How Can Product Merchandising add up to Your Brand Merchandising Process?
Before retailers deliver products to customers, sales teams use product merchandising techniques to make products more attractive to customers. Their goal is to present their products in a way that catches customers’ attention, leading to more sales. If you work in sales, retail, or marketing, learning more about product merchandising can help. This article defines product merchandising, explains why retailers use it, discusses product types, and shares how to use merchandising strategies effectively.
What is product marketing?
Product marketing is a set of strategies marketers use to sell products. It includes a detailed plan to promote and showcase your products in your store and show how they will benefit customers. Retailers typically consider the four Ps of merchandising, including:
Product: A product provided by a company. Placement: Placement refers to the location where a product or service is sold.
Price is the amount a consumer pays for a good or service. Promotion: Promotion is a strategy for selling a product or service.
Some merchandising strategies include interactive elements that allow customers to interact with your product. For example, supermarkets sometimes offer food samples, and some mobile phone stores will enable you to try the phone. Other aspects of marketing include promotions, product bundling, email marketing, social media, and different digital marketing strategies.
Why do retailers use product merchandising? Retailers use product sales for a variety of reasons, including:
Build brand awareness
Product marketers can help companies increase brand awareness by influencing how consumers perceive the brand. You can achieve this by matching different aspects of your presentation. For example, consider your favorite store and what catches your eye, whether fragrance, lighting, design, or color. The store image can be the result of the retailer’s planning. A community of customers with a product or store contributes to the overall brand.
sales growth
Product sales highlight the product’s strengths and focus on how purchasing the product can improve the customer’s life and lead to more sales. One way to contact a seller is to offer a sample to a customer. Illustrations introduce customers to new products, making them more likely to buy them the next time they need a particular item. For example, a personal care store may offer customers free samples of new products, such as body lotion or small shampoo bottles. This way, customers remember that they enjoyed using the model and return to the store to buy. Deliver quality customer service experiences.
Successful product merchandising can also affect the quality of customer service. For example, whether a customer can find their desired product affects the customer experience. Merchants strive to make it easy for customers to navigate their stores. When you provide a high-quality customer service experience, customers are likelier to return and recommend your store and products to friends. Reduce inventory Retailers can reduce product inventory by considering seasonality, customer needs, product demand, and trends in inventory management. Some products sell well all year round, but products such as clothing can change seasonally. For example, a clothing store in a northern city may not sell bathing suits in the fall. Reducing excess inventory reduces storage costs, increases storage capacity, and reduces the likelihood of unsold items being stockpiled.
There are four types of products.
Household goods are products consumers can access quickly and widely with little effort. For example, if consumers want toothpaste, they can buy it from different stores such as supermarkets, department stores, and pharmacies. Comfortable products are widely available, affordable, reliable, and in constant demand throughout the year. Usually, consumers need to consider the brand before buying these products. Some examples of comfort products include:
- cleaning tools
- Many foods, such as milk or bread
- group
- toothpaste
- pet food
- vitamin
- impulse goods
Impulse products are products that consumers do not intend to buy, but when they see them in stores or online, they buy them without much thought. These items are easy to buy because they offer instant customer satisfaction and low prices, but retailers can make significant profits selling them. Retailers often place impulse products in places where customers can easily see them, such as at checkouts. Some examples of impulse goods are:
- candy
- diary
- battery
- DVD
- shaving
- commercialization of goods
Store products are products that customers consider before purchasing and select based on features compared to similar products. Because retail products are usually more expensive than convenient and trending, most consumers compare similar products’ quality, style, and price before deciding which to buy. For example, many people like to research and compare computers before they buy. You can compare processor specs, memory, product reviews, and prices before you buy. Unlike convenience store products, retail products usually have limited circulation. Some examples of retail products include:
- clothes
- furniture
- Device
- Smartphone
- laptop
- kitchen utensils
- special product
Specialties are unique products that customers want to buy. This activity can include research, travel, time, and money. Consumers prefer specialty products based on one or more of these attributes: style, quality, rarity, or brand. Specialties have the lowest distribution. For example, a customer who wants a luxury car unavailable in his area may pay a lot of money for the dealer to deliver the vehicle. Some examples of specialties include:
- high-quality vehicle
- hour
- wedding dress
- perfume
- professional advice