The Soul of the Retailer: A Great Merchant?

Like the drummer in a band, or a wide receiver on a football team, a merchant has a little edge to them and march to a different beat than the other employees in your company. A good merchant with a great eye for product, a full understanding of their customer, and a big picture view of Read More The Soul of the Retailer: A Great Merchant?

Holiday Checklist for Success

‘Twas the months before Christmas… The holidays are right around the corner, and a retailer’s success is tied to how well they planned the entire year leading up to those hectic weeks. Regardless of how you reach your customers, having a planning checklist will help to ensure your company is prepared for the unexpected situation Read More Holiday Checklist for Success

It’s All About the Product!

Last month I attended the NEMOA (National eTailing and Mailing Organization of America) conference in Boston. They celebrated their 70th anniversary, which is quite an accomplishment for a conference these days. Like most marketing conferences today the sessions focused heavily on email, digital, and social marketing. The final session included panelists sharing their ideas on Read More It’s All About the Product!

KPIs Are Critical to Successful Merchandising and Inventory Management

Every business needs to monitor key metrics or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that can easily be measured yet can quickly provide the overall direction of where the company is going, or if a part of the business may be going astray. KPIs are merely a way to separate the “winners” from the “try agains;” and Read More KPIs Are Critical to Successful Merchandising and Inventory Management

A Simple Secret to be a Successful Merchant

What makes a successful merchant? Creativity? Brand awareness? Strong analytics skills? Or perhaps simply luck? While I am sure luck plays into any situation, it is the combination of the other factors that determines a merchant’s success. Although I am not a merchant in the creative sense of the word (I joke that I find Read More A Simple Secret to be a Successful Merchant