The £1,000,000 Merchandiser

In the first in a series of Power Hours from Salon Fixer Cory Couts, he tells us what we can learn about merchandising from the likes of Harrods and Top Shop

The selling of professional salon retail products has become a necessity for today’s salons everywhere in the world. Unlike in times past, it is required that salons be savvy retailers. As part of an overall retail strategy one key element is merchandising.

To merchandise is quite simply to promote the sale of goods through their presentation. Our clients need to feel good about making their purchase in the salon and they have become very discerning about the kind of environment that puts them in a buying mood. A client that has just left a high-end department store to come to the salon does not change their expectation about the professionalism and attraction of the merchandising they see.

Department stores like Selfridges and Harrods and clothing chains like Top Shop and H&M spend millions of pounds each year on consultants to teach them how to create a successful buying environment. It’s likely that this is not in your budget for 2009!

However, you can become your own £1,000,000 Merchandiser by doing something that comes pretty naturally: go shopping. By paying close attention to what large chain stores are doing with their buying environments you can get the benefit the large investment they have made in paying high flying consultants.