Retail Partnerships with Wholesalers

Store owners depend on creating successful partnerships with wholesalers to have a profitable business. To find the best wholesalers and products to work with, you have to start with a little research.

Make a list of products that you would like to sell and possible brands that you are interested in. Research your competitors for brand and product ideas. See which products they have featured and which ones seem to be ignored. This will give you a little insight as to which products are doing best for them. Go ahead and jot down prices for the items that peak your interest the most.

Do some customer review research and also search for online companies that sell your products retail. You can get the best quality reviews from customers. They’re not the ones trying to sell you anything. Here you can find out if high end brands are actually selling shotty merchandise that is likely to get returned to you. See if there is an abundance of wholesalers selling the exact items to the public at wholesale prices on auction sites or on their person wholesale sites. Customers are very savvy these days and will check online for cheaper prices before they buy a lot of items. This research will help you offer products that customers are happy with at the price that is fair and profitable for you.

To find a wholesaler, it might be a good idea to go to some trade shows, retailer conventions or promotional events. These shows are only open to business owners. You can meet a lot of wholesalers, gather information, and check out merchandise. There are also online groups of business owners that share information about their experiences with wholesalers. You can get a lot of advice from people that have already been through what you are tackling, especially if the other owners are not in direct competition with you.

When you find a quality wholesale supplier that you like, ask questions about their personal efforts. Do they sell wholesale to the public or only to businesses? This could be the single most important question that you ask, especially if the wholesaler is doing business in your area. If they do sell in your area to the public, they can easily undercut your prices and drive your sales into the ground. The most reputable wholesalers gain the trust of their clients by only selling to retail businesses, or by not selling below their suggested retail value.

When you have your quality merchandise that can be sold at the price that you need to profit, you can confidently showcase it to the public. Your mannequins, store displays and display cases will be stocked with merchandise that is easily moved and not often returned or put on clearance.

About the Author: Ron Maier is the Vice President of S & L Store Fixtures, a leading online resource for retail display cases including mannequins, mannequin forms, gridwall and slatwall store fixtures. For more information, please visit http://www.slstoredisplays.com.

Buying Retail Store Displays and Fixtures Online

As a retailer, you are lucky to have a wide variety of store displays and store fixtures at your fingertips, online. Make sure that you choose a supplier that is also the manufacturer to ensure the best prices. It is also a good idea to go through a company that provides all of the items you will need to stock your retail store. This way, reorders, returns and customer service will all be consistently how you expect them to be and go as smoothly as you need them to.

You will need all sorts of store displays to design your store. You will sometimes need items on short notice, so consider who keeps a large inventory of in-stock items before you choose a supplier. You will be ordering retail packaging, tags and labels, signs and banners, clothing racks, hangers, security devices, mannequins and more, so be sure that you choose someone who can accommodate all of these needs.

Keeping with one company will simplify your books and help you keep everything organized. Don’t be fooled by price alone. Compare quality and customer reviews of companies that you are considering before you decide. After you determine which suppliers are top notch, another thing to look at is special deals or discounts. Many offer shipping deals, or percentages off of your order around holidays. Look for promotions and be sure to ask about special offers when you call to talk to them.

This brings up the next point, customer service. Can you call the company that you chose and speak to a real person? Is the person on the other end of the line friendly, eager to please and knowledgeable? The last thing you need is a problem order and an untrained person on the other end that does not know how to fix it. Or even worse, you have to wait days and days for an e-mail reply to your question that may or may not contain the answer you were looking for.

You need someone with a wide range of retail store fixtures and displays, a large inventory of in-stock items, helpful and knowledgeable customer service employees, occasional special deals and discounts, a proven track record of quality items in a variety of store items, and someone who is willing to stand behind their products.

Once you find that dream manufacturer that is also the supplier, you will not only get the most bang for your buck, but you will have a partner in running your store. Buying high quality store displays and fixtures can sometimes be a trial and error procedure. But, with these few steps that get you through the research, you are sure to find a supplier of retail store displays and display cases that will be an asset to your business.

About the Author: Ron Maier is the Vice President of S & L Store Fixtures, a leading online resource for retail display cases including mannequins, mannequin forms, gridwall and slatwall store fixtures. For more information, please visit http://www.slstoredisplays.com.

The Art of Visual Marketing

Our society defines and quantifies products or services often through a visual expression. This is where the art of visual marketing is important in its various processes and techniques, whether it is used to promote, sell, or distribute a product or service. Visual marketing permeates almost all consumer and marketing activities.

Why is visual marketing so valuable? Vision is our primary human sense. At a very early age, we use pattern recognition to differentiate and learn the nature of everything around us. The words you're reading right now are a prime example of our unique ability to recognize patterns.

Where is one place our business has the greatest visual impact? How about our window displays? A window display gives others an impression about your company and what you provide. It also is a calling card in that it can draw your customer’s into your store, or help promote a slow-moving item, announce a sale, or welcome a season. Window displays are valuable visual marketing tools but without being set up correctly they can give all the wrong visual cues. What creates a quality display?

Balance: Asymmetrical rather than symmetrical balance with the display.

Size of Objects: Place the largest object into display first.
Color: Helps set mood and feelings.

Focal Point: Where product and props/signage and background come together.

Lighting: Should accent focal point, if possible.

Simplicity: Less is more so know when to stop and don't add too many items.

Like any other aspect of retailing, creating attractive display cases takes a little skill and lots of trial and error. As your store changes, so will your opportunities for visual displays. Keep working at designing eye-catching and innovative ways to make your retail store profitable through visual merchandising.

Visual marketing is also about branding. With branding you are able to build an identity in the minds of your audience. As with creating window displays, there is also an art to this. For one you must try and keep your company’s image clear and concise.

Secondly, look at keeping your company’s message consistent, whether it is in your logo or your storefront display. Brand category leaders are invariably the organizations who employ the best visual marketing. Memorable, appropriate, and consistent visual images are presented across these company’s communication channels. It is easy to see how visual messaging, along with positive customer experiences, drive brand awareness, loyalty and repeat sales.

Any visual cue is going to tell your audience who you are. If you are aiming to be seen as unique, consistent, professional, and persuasive, your visual marketing with your branding must follow. Visual marketing also reaches into nearly every aspect of your communications plan. Advertisements, brochures, sales and informational DVDs, Web sites--the opportunities for enhancing your marketing activities through good visual planning and strategy are endless. No message exists in a vacuum; every message is delivered through a medium. That medium can be well controlled and intelligently utilized, or it can be poorly handled and become a wasted opportunity. Visual marketing applies intelligent planning to all communications media. More than simply design, it's design that is supported by a cohesive strategy.

Yes visual marketing is many things but mainly it is that which defines everything your business is, so take the time to think through the identity of your company and what you would like to present before starting your visual marketing campaign.

About the Author: Ron Maier is the Vice President of S & L Store Fixtures, a leading online resource for retail display cases including mannequins, mannequin forms, gridwall and slatwall store fixtures. For more information, please visit http://www.slstoredisplays.com.