DW's Blog

Merchandising Excellence

by DW Green — March 8, 2017

A merchant mindset goes beyond selling products

I recently read an article entitled How To Compete With Amazon. The author writes that the only retailer truly taking Amazon seriously is Walmart. Primarily because Walmart has the resources to take them on. Sounds true enough.

I wonder how much time, energy, and resources retailers should give to initiating plans to compete against Amazon. Of course, it’s wise to be mindful of competitors and their offerings, whether they’re on-line or brick and mortar retailers. Though it seems pretty obvious that the choice of what to do with finite resources is to improve and enhance the retail shopping experience.

It’s worth reviewing the genius of Robert Wegman in comments he made in his “I am a Merchant” speech.

“I am a merchant, and I have therefore my own philosophy about merchandising: That is, to do something that no one else is doing, and to be able to offer the customer a choice she doesn’t have at the moment. This is the only reason for being in business. To my own way of thinking, this is the only way it should be.

“I think that uniqueness gives one an opportunity to profit. If you are doing the same thing that everyone else is doing, your opportunity for a substantial profit is materially reduced because of the price ceiling your competition will impose. Thus, good merchandising resolves itself into rendering a service in such a way as to be difficult for your competitors to emulate. This is the basic premise of the way we at Wegmans operate.”

Mr. Wegman’s words represent a brilliant and well-expressed business creed. I believe there is a powerful distinction between being a merchant and being a retailer. A merchant mindset goes beyond selling products to consumers for a profit. The merchant mentality involves the totality of the consumer shopping experience. From product merchandising to signage, story telling, product assortment, service and services…all store activities presented within a cohesive brand style.

Merchants merchandise to stimulate interest and entice customers to purchase, while the retailer focus is selling. More than ever, merchandising excellence is key to keeping and attracting customers.