Endcaps That Go the Extra Mile

Literally anchoring store departments, endcaps should be a superstar seller in any store, but require more than just a set-it-and-forget-it mentality. In March, the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA) released its third iteration of the Merchandising for Profit Study, providing detailed insights and data on the impacts of utilizing specific merchandising strategies on sales. Of the 13 merchandising techniques studied, five were endcap variations, including a feature endcap with a single item, a feature endcap with a percent off sale sign, a feature endcap with a sale sign, a multi-item endcap main item and a multi-item endcap second item. 

As an extension of the study, in the August issue of Hardware Retailing, retailers shared strategies for endcaps that shine and below other retailers share the best practices to allow your endcaps to work smarter, not harder. 

Hardware Retailing (HR): What does the planning process for endcaps look like for your operation?
Brian Wodke, executive vice president of stores and merchandise for Jerry’s Home Improvement Center (BW): We have two stores in Oregon, and the merchandising standards are the same for both of the stores, we generally do one endcap item, merchandised fully to 16 feet high. As far as the items being the same between the two stores, there is some gray area as each store manager can assign the promo manager to manage those locations. It’s not a cookie cutter situation where someone from the corporate office dictates the plan. Our buyers have opportunities to share with the operations team what they would like to see on some of the endcaps, but the ultimate responsibility is with the store manager and the promo manager at that location.

Jessica May, owner of Saybrook Hardware Co. (JM): We usually plan endcaps a couple of months before they are set but we do have areas that are set with the same products every year, mainly seasonal items like pool, landscaping and winter goods. My managers normally decide what is going where with input from me. I have great merchandisers! 

HR: How often do you reset your endcaps?
BW: We have seven “seasons” that we have in our system, but we try to change the endcaps at least once every month. Our data shows that over 50% of our customers shop once a month, so mixing up endcaps often keeps their shopping experience fresh. The seven seasons we follow include:

JM: Of our 20 or so endcaps, a few are permanent—like our rope and tubing options, stainless steel marine hardware and Michael Healy doorknockers—and some endcaps are set for months at a time—such as Flex Seal and Damp Rid. Other categories—like marine hardware items—change monthly or bimonthly. 

Trey Bailey, general manager of Fix and Feed (TB): We do several endcaps for seasonal items. For example, our seasonal change over is Feb. 15 and Sept. 15.  So in February, we move our remaining heaters, faucet covers and any other seasonal endcaps over to our spring-focused endcaps—fire ant treatment, fertilizer, bird seed and others—and then vise versa on Sept. 15, we pull those items back out and add small heaters, chainsaws and accessories, fire starters and other related items.

Another prominent factor for us is our market purchases. We have a brief meeting prior to turning in our buys where we plan what items will be stackouts or endcaps, whether or not they will be in the ad and what type of special pricing we would like to put on them.

Another tool we use to make some of these decisions is our monthly circular.  If we have enough product to build an endcap, and it is in the paper ad, then we will do that also.

Some of our endcaps are permanent and are used as a way to draw customers into the departments. For example, we might put DEF fluid on the front end of the automotive aisle or specific tools leading into the tool aisle.

HR: How do your endcaps contribute to the overall success of the operation?
BW: For our endcap signage, we use the same type of signage found throughout the stores, which helps create a cohesive shopping experience. All of our endcap signs include a short product description, the price and the savings the customer is getting. We went through the Farnsworth Group about 10 years ago to do a study on our signage, which was helpful to figure out what would resonate best with our audience. 

We try to make our endcaps department specific, matching the departments that those endcaps lead to, which helps lead customers down aisles and further into the store. So in front of the paint department, there are four endcaps that are all paint items. The exception to this are the endcaps at the very front of the store, which is where we merchandise seasonally appropriate products. 

TB: We feel that our endcaps help us stay in season, keep the stores looking good and let us show off some of our good buys and anything new that we have run across.