‘Bricks & Mortar’ retailing in 2017 and beyond is all about the experience.  With a faltering Brexit, rising costs and online retail sales growing year on year, retailers must work harder and smarter than ever to ensure consumers enjoy their shopping experience.  The experience begins as early as outside the store on the approach and continues until consumers unpack their goods at home.

Today we are focusing on ‘activity in the aisle’, how to achieve excellence in store.  In today’s climate, many stakeholders work together to achieve this goal.  To achieve excellence within the aisles and on the shelves each stakeholder must stand and deliver with absolute cohesion.

How does this translate into the world of retail marketing & how does this affect consumer behaviour?  The below will take you through the journey that many retailers and brands are taking to achieve excellence in the aisle.

Vendor sponsored activity is on the up –

Brands & retailers are working even more closely together than ever to create in-store theatre.  Usually employing the services of a retail design agency and a display installation company to create & implement innovative concepts to ‘wow’ their customers.

In today’s retail environment, you can expect to see the following examples of display items –

• Floor graphics
• Category header boards
• Aisle arches
• Shelf edge fins, strips, talkers or beacons
• Tear off pads
• Communications panels
• Digital media screens

The above is designed to attract the attention of, & influence consumers.  The key to a successful campaign relies on communication, timing and team work between the stakeholders.

In an ideal world, the design agency will work to a well presented brief and any branding guidelines to produce impactful in-store theatre.  Usually trialled & reviewed within the retailers top trading stores to see just how well the in-store theatre has performed, hopefully having contributed to enhanced sales of the product(s) concerned.

As if by magic the display items that make up this special environment are carefully and consistently installed across the retailer’s estate and usually within a matter of days.  How does the brand or retailer monitor the performance of the installation teams?

Through a bespoke digital reporting system, the installation teams are able to report on the installation of each display element for every store including high resolution images and in real time.  Today’s brands and retailers have never had it so good, they can now search by the following criteria’s which places them at the heart of every campaign –

• Store name
• Store format type
• Postcode
• Complete or incomplete
• Campaign type
• Display element type

Store contribution –

The final contribution is made by each store who work hard to ensure that their aisles and shelves are clean & well merchandised.

Product placement, stock replenishment and clear communication are the key disciplines that contribute to what we consider to be ‘good merchandising”.

Understanding consumer habits is key.  Scheduling enough staff to successfully maintain stock levels during peak periods is one way of succeeding, missing stock or low levels of stock do nothing for product sales.

Do the shelves have the ability to hold enough stock for peak periods?

Is the stock in the correct location with shelf edge labels accurately communicating the product and price?

Products must be placed neatly and consistently to achieve good clean lines that make it easy for consumers to peruse.

If all stakeholders work together, you can expect to enhance sales and maintain high levels of customer retention.

To read the full article or to find out more about how we can support you in the future please register your information below.

Paul Neville
Managing Director
Excellence In Store

Firstly thank you for stopping by to review our new website. Having sat down with our new management team to present our mission statement, what makes us different to the rest in our field and just why we created Excellence In Store, it is time to share our heritage, our values and our goals with fellow industry professionals.

Dating back to the early 80’s I learned the art of retail as a naive but passionate 5 year old working for my dad during the holidays, weekends and dare I say it the odd sick day from school. We travelled the London street market scene selling rugs from around the world. I was buying rugs, merchandising stock and displays and negotiating sales before I left primary school. I knew my products and my customers. We worked in some wonderful locations such as Queens Crescent, Chapel Street, Chalton Street, Leather Lane and more.

5 am starts, I loved it!

Retail was in my family’s blood long before then, with my family owning a chain of launderettes and then dry cleaners across the east end shortly after World War 2. My family sold the now world famous Stables in Camden Lock before I came along, some family members continued to sell in this arty little market right up until 1999.

Street markets taught you how to run your own business and thrive in a very competitive and reactive environment.

One of my icons at this young age was Sir Alan Sugar, my dad told me stories of this man who did very well out of street markets, deciding to leave this wonderful world to pursue his computing company. Many other traders laughed and failed to see the opportunities that would arise for Sir Alan, a true visionary. I’ll never forget the lesson dad taught me with this little story.

Having worked for international brands and retailers in numerous positions from 1999 to 2010, my retail marketing knowledge grew. Supplying top quality brands to the world’s largest retailers, merchandising & marketing other global brands and retailers helped me master three key perspectives – understanding the product, the retailer and the customer.

With this experience I directly influenced the growth of three retail marketing agencies transforming them from stand still positions to the dominant players in their field.

For me the passion lies in customer service. Building a brilliant business. Understanding and perfectly executing the needs of our customers. Every member of Excellence In Store is expected to match my passion for great customer service in retail marketing in order for us to consistently deliver excellence in store.

Having managed well over 1 million site visits across the globe my team has the ability to support the largest of retail marketing campaigns and provide an unrivaled experience for our customers and their campaigns.

Thank you
Paul Neville