Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
The North American Hardware and Paint Association’s (NHPA) Merchandising for Profit Study is a resource for best-in-class merchandising techniques and a scorecard retailers can use to measure the effectiveness of their merchandising. NHPA released the study’s results at the 2025 National Hardware Show, which provided insights into improving an operation’s merchandising techniques and implementing best practices for improving merchandising.
In 2002, NHPA conducted its inaugural Merchandising for Profit Study, and then repeated it in 2016. The purpose of the study was to quantify the sales lift generated by different merchandising techniques. NHPA worked with retailers across the country to test the effectiveness of a variety of merchandising techniques including:
- Endcaps
- Dump bins (both permanent and manufacturer supplied)
- Clip strips
- Bulk stack out displays
- Countertop displays (for both service counters and checkout)
- Sidekick display (also known as sidewinders)
“It’s good to see that minding the basic ‘details of retail’ can still make a big difference in driving sales and productivity in a tough retailing environment,” says Scott Wright, NHPA’s vice president of content development. “This was clearly illustrated through the results of the 2025 study, just as it was when we conducted the research in 2002 and 2016.”
Wright says that of all the ways to drive sales at retail, merchandising is one of the most effective methods.
“Merchandising is where art and science converge on the retail salesfloor to work its magic on shoppers’ wallets,” he says. “But it takes proper planning, discipline, execution and thinking like a merchant to make it work. It’s what we teach students in NHPA’s advanced education programs, including our Foundations of Merchandising Management and Retail Management Certification Program, and when students apply these time-tested merchandising principles, they understand the power of it and how it can help them become more profitable retailers.”
Also taking place at the 2025 National Hardware Show, the Foundations of Merchandising Management Live! program brought together retailers who are responsible for managing merchandising functions at their stores for two days of industry-focused, educational programming.
Designed by NHPA with industry retailers, the program provided strategies and tactics for participants to successfully improve and manage merchandising, assortment planning and vendor relations.
Cody Goeppner, class instructor and NHPA program lead for advanced education and training, says the current retail environment is challenging and retailers are striving to do more with less.
“Your merchandising has to work overtime to present those products to your customers and showcase other items they may not have intended to buy when they came here,” Goeppner says. “You need to work to increase your average transaction size and closure rate, requiring your merchandising work harder than it probably ever has.”
The program featured expert-led course sessions, breakout workshops, networking opportunities, hands-on learning on the NHS Show floor and ROI-driven assignments.
The Future of Merchandising
Three students from the University of Wisconsin Kohl’s Center for Retailing attended the FOMM Live! program, getting an inside look at the industry and sharing their own helpful insights.
Emma Brandenburg, assistant director for the Kohl’s Center for Retailing, says it was a great experience for the students because they got a glimpse into the professional world. 
“The FOMM Live! event is an incredible opportunity for our University of Wisconsin-Madison students to gain a deep understanding of how to bring a merchandise concept to life through strategic category management, effective store design and a collaborative approach to vendor relationships and customer service—specifically from the lens of independent business ownership,” Brandenburg says.
The University of Wisconsin students also took part in the Attracting Gen Z: Adapting to the Future of Retail panel where they shared their unique perspective on the ways retailers can appeal to the younger generations of shoppers. Each of the students were tasked with visiting a local independent hardware physical location or website and taking notes of what they liked and the ways they thought retailers could improve. They shared those thoughts with independent retailers who attended the panel.
“As we continue to focus on developing experiential learning opportunities that expose students to key industry concepts both inside and outside the classroom, we look forward to our future participation in the FOMM Live! event and our continued partnership with the National Hardware Show,” Brandenburg says.
