Retail Merchandising & Operations

This workshop could also be titled Retail 101. It is a fast paced look at basic tactics that any retailer can use today to increase business. Great presentation for store owners, managers, and sales associates. None of the strategies are about discounting price. Updated every year. Even if you heard it in the past, you are going to learn new tactics that will make your business thrive.

Are you really focusing on the key drivers of your business? Do you know the three most important measures of productivity and how to compute them, how to make sure that everyone in your store is producing every day? Learn the top three hourly measures of success and two annual measures that will change your business for the better. You will not only learn what they are, but more importantly, how to improve them as well as your profitability.

A look at a simple open to buy process that can be done at the total store level and will keep the store from over buying and not being able to pay for the merchandise that was purchased. Presented in a simple, easy to understand format with both paper forms and spreadsheet formats.

Learn five simple actions that you can take that will dramatically improve the profitability of your inventory. These are simple steps that any store can take right after attending the workshop that will lead to improved performance, better customer service and more cash in the business.

This is a full day workshop that will take the novice to expert in eight powerful hours. The workshop covers all the important aspects of retail today and is a great refresher for an experienced retailer as well as an incredible introduction to those who are either new to retail or have to understand retailers. The handout for this session is over one hundred pages and is almost a full undergraduate course in the science of retail.

Something no one wants to hear! But it may be the truth. Are you over bought? or under sold? Markdowns are tuition that we pay for an education about our customers. Learn how to pay the lowest possible tuition for the greatest amount of learning! This workshop focuses on proven markdown strategies that maximize profits and maintain customer’s confidence while clearing out all those "ugly babies."

Learn what a 3500 year old book on strategy can teach a retailer today. Written by Sun Tzu, a Chinese General, The Art of War is a seminal work on strategy. Learn how his teachings are not only applicable but indispensable for a retailer facing the “enemy” of big box, category killers and discounters.

Did you ever want to know the truly important things that you should be aware of to really make sure that your business is on track? This session looks at the twelve most important numbers in the retail business, shows you how to calculate them, how often you should look at them, what good performance looks like, why it is important and what you can do to improve them.

In a few years both stores and manufacturers are going to have to decide who they will do business with. The internet has made price almost completely transparent and most independent retailers simply cannot carry the same merchandise as large retailers. In most cases the manufacturer will have to decide who they will do business with, simply put, no manufacturer can continue to do business with every retailer anymore. Learn what Bang & Olufsen and Herman Miller have discovered in choosing the "right" side.