In the Tik Tok era consumers across the board are very sensitive about retail store innovations, new interior designs, intricate layout, smart displays, lighting fixtures, olfactive experiences, cash counter ergonomics, color coordination’s and anything used by modern retailers to enhance the consumer experience.
In fact, when people think about merchandising, they will most likely think about the visual side of it namely the process where you design your shelving layout, your floor patterns, lighting system and the way you arrange your products in your showroom. But that’s only a partial answer as it takes more than few gallons of paint and interior design face-lifts to revamp retail store operations in post-COVID 19.
Pet shop retailers are well aware of one thing: people revere their puppies. When it comes to measuring the size of an extended family, many households in America treat their pets like close family members which they shower with gifts and a lot of TLC. Puppies get birthday and Valentine gifts, eat special treats, go on weekly outings or get pampered in grooming spas. If you’re in the retail business and you cater to pet owners, you might want to review your bucket list of merchandising principles and you should learn the retail merchandising tips to grow your business.
Retailers across the board invest heavily on store design and decoration to stay fresh and attractive. Just like in fashion retail, store owners are careful and attentive to the changing lifestyles and consumer trends, hence the importance of merchandising.
Top 10 Retail Merchandising Tips for your Pet Store
1.Start with the basics– Cats and dogs are the most popular pets across the board. You can stock merchandise for other types of pets, from the basic fish and gerbil stock to exotic pets like lizards and snakes, but your most basic inventory should consist of items for the most popular pets–cats and dogs.
2.Use a variety of display units – Like any retail store, you’ll make each product on your shelves stand out more if you vary the displays. That means using different size shelves for different items, making use of end caps, and using special displays like carousels, baskets, and hooks when it makes sense.
3.Place premium markup items at eye level – You want the merchandise with the best markups to be easy to see. They will sell better at eye level. Lower-priced products and high-priced items with lower markup percentages should be placed higher and lower on the shelves.
4.Monitor your sales daily and hourly – The best way to increase your profits is to know what sells the most from day to day and from hour to hour. By tracking your sales by item, you can identify which products sell best at different times of day and on each day of the week. This will allow you to arrange your displays to make the most of the best-selling products at a time when they peak.
5.Get to know your customers – Customer data will allow you to develop your relationships with your customers better. If you know your customers’ pets’ names, what kind of pets they have, and when they shop for their pets, you can cater your marketing to each customer’s needs. This retail merchandising tips will increase your sales and your profits.
6.Fill your shelves – A store with full shelves sells! Many pet stores are short of stocks due to the high pent-up demand for pets since the beginning of the pandemic. Empty shelves and out-of-stock products will force your customers to transfer to another store and this will diminish the sales or lead to customer attrition, hence the importance of having a smart inventory software like ChainDrive for pet stores.
7.Show your prices – This one might be a bit obvious, but it’s something a lot of retailers forget when setting up: the price tags. When you’re out to buy something, what assumptions are made about products without a price tag? Answer: That it’s expensive. Research has shown that when consumers see the price of the products clearly, there’s a bigger chance that they’ll purchase it at first sight.
Showing your price helps you a lot when compared to other pet stores that don’t display the prices of their products in a convenient way or do not match online prices among many drawbacks of manual price management, last minute discounts, etc.
8.Display product reviews – Product reviews can help your store in ways you probably don’t always think of. Most shoppers do not buy anything without knowing the product’s origin or specifications, breed, age, etc. Product reviews will help customers make informed decisions based on relevant information your temporary staff might not have the time to learn or explain like a Pro. Unless you have POS system like ChainDrive where all products are properly documented, updated and easy to trace, you may lose the sale to another contender that has a sophisticated omnichannel software.
9.Establish an e-Commerce shop – With more and more consumers getting used to online shopping from the comfort of their homes, eCommerce platforms have seen a huge increase in web order since the beginning of the pandemic. This way you will have a wider reach and more options to bridge the deficit in floor traffic at the physical store level. With 24/7 shopping from anywhere and everywhere, online shopping is both convenient and popular.
What if I tell you that you can manage your merchandising, marketing, pricing strategies and inventory in a seamless and more efficient way than never before while driving performance across all the channels at the same time.
10.Why Improvise When You Can Harness Your Business Instincts & Operations with ChainDrive
Retail technology maverick Multidev Technologies is one of the very few software companies to offer an All-in-One Omnichannel. ChainDrive is a fully-integrated ERP system that is seamless, intuitive, affordable and very pet-friendly.
Its extensive list of pet shop users can manage hybrid business models including physical retail chains and eCommerce gateways. Pet shop owners from coast to coast have relied on Multidev software systems to step-up their retail merchandising tips and tactics, harness sale teams and build better customer relationships. ChainDrive Retail management software and tools are fully-integrated, seamless and smart enough to help pet shop operators monitor their stocks, price strategies, revenue per location, category, improve customer loyalty programs or experience and much more under the same roof.
ChainDrive Retail Management software solutions provides Pet retailers with complete end-to-end functionality you require as a vertical specific enterprise. If you have more questions or want to know more about how ChainDrive can help you scale-up, just dial 1.800.820.1412 or log on https://chaindrive.com/free-live-demo/ to book a free demo.
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