to your store, especially competitions people are likely to talk about to their friends.
Be proud of your competitions. This means, be loud. Competitions are all about growing your business after all. If you are timid and keep them hidden in your four walls you miss the opportunity. Competitions can really lift a retail store. The key is how you engage with the competition opportunity. be bold, loud and happy in running them and expect a good sales lift as a result.
Small Changes
Some of our customers ask us, 'How quickly do our customers get bored of our interior design? If it is quick, how often should we change it?'
The answer to this question cannot be applied across the board because generally speaking, consumer reactions vary from industry to industry. For example, if you have a retail outlet selling souvenirs, your regular customers may be fleeting ones who are tourists and they may not come into your store again. So, the look and display of your retail stores may not matter as much.
However, if you sell clothing or makeup items, you may yourself a bunch of regular customers who come back to your store time and again to restock or get new fashion items. Then you may need to make some changes to the look of your retail outlet every few months.
Gradual changes keeps the relationship with your consumers fresh. The changes that you make to your retail store does not have to be anything major. A new display shelf here, a new coat of paint or a new painting is all that is needed. They may not even notice the changes on a conscious level but at the back of their minds, after a few changes, they might suddenly ask, 'Did you do something to your store? It looks different!'
See? Even gradual changes can be appreciated in the end.
Major overhaul incites new direction. So you want it big. You want to make a big impression on your regular customers, to show them that you are ready for new changes and something new and exciting is in the pipeline. This works for rebranding purposes or when you want to change the direction of your company. Consumers love a little drama and something unexpected so, give them that if you have the budget for it.
Major overhauls usually bring new customers too if you publicize the new change.
Adding and removing furniture and shelves. Our customers usually aim for the middle path which does not cost a lot of money and yet attracts attention and that is to remove old display units or furniture and replace them with new ones. In fact, if they have the space for it, they add new furniture that compliments their old ones.
Here's to the success of your business!
The answer to this question cannot be applied across the board because generally speaking, consumer reactions vary from industry to industry. For example, if you have a retail outlet selling souvenirs, your regular customers may be fleeting ones who are tourists and they may not come into your store again. So, the look and display of your retail stores may not matter as much.
However, if you sell clothing or makeup items, you may yourself a bunch of regular customers who come back to your store time and again to restock or get new fashion items. Then you may need to make some changes to the look of your retail outlet every few months.
Gradual changes keeps the relationship with your consumers fresh. The changes that you make to your retail store does not have to be anything major. A new display shelf here, a new coat of paint or a new painting is all that is needed. They may not even notice the changes on a conscious level but at the back of their minds, after a few changes, they might suddenly ask, 'Did you do something to your store? It looks different!'
See? Even gradual changes can be appreciated in the end.
Major overhaul incites new direction. So you want it big. You want to make a big impression on your regular customers, to show them that you are ready for new changes and something new and exciting is in the pipeline. This works for rebranding purposes or when you want to change the direction of your company. Consumers love a little drama and something unexpected so, give them that if you have the budget for it.
Major overhauls usually bring new customers too if you publicize the new change.
Adding and removing furniture and shelves. Our customers usually aim for the middle path which does not cost a lot of money and yet attracts attention and that is to remove old display units or furniture and replace them with new ones. In fact, if they have the space for it, they add new furniture that compliments their old ones.
Here's to the success of your business!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Retail Management
Microsoft Business Solutions is Microsoft subdivision and historically it is joining several products development companies under one roof: Great Plains Software, Navision Software, Microsoft CRM (this one was developed by MBS), Solomon Software, SMS: QuickSell 2000 – which is now Microsoft Retail Management System.
Let’s first look at your ERP system selection (without Retail Solution). Your options are:
Microsoft Great Plains. If you remember successful mid-size application – Great Plains Dynamics, pioneered on Mac and Windows graphical platforms in the mid 1990th. This is now Microsoft Great Plains, Great Plains Standard and Microsoft Small Business Manager (scaled down Great Plains version, using he same technology – Great Plains Dexterity). Currently it is version 8.0, the only database platform option is Microsoft SQL Server/MSDE. Ctree and Pervasive SQL were abandoned, the last version, supporting these platforms was 7.5. You should consider Microsoft Great Plains if you are in: USA, Canada, Latin America, UK, South Africa, Australia – these are markets, where former Great Plains Software had successful penetration
Microsoft Navision. This product had success on European market and was developed by Navision Software, Denmark based software development company. In our opinion Microsoft bought this product in order to get European market share, especially continental Europe. Then, Microsoft Business Solutions realized that Navision is a good fit for countries with tight government regulation: taxes, chart of accounts (France and Russia), government reporting, etc. You should consider Navision if you have light manufacturing (we believe that Navision will be the base for future Microsoft Manufacturing suite) or located in the following regions: continental Europe, Russia, Brazil.
Solomon. This product has excellent Project Management solution and you should look at it if you are in the USA and have professional services or construction company.
Axapta. There are many different opinions about Axapta. We would like to withhold our opinion here and just tell you Microsoft Business Solutions opinion from Moscow – in Russia Axapta is successful and has approximately the same number of installations as Navision. Axapta is probably MBS stake on large enterprises market to compete with PeopleSoft (now Oracle) and SAP
And finally let us give you Retail Management System and CRM hints. Microsoft CRM is the only CRM option from Microsoft (in Navision you have Navision CRM module option – so this is an exception) and please, feel free to choose Microsoft CRM if you would like to try CRM from Microsoft. This CRM will be loved by your IT department, because it does use all Microsoft recent technologies: MS Exchange, .Net, MS SQL Server, Active Directory, BizTalk (integration with Great Plains), C# and VB.Net based MS CRM SDK.
Now – retail management. In the case of Navision – again you have retail module there. In all the other cases – you should try Microsoft RMS.
Let’s first look at your ERP system selection (without Retail Solution). Your options are:
Microsoft Great Plains. If you remember successful mid-size application – Great Plains Dynamics, pioneered on Mac and Windows graphical platforms in the mid 1990th. This is now Microsoft Great Plains, Great Plains Standard and Microsoft Small Business Manager (scaled down Great Plains version, using he same technology – Great Plains Dexterity). Currently it is version 8.0, the only database platform option is Microsoft SQL Server/MSDE. Ctree and Pervasive SQL were abandoned, the last version, supporting these platforms was 7.5. You should consider Microsoft Great Plains if you are in: USA, Canada, Latin America, UK, South Africa, Australia – these are markets, where former Great Plains Software had successful penetration
Microsoft Navision. This product had success on European market and was developed by Navision Software, Denmark based software development company. In our opinion Microsoft bought this product in order to get European market share, especially continental Europe. Then, Microsoft Business Solutions realized that Navision is a good fit for countries with tight government regulation: taxes, chart of accounts (France and Russia), government reporting, etc. You should consider Navision if you have light manufacturing (we believe that Navision will be the base for future Microsoft Manufacturing suite) or located in the following regions: continental Europe, Russia, Brazil.
Solomon. This product has excellent Project Management solution and you should look at it if you are in the USA and have professional services or construction company.
Axapta. There are many different opinions about Axapta. We would like to withhold our opinion here and just tell you Microsoft Business Solutions opinion from Moscow – in Russia Axapta is successful and has approximately the same number of installations as Navision. Axapta is probably MBS stake on large enterprises market to compete with PeopleSoft (now Oracle) and SAP
And finally let us give you Retail Management System and CRM hints. Microsoft CRM is the only CRM option from Microsoft (in Navision you have Navision CRM module option – so this is an exception) and please, feel free to choose Microsoft CRM if you would like to try CRM from Microsoft. This CRM will be loved by your IT department, because it does use all Microsoft recent technologies: MS Exchange, .Net, MS SQL Server, Active Directory, BizTalk (integration with Great Plains), C# and VB.Net based MS CRM SDK.
Now – retail management. In the case of Navision – again you have retail module there. In all the other cases – you should try Microsoft RMS.
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