Every trade show you go to, industry magazine you pick up or website you read will tell you what is 'on trend' - but as retailers and suppliers our role is to decide which trends are relevant to our customers and how we can tap in to this to maximize the opportunity it presents for us to grow our businesses by satisfying our customer’s needs.
Why doesn't every supplier or manufacturer enter at least one eligible product for an industry award... every year? With the many, many category options across the various industry awards, nearly every supplier or manufacturer has an eligible product - which means any buyer or retailer can stock award-winning product! It's time to embrace the fact that wherever you are in the supply chain you can use this year’s industry awards to your advantage. Here's how:
The great thing about weddings and anniversaries is that they drive a whole tranche of linked events that are card giving occasions. As retailers we need to consider whether these present an opportunity for us in terms of the products we offer. Once Easter is over it could be a strong product focus for you if you believe it is relevant to your customers and there would be enough demand to justify the space and stock investment needed. And if you decide to go for weddings ‘big time’ - here are my top tips for making your wedding range profitable…
Its amazing to think that we're mid-way through April 2018 already and the trends for the year are quite clear: both design trends and the socio-economic trends that influence what we want to buy. As retailers and suppliers our role is to decide which trends are relevant to our customers and how we can tap in to this to maximize the opportunity it presents for us. After all, understanding trends only becomes useful if you know who your customers are and therefore appreciate the relevance of a trend to those same customers...
Every trade show you go to, industry magazine you pick up or website you read will tell you what is 'on trend' - but as retailers and suppliers our role is to decide which trends are relevant to our customers and how we can tap in to this to maximize the opportunity it presents for us to grow our businesses by satisfying our customer’s needs.
Why doesn't every supplier or manufacturer enter at least one eligible product for an industry award... every year? With the many, many category options across the various industry awards, nearly every supplier or manufacturer has an eligible product - which means any buyer or retailer can stock award-winning product! It's time to embrace the fact that wherever you are in the supply chain you can use this year’s industry awards to your advantage. Here's how:
The great thing about weddings and anniversaries is that they drive a whole tranche of linked events that are card giving occasions. As retailers we need to consider whether these present an opportunity for us in terms of the products we offer. Once Easter is over it could be a strong product focus for you if you believe it is relevant to your customers and there would be enough demand to justify the space and stock investment needed. And if you decide to go for weddings ‘big time’ - here are my top tips for making your wedding range profitable…
Its amazing to think that we're mid-way through April 2018 already and the trends for the year are quite clear: both design trends and the socio-economic trends that influence what we want to buy. As retailers and suppliers our role is to decide which trends are relevant to our customers and how we can tap in to this to maximize the opportunity it presents for us. After all, understanding trends only becomes useful if you know who your customers are and therefore appreciate the relevance of a trend to those same customers...
'Funny' varies hugely so humour cards come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and genre - including cute, clever and downright rude. It’s really important to choose the right type of humour for the recipient or they might not laugh at all - or worse, take offence!! Humour is definitely proving popular with a lot of publishers this year and lots of new ranges were launched at Top Drawer and Spring Fair... so I have collected a set of cards together which I love - and hopefully they will make you smile! Please note, my shortlist contains a couple of rude ones!
What are your core lines that you want to continue stocking over the next 6 months and where is the best place to locate them to maximise sales?
Last month at Spring Fair, I spoke to Independent Retailers about how to manage stock effectively and grow sales, profitably. One of the key things you need in order to do this is to understand your shop space. Here's my advice on how to map the space, and then how to optimise it for the year ahead...
Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of being invited to speak to Small Man Media about the season's tradeshows and how to prepare for them with my top tips: '3 Musts' and '1 big Must-Not!'...
I was also asked some really insightful questions about trends in the industry... For the answers to all these questions and many more - check out the full Small Man Media article >
If you're heading to any of the many tradeshows this season, hopefully you're going with a planned shopping list! Keep in mind your sales cycles and plan when you want to have new products available. This will help you ensure that you don’t have everything in at once, which helps your cash flow and means you have new products to refresh your displays arriving every 4-6 weeks to keep your regulars customers interested. Planning for seasonal events is a great way to prioritise your shopping list...
If you've been to any of the season's Trade Fairs, you'll no doubt be excited by the prospect of the new stock you've sourced. But clearing old stock is just as important an activity - and can present a great opportunity to excite your customers and generate sales. Depending on the products you sell and who your customers are, your SALE strategy will vary.
