CHAIN REACTION | MERCHANDISING APPAREL
Creating an actual section and what that really means. Separating Men’s and Women’s apparel when possible, and utilising mannequins to identify that separation visually. Fixtures and fittings play a critical roll in how product is placed, and product placement determines sales. The shopping environment is so critical to
Apparel can sell… no, really!
So how do you ensure apparel sells in your store, you may ask? It is the goal of Mercedes Ross, as in previous years, to make that an easy task at iceBike* later this month. Apparel is always a difficult department and there are a few basic things that can be done to make the area successful...
“If they can’t see it, then they can’t buy it. That’s why mannequins and fixtures and fittings are so
important in the store.” Mercedes Ross
YOU MUST make the category a well-rounded, one-stop shopping environment, and really it should contribute to the bottom line if it is taking up both cash flow and valuable retail space. There are four areas we will be covering at the seminar at iceBike*: Identifying your customer: who is really walking through the door, and who is buying, or has the potential of buying apparel? When a category is slow there is always a large discrepancy between who the retailer thinks is buying product and who actually is buying. That is why I look at this first; my goal is to satisfy the consumer already walking through the door first. Then look at categories that may have potential for an increase – let’s say the tri market or women’s apparel.
BIKEBIZ.COM
Mercedes Ross will be at iceBike* which runs from Feb 21st to 23rd
www.icebike.co.uk
creating sales in apparel, as it is a spontaneous purchase for the most part. My saying is ‘if they can’t see it they can’t buy it’, because seeing it is the first step to wanting, and wanting creates the purchase decision. That’s why mannequins and fixtures and fittings are so very important, as they have an effect on how the product is seen. This brings us to product placement: how product is placed can create add on sales or completely kill sales, it just depends on the ‘merchandising’ – and product placement is merchandising. How you buy. A beautiful cake baked with salt instead of sugar may be beautiful, but it doesn’t get the job done: the job of tasting good. Likewise if you have great fixtures, but your buy and selection is horrible, you won’t sell any apparel. Knowing how much space you have to bring product into has an effect on how you buy the product. If product is crowded and the consumer can’t see most of it your apparel sales will suffer. Strategically buying for your space and customer is how you create the successful department. Most problems are ‘not enough space’ and ‘too much stuff’; although I can’t create more space, buying for the space you have is the first step. The end of the ‘buy cycle’ is closeout. How do you do this productively, and what tools do you need to be successful at freeing up those buying pounds? Ah, the dreaded sale items, a necessary evil, but you must hold yourself accountable, whatever the reason things didn ’t sell: the weather, you bought too much, wrong
colour...it doesn’t matter why. What matters is cash flow and making room for items that are new when they come in. I can’t stress enough how overcrowding kills sales. It’s been a year since I last spoke at iceBike*,
so I would love to hear from those of you that applied some of these ideas from last year’s seminar to see if they had a positive effect on apparel sales. We will be covering things mentioned above in greater detail later this month.
If you are planning on attending my seminar at iceBike*, come prepared with the following important bits of information so I can be of more assistance and address problems specific to your location: Sales figures as compared to the rest of your store: what percentage of the sales does the apparel department contributes to the bottom line? Things I include are apparel, socks, gloves, shoes, helmets. Bring pictures (on your phone is fine) of the apparel section; show specifically the fixtures and fittings you are currently using. Is everything tagged? If on hangers are there size rings? Are you using forms or mannequins? According to your bike sales (i.e: road, mountain, commuter, kids) what kind of customers are walking through your door? Knowing what their wallet looks like helps define this demographic and their affluence. The seminar will also include a hands-on
portion where we will venture into the trade show hall and actually look at how some of these theories look in the apparel booths.
BIKEBIZ FEBRUARY 9
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