Category: Inventory Management

Smart Buying in the Covid Age

8/3/2020

That's a sign of the times, isn't it?

While retailers are more accustomed than most folks to cope with change, 2020's unrelenting flexibility tests have been a challenge. Forget about five years. Retailers have to be ready for the next five months! It's back-to-school and then Holiday.

The only certainty about the next five months is that they will probably feel like the past five months. Yet you still must run a retail business. And that means you still must buy and sell merchandise.

The opportunities – and the pressures – are mounting.

Get Your Tents and Sidewalks Ready!

6/8/2020

As more stores are able to reopen, and more shoppers are willing to emerge, what will they encounter?

"A glut of pent-up inventory is waiting to be dumped on consumers this summer as retail stores reopen in the U.S., and shoppers for everything from shoes to sofas should be able to find major bargains," reported the Wall Street Journal* on June 2.

Not only are stores chocked full of merchandise that needs to be liquidated, but so it is with their wholesalers and vendors. Meanwhile, of course, the prevalence of store-closing sales only compounds the volume of discounted merchandise that will be available as shoppers begin to return to stores. It only adds to the glut.

Ready to Seize This Opportunity?

5/27/2020

Like every natural disaster, whether a massive storm, earthquake, wildfire, we all are victims of COVID-19.

Not all of us have suffered being infected by the virus. But, essentially everybody has suffered losses.

The loss of milestone celebrations of weddings, graduations, reunions, birthdays; anniversaries;
Lost access to theaters, museums, libraries, sporting events;
Loss of the sense of community that comes from going to work, or worship services, book clubs, or the local coffee shop;
Loss of income, job losses;
Or, sadly, the loss of loved ones.

Few have been spared.

The Dynamics of Merchandise MIX and Amount

4/13/2020

The Retail Owners Institute® has developed a retail strategy for "Inventory Management Going Forward."

As we often do, it was recapped as an unassuming chart (see below) identifying the Five Stages of Merchandise Mix Management, from "Before COVID-19" to the "New Normal?"

Now, for the BIG PICTURE: Re-Thinking Your Merchandise MIX

4/10/2020

Customers have become very tentative and “prone to thrift”, as the economists say. As the economy reopens, the lowered sales demand drastically reduced inventory levels.

However, as the inventory quantity is reduced, the new imperative is the mix of merchandise.
Discretionary spending will lag; retailers must expand and feature the basics, the “never-outs,” like never before.

Forward>>

Smart Buying in the Covid Age

Get Your Tents and Sidewalks Ready!

Ready to Seize This Opportunity?

The Dynamics of Merchandise MIX and Amount

Now, for the BIG PICTURE: Re-Thinking Your Merchandise MIX

The Perspective of Retail Experts