What's in the Box; 12 Steps
Carol L Schroeder -- Gifts and Dec, 8/6/2011 6:18:50 AM
CAROL L. SCHROEDER is a retail expert and consultant.
Q: We are always on the lookout for bargains, and have found some B2B websites offering clearance merchandise. Recently we started getting emails from something called Bigger Box. Is this company offering closeouts as well?
A: The unique thing about bigger box, which was founded within the past year by an alliance of sales agencies in the gift industry, is that it is a b2b (business to business site) offering first quality, top-selling merchandise..
The idea behind the company, according to Lori Minden of Lorin Minden and Associates, was to devise a model to help independent retailers compete against Big Box stores (hence the name).
Bigger Box is modeled on the Groupon concept, so when a deal is sent out via email, a minimum number of retailers must sign on before the deal is "tipped" and goes live. Once the deal sells out, it is closed. Unlike daily deal offers like Groupon, Big Box allows several days for you to decide whether to make a purchase.
Bigger Box does not offer closeouts, or a discount on an entire line, but instead features top-selling, new products in the hopes that retailers will do well enough with the line to continue carrying it. Most Bigger Box offers are for a display fixture filled with product, offered at a deeply discounted price - usually 40-50 percent off of wholesale.
A good example of a Bigger Box deal is a recent one for Wellspring's Flip Notes. More than 40 percent of those buying the Wellspring deal had never ordered from the company before, and 80 percent had never carried Flip Notes, which are one of Wellspring's bestselling products. The stores profited from the extra markup, and Wellspring gained ongoing "real estate," as it's called in the trade, with excellent reorder potential.
Other recent Bigger Box emails have included offers from companies such as History and Heraldry, Retrographics, Up with Paper, Stephan Baby and
Bookmark Trendz. Registering to receive their email offers at www. biggerbox.net is simple. However, you'll need to provide a seller's permit number in order to make a purchase.
Keep in mind that a bargain is only a good deal if the line fits well with your product mix and is likely to sell well. If it does, Bigger Box is fulfilling its goal of being, as Lori Minden put it, a "win-win-win" for vendors, sales agencies - and retailers.
Q: Our shop's sales are down, and we desperately need to bring in more customers - and get them to buy more. Any suggestions?
A: Part of your decline in sales may be due to factors beyond your control, including today's economic environment. Riding out a tough time calls for a combination of watching your inventory and expenses carefully, and doing what you can to increase sales and margins. I'd like to challenge you to try a simple 12 Step approach to bringing in more customers, and converting those shopper visits into higher sales. Unlike the famous 12 Step programs used by organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous, this one is based on literally taking 12 steps.
Start your short walk in the front of you store. What do you see? Are your window displays inviting and creative? Do they offer a good impression of what will be found inside the store? It is important that your staff know what is in the window and where to find the goods in the shop.
Next, take a look at your signage. Is your store name attractive and easy to read? If you have a freestanding shop, are your hours clearly posted, and your OPEN sign lit? You should also make sure that your street number is visible to those driving by and trying to find your store.
The next few steps will take you inside the store, into what Paco Underhill (in Why We Buy) refers to as the "landing strip." Underhill feels that you should allow customers a few minutes to adjust, removing sunglasses (or, in cold weather, gloves and hat) and getting an idea of the store's layout. It is a mistake to have your shopping baskets and prime merchandise too close to the entrance.
Walk a little further into your store, and hopefully you will be greeted in a warm and friendly manner. This first contact with a store employee sets the tone for all future transactions, so it is essential that staff be trained to say hello to everyone who enters the shop.
After a few more steps you should see some intriguing merchandise, ideally in a display that changes often so that frequent shoppers are always discovering something new. Even if you have regular "departments" within the store, it is ideal to have rotating cross-merchandised displays near the entrance to feature seasonal merchandise, or new arrivals.
The last of your 12 steps should take you to the checkout counter or cashwrap. What do you see there? Is there an inviting array of impulse items neatly aligned by the cash register, but with plenty of room for you to set down your purchase selections?
What do you see behind the counter? Is it messy, or is there a sign with the store name, and perhaps also vignettes of some of your products? When customers purchase gifts, they expect to have them boxed, and possibly also wrapped. Are the supplies for this laid out logically, and is the stock of boxes adequate for the variety of goods that you sell? Think of your packaging as an opportunity to extend the "branding" of your store with every gift.
If you can be your own "mystery shopper" and pretend to make a purchase, you will find out whether customers find your checkout procedure efficient and pleasant. You might even try to make a return to see how well the staff handles this transaction. 
Wellspring Flip Notes were offered as a deal by Bigger Box
Today's shopper is often pressed for time, and allowing a purchase or return to be made quickly is important. Hopefully your customers will take more than 12 steps when they enter your store, but the first 12, which you've just experienced through their eyes, are key. Any improvements that you can make on this initial experience should help bring more passersby into the store, and convert these shoppers into buyers.
Carol L. Schroeder is the author of Specialty Shop Retailing: Everything You Need to Know to Run Your Own Store, published by John Wiley & Sons. Send questions to SpecialtyShopRetail@ me.com.
We would love your feedback!
Featured Company
-
Wright Labels
Bill and Tom Wright founded Wright of Thomasville in 1961 on the idea that printing was a creative medium and the belief that "a promise made is a promise kept." The Wright brothers focused their attention on providing exceptional printing for the... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
