Merchandise Assortment a Constantly Evolving Process
As every retail business owner knows, having an accurate and up-to-date inventory is a critical part of doing business successfully. Customers want to buy exactly what they want, when they want it, and they donât like waiting for a product to come in because it is out of stock.
Merchandise assortment is a planned procedure that goes through a predictable cycle, over and over again. According to Bob and Susan Negen of WhizBank! Training, there are six steps in the process, and each one needs to be carefully considered every time the cycle re-starts. Here are the steps:
Figure Out What to Buy This includes understanding your overall merchandising philosophy, having a clear, appropriate department structure, analyzing what your customers have purchased in the past, and trying to figure out what your customers will buy in the future.
Buy the Products This involves prudent choices that will save you money and lots of headaches.
Offer It to Your Customers This includes the visual display, the marketing, and the actual selling of the merchandise.
Your Customer Votes This step helps you to determine if the merchandise you selected for your assortment is either bought or ignored by your customers.
Count the Votes â This involves using a good computerized Point of Sale System to track and analyze what is actually bought, what is not, is how you can tell what your customers like and do not like.
Adjust In-Store This involves buying more of whatâs selling, and trying to find out why non-sold merchandise is not moving. Determining whatâs at fault, like poor marketing or visual merchandising, poorly trained staff, or insufficient product knowledge is a part of this step.
Now itâs time for a new plan for the next cycle. As you proceed through these steps, it becomes easier, cycle after cycle, to control your inventory in the most profitable way.
Need some help with your inventory? NCR’s Counterpoint POS Software has excellent Inventory and Purchasing components. One of the best parts of Purchasing is the Purchase Advice Report. This allows you to run a suggested Purchase Request base on items sold over a set period of time. You can review it, make changes to it and then turn it into a Purchase Order. It saves you hours of time trying to figure out what to reorder.
For more information, call CCS Retail Systems today at 800/425-672-4806 or email us. Weâll be glad to furnish you with the details you need.