Retail Operations -THE KEY TO SUCCESS ( Part II)

...hope the first part was useful in some ways ... there are other elements that make retail operations tick plus are keys to your success ...

Visual Merchandising ( VM ) :: The science behind" jo diktha hey woh biktha hey ", holds the key to selling more per customer , perception building of your retail store , drives traffic to certain section ,creates customer interest and so on ... this is one element of retail operations that makes life interesting at the front end , as it gives them a chance to put in their creative caps , its like advertising at the floor ,with effective use of floor competition between various sections/departments , judged by a before /after data check plus a presentation to the judges ,acts as a good energisier , plus the ideas that tend to come out are amazing ..VM just cannot be left to the VM department it has to be owned by all .

The VM department is a key function in driving standards on the floor ,the way merchandise is rolled out , the fixtures that can be used or not be used , the mannequin standards , signage standards , windows lighting , trianing to front end on VM etc , its critical to ensure that the VM function has a bit of science behind it , otherwise it can get converted into a printing department soon !

A good VM person is a rare breed these days and those days too , guess the good lot are in demand u can judge a good VM display by the effort and the ideas and the props used to highlight the merchandise , in large format stores , great windows that welcome you are another indicator , plus the overal ambience and the ease with one can find sections and items in a store is a good judgement of VM working or not working !.

Lets move on to another aspect of retail ops that is a MUST get right aspect , is the customer service department , although its the duty of the entire team in getting this aspect to be driven , reality is that most of the time irate customers are diverted to this desk or department , one should have the BEST , most customer centric , ability to take stress team members in this desk , the team needs to be handpicked , for this key piece , looks simple , we had this bench being loaded by people who were advised by doctors ,"not to stand and work " was the criteria ! as mentioned in the part 1 of this note , great customer recovery , helps in getting repeat visits for sure .This would only work if the necessary teams delivering this, have suitable empowerments or have the DOA clear .This is a key make or break aspect of the retail operations and for your business !

SOP : Standard operating process , however painful this is , one must get the adherence to this correct and perfect , regular audits of adherence is a good step to see what is happening right and wrong .

The other 2 aspect of retail operations success is to know what is the customer seeking and having what teh customer needs on the floor , when the customer visits ,these two aspects are a big topic by itself ..more later on this .....Ciao!