Independent Study
What I did...Today, like yesterday, was also a very busy day. I was doing stuff pretty much the whole time. When I got there she had me unwrap some new backpacks and wallets that had just come in. Then I re-arranged them on their fixture of that brand to make it all fit and look nice. After that I did some little things for them like, checking the back stock on some items because the inventory didn't match, making price changes, ringing up some customers, and putting away some products. Then after that I spent the majority of my time pricing new Jim Shore products they had just gotten in. So I had to get out each box and open it up to make sure the fixture wasn't broken, then put it back in the box, then put the price tag on it. I did that to about four boxes full of stuff and then had to bring the four boxes to the basement and put them away. Then a sales rep came, so I was able to listen in on what that was like and how those meetings run. What I learned...When I was putting the backpacks and wallets away they were organized by pattern, so I just put the new stuff with the old stuff. But what I should've done, which is what she told me shortly after, was that I should keep the patterns together, but I should try to assemble to new items on the top shelf where people's eyes fall first. That way they see change, which as I have mentioned before is important, and they see the newest additions to the collection. After I did that, she was putting together their fall catalog so I started asking about that and how they put together. She told me it takes about a month to put together and they use a marketing company to help. So basically the company sends out a mock catalog filled with all the different vendors they carry. From there she goes through and picks any items she likes from the vendors they have and then if she wants other vendors that aren't associated with that company she has to do that herself. So she has to go through and write little descriptions for them, do the pricing, find the picture, and order the products herself, whereas with the company she just picks what she wants from them and they will order it and they have the pricing and the pictures all ready to go. Once she has all the products she wants in her catalog she goes through and arranges everything on the pages and orders the catalog. I was also able to watch them meet with a sales rep. The sales rep basically has a bunch of companies who sign with her and she goes to different stores trying to sell their products. So today she showed Amy a bunch of different catalogs filled with different products and Amy went through and picked any new stuff she wanted to order and any old stuff she needed more of. These companies also had minimum amounts for how much she had to spend and for each purchase she was actually perfect by meeting the minimums. She didn't run into being $50 short and having to add something she doesn't really want which is nice, so she either got really lucky, or has just gotten good over the years. Also, one thing I found interesting was that Christmas time is when they get almost 80% of their business. They basically have to do really well during the holidays to sustain them through the rest of the year until about September when they start selling Christmas stuff again. She sad they would wait to put Christmas out, but it takes so long to prepare and people buy it that early, so they put it out that early. The Catalog Blueprints
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What I did...Today was a much busier day. When I got there I helped one of the workers put together a new rack that had just come in. I then helped put sale items on the rack and make "20% off" labels for the items on the rack. Once I did that I helped re-arrange their clothing section by bringing up their summer clothes from the basement and re-organizing everything. I also put some stuff away and helped her when costumers bought stuff that was kept in the basement. Then, for the last hour or so, I steamed some of their new summer dresses. What I Learned...Today was a more hands-on day, I did a lot of running around and helping out here or there and less talking and getting to know how they run things. But I did get to talk to them when they were looking at the new Alex and Ani catalog. They were talking about how it was ridiculous how much their minimum for one order was and how they just are not selling that many bracelets of theirs anymore and it's an issue. They would charge that amount when they were super popular, but now they aren't that popular and they still have a minimum of $3,000 for some orders. And now, since they don't want to order that much, they can't get their new lines in and they have to wait until it is the "old line" and can order less. But then other stores have the new lines and they don't and they also aren't changing up what they sell, and as I've addressed before, change in retail is really important. They are constantly trying to change the locations of products and what products they have in the store. You'd be shocked as to how many products will move locations and customers will think it's a brand new product. They also just started a rewards system and when I was there today she was printing out the cards for them. It is all just to try to get people coming back and wanting to buy stuff. Like they have a few products where you buy the main item and then they have a bunch of exchangeable ad-ons and that keep people coming back. One thing I found that was interesting was that when she was ordering new cards she was just ordering the ones her and the other worker liked. I asked her if there was a specific type of card she would keep an eye out. Like if she knew the people liked certain ones and would get those, and she said for the most part no. She said as a general rule stuff with cats and dogs is a safe bet, but from there she just gets the ones she likes or the ones that make her laugh. This is also the case for a lot of other stuff in the store, not everything, but a lot of it.
What I Did...Today was not a very busy day in the store so I did very little. I put price tags on a few new products and took apart some boxes. I also helped take a picture and post it on their Instagram. I helped re-arrange one of their front cabinets and make it garden themed and I helped re-arrange their front table from Mother's Day themed to spring themed. For the rest of the time, because there were not many costumers, we just hung out and cleaned up here or there and helped what few costumers came in. What I Learned...When she was showing me how they post on Instagram she was telling me about how they can't always post about sales that are going on, so they try to either post about stuff not many people know about in the store or they try to post about items in the store that are really popular. Like today, she posted about all the Llama stuff they have in the store because that's been really popular right now so she wanted to show them they sell that type of stuff. Whether it is what they buy or advertise, it is all based on what the people like. She also told me about how when they take inventory the online data rarely matches what is in the store because so much stuff is stolen or broken or misplaced or not entered. I was shocked about how much stuff she said was stolen, but she said it's a lot more common than you'd think. I also discovered vendors will often times bump up their price and then the stores have to raise their price by a few dollars. So like today, one of the workers was printing out a ton of new price tags because a whole company just changed their pricing so they had to bump all their prices up a few dollars. Another thing I found interesting was that they tend to price things at costs that are 55% or more of the original cost and then within that they use an appealing number. So if it was like 6 or 7 dollars to buy they would price it at 14.99 or 12.99, they would almost never do 13.99 or 11.99. It just does not look as nice to the costumer, but sometimes they do because they have to. They also do the ".99" because people only look at the first number, they don't really register the fact that the .99 cents is another dollar. They also use the "appealing number" rule with coupons. They really only use 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, and 75%. They rarely do 25% because it is so close to 20% in the costumers mind, it is not worth losing the few cents or dollars. The Instagram PostWhat I Did...Today I was at For Keeps which is a local gift store in Bowling Green. To begin the day I got a tour of the store. One of the workers, Amy, showed me around and gave me a run down on how they function. She showed he all their storage places and how they organize all their merchandise. They really use every nook and cranny for storage. I also organized jewelry and learned how to use their operating system on how to check out customers and check in new items. I also helped create a new saying to put on their outside chalk board sign and I helped switch their window from Mother's Day themed to wedding themed. What I Learned...She told me about how they get their products. Basically they either have companies come to them with products they want to sell, or for bigger companies, like Vera Bradly, Brighton, Alex and Ani, they have to apply to sell their products. They have to apply because the big companies want to make sure the store they are putting their stuff in is suitable to them and fits their brand. They will also go to conferences and get catalogs from companies and get products that way. Another thing she told me about was how they have to buy a minimum amount of products per order and some companies have a minimum of 100 and some have a minimum of 5,000, it just all depends. But like today in the store, a woman wanted a sign for her house that said "welcome" and there wasn't one in the store so the owner, my sponsor, who's name is also Amy, looked through about four catalogs with the customer until they found one she liked. I then asked Amy if she was able to buy single items from this company because she was just talking about how there are minimums for each order. She said there is a minimum, but because they order from the company a lot, she knows she can order that sign when they do their normal order and meet the minimum. This was something I never even considered and I highly doubt larger retail stores could do. They also told me about all the money aspects of a small retail store. They try to at least double the cost price because they have to pay for packaging, shelving, supplies, salaries, and make a profit. One thing I found fascinating was that a lot of companies require certain displays to be bought in order to allow the store to sell their products. So a store will have to pay sometimes hundreds of dollars on display fixtures just to sell certain items. I also learned how what the sell is primarily based on what the people like. They talked about how sometimes they see something and think it is so cute and is going to sell really well, and then doesn't sell at all. Then there are times where they buy something in really low stock thinking it won't do that well, then it does really well and they have to buy a bunch more. It is truly supply and demand. They also talked about how placement of products makes a huge difference. They could have something on one side of the store and barely sell it, then they change the location and sell out immediately, people see the changes and think it's a whole new product, when really it has been there the whole time. Changing locations and products out frequently keeps costumers on their toes and keeps them interested. They are always featuring the newest holiday or season in the front of the room and they always try to present their products in the most appealing ways possible. So they will have pops of color and accent flowers or fabrics all around what they are selling to make it all look better to the costumer.
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