Marketing and Merchandising

Numbers don't lie, but people do. How many of your vendors sell you the world, promising skyrocketing sales ... but when push comes to shove, you find out that the merchandise doesn't sell—and worse, the vendors refuse to do anything about it?

It's tough being a buyer who has to cut ties with a vendor they like personally but whose product is no longer the right fit for the garden center. Those buyers who are pragmatic—and have the vendor-performance reports to back up their decisions—are equipped to make this separation more "business" and less "personal."

Take a look at your top three to five vendors in each category of your garden center business. Determine what the performance report card is for each one and then validate why you are using each vendor.

Many times buyers acquire the same type of merchandise from one or more vendors because they are afraid to drop a vendor they have had a long-time relationship with. From a business standpoint, that is an ultimate waste of time, energy and money.

Before you can legitimately analyze vendor performances within your garden center, you have to have an accurate and updated tracking system.

A POS register's software system can provide you with reports pinpointing areas you need to address. Yet, as I speak to garden center owners and employees around the country, I still find that capturing that information and learning how to use it well continues to be a challenge.

Statistics show that retailers do not use their POS systems to their fullest potential. Does that describe you? When the snow is flying and business traffic is slow, it's the perfect time to learn more about the reports your register system can provide. A software provider that can educate you on the bells and whistles of your system can become your strongest business advocate.

Once you have that knowledge, and can assess the reports, you can evaluate:

• Turnover by item
• Gross margin
• Timeliness of shipping
• Re-order capabilities
• Returns
• Shipping expenses
• Duplication from other vendors
• Best value in the market
• Flexibility of ordering
• Advertising assistance
• Marketing & educational materials
• Merchandising support
• Product education at store level

Once you master this analysis, apply it to vendors in other areas of your business. Whether it's your accountant, your bank, your social media and web masters, we all need strong relationships that we can depend on. If they don't have time for you or to answer your questions it might be time to divorce them, too.

The next time your sales representative calls to make an appointment, mention you have some important reports to go over with him. Reps that want you to succeed will take the time to review them with you and to focus on where they can help. Building a strong relationship based on performance for both sides is critical in any business atmosphere.

Report cards don't lie, and they can give you information to provide to underperforming vendors. If there is room for improvement—and you still feel their products or services are important for your business—this is a professional way of saying, "Shape up or ship out."

Anne M. Obarski is a retail strategist and frequent speaker regarding marketing, customer retention and relationship building. Learn more and join her group for garden center professionals online at her website, www.merchandiseconcepts.com.