A short (≈5-minute) episode by Ashley Alderson (Boutique Hub) arguing that "money's in the merchandising." She gives four actionable ways merchandising increases revenue: solve customers' problems, increase units per transaction by "selling what you show," inspire customers to take style or purchase risks, and build a cohesive brand aesthetic to support higher price points. The clip ends with CTAs to share examples in the members group and visit boutiquehub.com.
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Business can be a lonely game, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to Boutique Chat where we explore community over competition and how to scale your company with the balance and the happiness that we all seek. We'll hear from product based businesses of all types, retailers, e commerce and wholesale brands along with industry experts shaping the future of our industry. I'm your host Ashley Alderson from the.
Boutique Hub and I can't wait to chat. It's time for some five minute Friday and I have got a short and sweet one for you today and it's one you can take action on right now and that is that money's in the merchandising. If there is one thing that you could go and work on and double down on this week to see some dramatic improvement in just the excitement around the products you sell in your photography, online or in store or just how would I wear this? How would I use that? Questions that you're getting from your customer. Ultimately that these all result in more sales. It's in your merchandising. So here are four quick ways that merchandising is going to make you more money. First one Merchandising. Good merchandising solves problems. Good merchandising knows where your customers going before she even knows she's going there and says hey, you should wear this. Hey, you should buy this and take it with you. Hey, you'd be a way cooler mom if you bought these really neat pencils and backpack and matching lunchbox from me. Merchandising solves problems that are in the subconscious of your customer's mind. So the challenge for you is who's your customer? Where's she going in the next two to three months and what's she going to need to have a great experience when she gets there? That's how you position and merchandise the products that you're selling helps solve her problems. The second thing great merchandising does is it upsells products. You sell what you show. That is the name of the game in retail. So the game becomes, well, how can I show even more? Because when you are great at merchandising and you sell what you show, you're going to increase two things, your upt your units per transaction and your average order value. So I want to make sure that my customer is not leaving my business with just one product but with five. How do I get five products into her cart? Well, I've got to suggestively show her more pieces. So if you're in clothing, it's all about layering. If you're in beauty, it's all about a four step process, right? If you're in candles, it's in the brand appeal that you want to sell more than one cent of that brand because the candle is just so incredible. If you're in children's, you want to sell the entire outfit and you want to make sure there's a toy that goes home with them as well. So how can you upsell products when you sell what you show show more? The third thing great merchandising does is it inspires your customers to take some risk. So here's the thing that you may not realize about yourself. You have a gift. You have a gift of putting things together. Whether it's you're great at fashion, you're great at showing your customers how to wear things that may or may not already be in their closet and how to dress their body type, or you're in home and gift and you're great at decoration. I am not great at decoration, you guys. So I would come to someone like you, who has the gift to show me and counsel me through this process so that I can have a home that doesn't look like I just moved in and decided not to put anything on the walls, because that's what I would do, right? I got to rely on my friends to help me decorate. So you have to lean into your gift. The fact that you know how to put things together, how to design looks, how to create displays, how to decorate, how to layer, how to dress your body type. You have the gift. You've got to show your customers how to do those things through great merchandising. And then it inspires me, your customer, to say, oh, I could do that, or, oh, I could see that in my space. Or, oh, maybe those pants aren't so ugly after all. I guess I could see myself wearing them. It inspires me to take a risk and to come on a journey with you and to test this product out where if I just saw this product on a hanger or a shelf by itself, I likely would have never been brave enough to take the risk unless you would have shown me how finally, great merchandising creates your brand aesthetic and your brand appeal. There is a huge difference in what you can charge when you're selling one basic product at a time versus when you have an entire brand aesthetic and vibe and appeal that you've put together that your customer wants to be a part of. Your customer wants to shop places where she feels like she's increased her level of, I don't know, style and trendiness and aesthetic. She doesn't want to go somewhere to shop where she feels like she's going down a level. If she's a boutique shopper, she's probably not shopping fashion at Walmart. There's a big difference. But she's probably going to anthropology and free people and places where she feels like she's going up a level. So merchandising creates value, it creates your brand aesthetic, it creates brand appeal and it lets your customer know instantly if you are for her or not. So the money is in the merchandising. Whether you're a brick and mortar, whether you're an online business and you're merchandising your photo shoots or whether you're a live seller and you're merchandising. Every time you go live, merchandising matters and you guys are going to make more money quickly when you really maximize the opportunity. That's it for five Minute Friday. You guys. I hope you loved this one. Let me know this week inside of our members only group. Let me know. Let's keep the conversation going about merchandising. Show me a picture of your most profitable merchandised space. I want to know where is it? Is it in your storefront? Is it your live sale studio? How have you merchandised a space that makes you the most money? I want to see a picture of it. That's it. You guys have a great rest of your week. I will see you back here next week.
Thanks for listening guys. I hope you took away all kinds of nuggets and new ideas from this week's episode. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a rating and review. We love to hear your feedback and and give you a chance to be featured on the show each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and to access guest downloads and bonuses and all the resources we talked about on the show, head on over to the boutiquehub.com and join the community.
