Retail is such a dynamic and fast paced industry and visual merchandisers tend to shift from one focus to the next at great speed making it easy for the evaluation of promotional initiatives to go by the wayside.
Those that prioritise evaluation and take the time to review their successes and challenges stand to benefit from the insights gained and improve their use of VM in product promotions into the future. Promotional assessment checks are a valuable and effective way to ensure visual merchandising animations are maintained in their intended form throughout the life of each promotion. It is necessary to do so not only to ensure a consistent customer experience.
To learn how to manage merchandise, the ARA Retail Institute runs multiple workshops on assessing merchandise . Join the ARA Retail Institute in their latest workshop which looks into how to assess merchandise quality, sourcing and compliance.
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Without ensuring the consistency of VM promotional displays any evaluation post promotion to assess return on investment and whether the promotion met its intended business objectives will not be valid. Promotions are often launched with much enthusiasm and due to the competing priorities of retail stores they often lose clarity and focus before their completion.
At store level this may appear as less than ideal display maintenance, ticketing and prop damage, stock shortages and a failure to adequately consider how to rotate and consolidate stock to ensure a high level of sell through prior to promotion end. Store teams need to be supported to maintain promotional displays as they were designed. Use of a checklist to support daily housekeeping and display maintenance is a key step. However, it is only half of what is required. Store management and the buying team need to ensure adequate access to promotional product throughout replenishment across the promotional time frame, and the props and specialised signage and ticketing necessary to bring the promotion to life.
To effectively measure promotional effectiveness, it is essential to return to the original objectives behind the promotion. After planning and execution, measurement is the step that allows retailers to truly evaluate performance. In addition to the intended objectives there can be surprising or unexpected impacts from promotional activities, so it is important to take a comprehensive view of business results.
About ARA Retail Institute
ARA Retail Institute is Australia’s leading retail training provider for both accredited and non-accredited learning programs. For more information, please visit: www.retailinstitute.org.au
