NEWS OF TODAY News, views and snippets from Today Software Ltd.
MAY 2011
Clean or cluttered - which store strategy works best? There has been a trend in recent years to clean up store environments - reduce shelf heights, take out dump bins, widen aisles – in order to make the experience more comfortable and conducive to pleasant shopping. But does “clean” actually make customers mean? The world’s leading retailer, Walmart, certainly thinks so. As reported in the New York Times, Walmart went on a major store tidy–up campaign two years ago, improving sight-lines, removing pallets of products in centre aisles, and perhaps most critically, reducing the number of items in store by about nine per cent. “(Customers) loved the experience,” Walmart’s US CEO William S. Simon commented. “They just bought less. And that is generally not a good long-term strategy.” That’s perhaps the retail understatement of the year. So now Walmart is “ruffling the hair” of its stores, messing things up a little and hoping that shoppers take it as a subliminal cue that there are bargains to be had. Observation researcher Paco Underhill told the New York Times that it’s a nod to the past. “Historically, the more a store is packed, the more people think of it as value – just as when you walk into a store and there are fewer things on the floor, you tend to think they’re expensive.” And so market-style merchandising is back. Time magazine calls the approach “strategic clutter”. “Shoppers may say they like less junk on shelves and in the aisles, but they buy more when items pop up, overflow, and catch their attention in every direction.” One Australian retailer has built a $3 billion business around “strategic clutter”. JB Hi-Fi never bought into the “clean store” trend. Their environments are a riot of colour and offers and you can’t walk a metre without bumping into a dump bin. I’ve always found it fascinating that JB Hi-Fi often has a product both on the shelf and in the centre aisle display at exactly the same price. But the sheer fact of having to rifle through an overflowing dump bin makes shoppers feel as if they have “found” a bargain. It’s “treasure-hunt retail” at its very best. Ray’s Outdoors is another Aussie retailer who believes in somewhat “messy” merchandising. Every Ray’s store features a line of dump bins filled with irresistible impulse items, close to both the front door and the check out, “strategically” signalling to shoppers that prices are outstanding.
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Today Software Pty Ltd Phone: 07 3852 4177
e-mail: sales@todaysoftware.com.au
Of course the market-day look is not for every retailer. It depends entirely upon the image you are trying to project. Minimalist merchandising in premium stores, like Yosemite by James Perse in Malibu outside of LA, subtly prepares shoppers for the sticker shock ahead. So think about the message your store environment is sending shoppers. Too clean may be a turn-off for both traffic and sales. Jon Bird is CEO of specialist retail marketing agency IdeaWorks (www.ideaworks.com.au). Email jon.bird@ideaworks.com.au. For more retail insights and inspiration, visit www.newretailblog.com.
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Today Software Pty Ltd Phone: 07 3852 4177
e-mail: sales@todaysoftware.com.au
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Today Software Pty Ltd Phone: 07 3852 4177
e-mail: sales@todaysoftware.com.au