Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Merchandising plays a critical role in the overall success of a business. It improves profitability by generating more margin dollars, controls costs by improving the productivity of the salesfloor and employees and increases sales by making a store appealing to customers.
Good merchandising makes shopping easier for customers and gives them reasons to come back often and spend more money. Hardware Retailing collected photos from stores NHPA staff visited in the past year to highlight how retailers across the country are excelling in their merchandising and spark inspiration in your own operation.
5 Best Practices From Merchandising Expert Tony Corsberg
Tony Corsberg has over 45 years of experience in home improvement retailing, was vice president of merchandising and marketing at Friedman’s Home Improvement and is a founding member of the North American Hardware and Paint Association’s (NHPA) marketing and merchandising roundtable. More recently, he has been active in the creation of NHPA’s new program, Foundations of Merchandising Management. Hardware Retailing spoke with Corsberg about the five P’s of merchandising.
Product
Item selection and product assortment are critical in a well-merchandised store. Without the right products and the right mix of products, the rest of the merchandising will struggle.
Price
Maintaining pricing accuracy and ensuring the price is acceptable to the customers in your market is vital to customer satisfaction. Ignoring this element of merchandising can make the customer less likely to follow through with a purchase.
Presentation
The visual merchandising piece of retail, from store layout and planogramming to defined merchandising standards that are appealing to the customer, is a critical step. The more effective the product presentation, the more likely the customer makes the purchase.
Promotion
Whether it’s the use of store promotional spaces like endcaps and stack outs, in-store signage, print ads, digital marketing or any other effective promotional activities, marketing will greatly improve a retailer’s merchandising performance.
People
Investing in training and ensuring your sales associates are knowledgeable about products and projects is a key differentiator.
Improve Your Merchandising
NHPA’s newest program, Foundations of Merchandising Management Live!, is a two-day educational event sponsored by and held on-site at the 2023 National Hardware Show. This in-person, interactive experience will combine classroom education from industry experts and hands-on learning on the show floor. NHPA worked with industry-leading retailers to develop this new program to provide attendees with the necessary strategies and skills to successfully improve and manage their merchandising and assortment planning. Visit YourNHPA.org/foundationslive to learn more.
Key Takeaways
- Visual merchandising standards and techniques
- Promotional space management
- Resets and remodels
- Assortment planning and category management
- Vendor relations
- Merchandising integration with marketing
- Pricing strategies and management
- In-store technology and design elements
