Customers vote with their wallets.
There is a store that has been my "go to" store for years whenever I needed a special occasion gift. About 2 years ago the store was sold. The new owners were very nice but gradually the mix of products changed and I had difficulty finding what I wanted there. Needless to say, I started shopping other stores. Why does this matter? If you are a retailer, it points to the obvious: Customers vote with their wallets It’s absolutely critical to keep the customer at the center of your assortment plan. Without your customers, you’ll have no need for your store or a merchandise assortment.
Main Mission: Offer what they want to buy!
It doesn’t matter if your customers say they love your merchandise or tell you that you have the best store on the planet, if they’re not actually buying. The vote is cast only one way: when the register rings.
It’s up to you to tally the votes and tailor your assortment to meet their needs. To do this effectively, you must learn to separate what you like from what your customers like – what you think they are buying from what they are actually buying.
Trying to sort your customer’s choices manually is difficult and not always accurate, because our brains tend to filter information based on our own personal biases – either the merchandise we think is the best or that we like to sell.
The Solution
A Point of Sale System doesn’t have this filtering problem. It’s going to give you the facts every time. Your job is to interpret those facts to give your customers more of what they want, and less of what they don’t.
Shameless Plug
CCS represents one of the best point of sale packages out there. Built right into the system are reports that tell you what is selling – what isn’t – how much you have tied up in merchandise – and how fast (or slow) each item is moving. CounterPoint SQL is truly a great system that gives you the information you need for smart buying practices. Contact us for the details and a demo.
Until next time….