Merchandising

Having topped out at $287 million nearly six years ago, Lillian Vernon’s sales have been falling ever since; it’s expected to finish out its fiscal year at about $170 million. But the bleeding could stop soon. A public company until 2003, the general mer-chandise cataloger was sold to investment conglomerate Direct Holdings, led by media company Zelnick Media. But despite an aggressive game plan to broaden Lillian Vernon’s reach, Direct Holdings’ initiatives largely backfired. Direct Holdings bailed out in May 2006 and sold Lillian Vernon to investment firm Sun Capital Partners, which installed former Miles Kimball CEO Mike Muoio to turn the company

It may not be surprising that 57 percent of women buy more shoes than the men in their household and they’re likely to spend at least $40 on the average pair, but ShoeMall’s first U.S. Shoe Census did uncover some other facts about women and their fascination with footwear. Here are some findings from the survey conducted online in February by ShoeMall and Greenfield Inc. with 560 women ages 18 to 54: Besides sneakers and sandals, what kind of shoes do women have in their closet? 74 percent flats 32 percent wedges 26 percent peep toes 23 percent platforms Almost all women have black shoes in their closets. What other

Clothing industries have used the tactic of creating scarcity to drive up demand for such products as a T-shirt or a pair of ultimately disposable sneakers. Giving something that could have been mass-produced an element of uniqueness can have the same effect. … Marketers can add individual flavor to what they are selling to make consumers want it with abandon. —excerpted from “Punk Marketing,” (Collins, March 2007, $25.95) by Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons; for more, www.harpercollins.com

New product selections for consumer electronics cataloger Crutchfield are driven by its merchandising staff, which works closely with manufacturers. Vice President of Merchandising Rick Souder and the merchandisers thrive on launching new products. Since Crutchfield deals in high-tech consumer electronics, its merchandisers are organized by product groups to gain an in-depth familiarity with a particular product category, such as televisions or car stereos. Crutchfield’s marketing department steps in to determine if these new products will appeal to its customers, and if so, how and when this product information will be communicated. “The marketing challenge is to get the word out about your products in

Two essential ingredients of any successful catalog business — marketing and merchandising — have artistic elements where experience, creativity and intuition count more than numbers and cold hard facts. But they also have numeric benchmarks that if ignored, can spell disaster for customer acquisition, customer retention and brand integrity. Marketing and merchandising skill sets and viewpoints are vital, and impact the bottom line. When they’re in sync with each other, the resulting catalog invariably is better than either can deliver on its own. Interaction between the two disciplines is a two-way street, rather than a linear path. There are several ways to

Although factors such as margin and competition within a vertical market can make product pricing difficult to manage, pricing is one of the key components of a merchant’s offering. If for no other reason, it helps customers determine the value of that offering. Many pricing models exist, and in their book “Marketing in a Nutshell: Key Concepts for Non-specialists” (Butterworth-Heinemann, $32.95), authors Mike Meldrum and Malcolm McDonald offer the following four strategies and when to use each. * Market skimming: Used when you find yourself targeting a niche for which the benefits of a product have a high value, market skimming prices a product at

We all recognize that inventory usually is one of our largest assets. Yet many of us don’t give it the importance or priority it deserves. Inventory management impacts almost every area of the company and can help contribute substantial hidden profits or losses depending on how it’s managed. The effect of poor inventory management often is hidden when business is good, and although quite evident when business is bad, businesses don’t have the resources at that point to address the issues. Unfortunately, this cycle is repeated far too often. Establishing a sound inventory management process within the ongoing company culture will cushion

Unfortunately very few people come to your door with a degree in inventory management. So what expertise is required when selecting or training an inventory manager/director? If you’re fortunate to find someone who has direct inventory management experience, that’s obviously a start. The key is finding or grooming someone who has the following attributes: • good common sense • both good analytical and business economic sense • strong social or interaction skills • someone who can “hold their own” under pressure and hopefully have a good sense of humor and self. You may be asking, why a good sense of humor and self? That’s because an inventory manager

As a multichannel retailer planning out inventory for various marketing channels, you should start with an all-encompassing financial plan, then work your way down to individual channels to ensure that each — retail, catalog and Internet — is appropriately stocked. Ray Goodman, vice president - technology for inventory management software solutions provider Direct Tech, described how to best go about multichannel inventory planning in a session at last week’s National Retail Federation conference in New York. Start the process by conducting an overall financial plan at the top level for each channel and by setting goals for the year. Then, by channel: 1. Determine what’s needed

Customers want to be stimulated, surprised, intrigued, involved, entertained and loved. “Just don’t bore them,” says Kevin Roberts, author of “The Lovemarks Effect: Winning in the Consumer Revolution” (powerHouse Books, 2006). As you draw up merchandising plans for the new year, use these words as a lens to view all brand-enhancing merchandising strategies. You’ll be surprised to discover you usually have more work to do to be truly customer-centric. Below are six timely merchandising strategies to focus you on delivering an inspired merchandising experience. 1. Break through your customers’ continuous partial attention (CPA). Customers not only are multitasking more these days,