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OPERATIONS
Finding Some Quick Wins
Put These Ideas to Work for Fast Returns
You can hone in on big business
development opportunities in marketing
and advertising, merchandising and sales,
and finding and retaining good employees.
To do so, try implementing some—or all—
of these ideas now to keep the traffic up
throughout the year.
Marketing and Advertising
Get Social
If you don’t already have a presence
on social media, you’re missing out on a
big advertising opportunity. Social media
doesn’t need to take up a lot of your time,
but your presence should be regular and
consistent. Assign a specific person who can
professionally manage your social media
accounts and promote seasonal sales and
events. Stay on top of guest comments and
engage with them, especially concerning
negative feedback.
Neighborly Greetings
When a person changes their address
with the U.S. Postal Service, they receive
discounts for big-box stores in their change
of address confirmation packet. Be sure
your store gets to these newcomers, too, as
well as established homeowners in the area.
Include coupons in community mailers to
remind them your store is prepared to help
with any home improvement project.
Friends & Family
Several times throughout the year, some
retail stores promote a Friends & Family
sale, which is when all shoppers receive
the employee discount on their purchases.
Spring is a great time of year to create this
sense of community at your store. Bill your
spring cleaning or summer prep sale as a
friends and family event, or, throughout the
season, mark an item or a department on
sale at the employee discount rate.
Merchandising and Sales
Everything Must Go
DIYers are creating with just about
everything these days, so make it easy
for them to find everything they need at
your store. A recent shabby-chic trend
is to build furniture out of used pallets.
W
ith spring just
around the
corner,
the home
improvement busy season
is fast approaching.
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Spring 2017 •
Hardlines
Strategies