What kind of image do you present when marketing your products? Are you
professional and well organized or does your store/site/whatever
scream, "sloppy!," to those who matter the most: your customers? Let's
see how one leading retailer is winning the sales war, but losing an
important battle: store organization.
WalMart is dominant in so many categories with the various products
that they sell. In 50 years the company has gone from a local player to
a world powerhouse and is on track to expand throughout the land of the
largest consumer market in the world, China.
As much as WalMart is conquering new horizons and dominating the
American landscape, one problem is arising: their stores are a mess.
Visit your local WalMart store at any given time and you will find
throngs of shoppers but few workers. Most workers are busy at the front
end of the store ringing up sales, while others are scattered
throughout the store putting up stock.
Why is this a problem? Quite frankly, WalMart is a victim of its own
success. Stock turns over so fast, that the store must replenish during
peak store hours in order to keep everything on hand. A good problem to
have, right? Not if you are a customer who wants something and you
cannot navigate aisles to find what you need as boxes of stock
partially block you out.
WalMart's chief competitor, Target, seems to have gotten it right.
Their stores are neat; the signs to help you find various sections are
big, bold, and color coordinated; and stock replenishment does not take
over the aisles. On the other hand, KMart was once an industry
powerhouse and many of their stores are old and disheveled. More
importantly, KMart is now an "also ran" as other retailers -- including
WalMart -- have presented a better place to shop for customers.
As much as price is a driving factor in winning the sales war, store
organization and cleanliness can eventually undermine sales as
customers are turned off by a messy environment and choose to go to
your competitor.
While many customers will accept a lower level of customer service
[less floor help available, for example], clutter will drive them away
faster than low prices will pull them in. You can tout, "Always low
prices, always" in your motto, but your customers will flee if they
find your store to be disorganized. Competitors wait in the wings to
grab what you will lose: can you afford the loss of sales?
Matt Keegan is The Article Writer who covers topics as diverse
as business, customer service, aviation, human interest, employment and
travel. Please visit his site at www.thearticlewriter.com for samples of some of his work.
