Two's Company’s Post

In the second of three installments, get to know the independent retailers behind Hammer & Wikan, Holt's IGA, and SPD Markets learn what makes these retailers and their stores stand out.

Don’t snooze or miss out on BIA Retailers and bed manufacturers have been urged to act if they want to win in the Bed Industry Awards. The deadline for retailers to enter the Small National Bed Federation Retail Champion of the Year for retailers with four stores or fewer; Large NBF Retail Champion of the Year for retailers with five to 20 stores; National Bed Retailer of the Year for businesses with more than 20 stores and Online Bed Retailer of the Year where at least 80% of sales are via the Internet is 5pm on Friday, 2 August. This is also the deadline for NBF members to enter the Bed Manufacturer of the Year and Supplier of the Year awards. ‘Winning an award sets you apart from your competitors and is an excellent opportunity to raise your company profile and highlight your achievements from the past year,’ says Tristine Hargreaves, NBF executive director. Companies can enter through the Bed Show website. https://lnkd.in/gUh4txE3 #furniture #furnitureindustry

I love this marketing idea. The reality is that most people who work at coffee shops struggle to have enough money to purchase coffee from coffee shops when they are not at work. When you are at work, no issues. Many coffee houses offer free or discounted coffee. But what about when you are off? 7-11 is making the argument that you should shop with them. How can you grow your sales by selling to your competition? #marketing #retail #competition #businesscoaching 7-Eleven, C-Store Dive Brett Dworski

Fancy a cup of tea? There are many ways to use promotional merchandise, whether that be to help drive traffic to your website or a physical location, incorporating merchandise into staff training or onboarding, strengthen brand loyalty, promoting your business or using merchandise at events or trade shows. All of these and many more are great ways of using promotional merchandise as part of your wider sales & marketing strategy. One great way of using promotional merchandise is around helping you get customers. GetBranding recently worked with a service-based business who ordered 2500 branded tea bags and put these into letters that they posted out to their prospects telling them all about their services and made reference to the tea bag saying “lets have a cup of tea and i'll tell you how I can help your business grow”. Their response rate shot up, so much so that they are ready to place a reorder! If you are looking for branded merchandise, please feel free to reach out to Malcolm G. on malcolm@getbranding.co.uk or if you would like a cup on us comment Tea below and we will send you some 258 Group tea bags out to give them a try.

Thanks for the fun show Orgill! Big takeaways. -more ways to leverage rewards programs -buying things that are in the warehouse vs drop shipped is a big deal -Builders FirstSource knows how to have a good time -Orgill shows are pro centric vs Ace/TV shows which are more homeowner centric and smart dealers attend both for the best variety -I wish we had Yuengling Brewing west of the Mississippi -Howl at the Moon is a must see when downtown O town. -eComm continues to be a daunting convo for most dealers. ECI Software Solutions has the product and the team that we’re most excited about. -branding without localized content is not effective. Creating localized content is a challenge for large organizations AND small businesses. -NHPA conference is going to be epic

In a souvenir shop, the owner left a note to mark products half off. Misinterpreting, the employee doubled the prices instead. Strangely, this led to increased perceived value, resulting in most items being sold out. Lesson: Pricing can influence perceived quality. #PricingStrategy #PerceivedValue #RetailInsights #MarketingLesson

It is time to get a new retailer listing! There are definitely pros and cons for taking your food brand into retail in terms of profitability because once you have paid for their margin, distributor margin, promotional support and marketing "investment", there is not much pie left! However the exposure for the brand can be transformational It is that time of year to enter Bread & Jam pitch to buyers event. I am already signed up to write three pitches for three clients and last year won listings in Selfridges, Holland and Barrett and Abel and Cole among others (yes that's right won listings not just the pitches!!) And the great thing is, although the average success rate is 1 in 10 (mine is 1 in 5), the buyer gets to see ALL applications so it can be the first step on your Building awareness journey. Not sure who to pitch and how to do it? Book in now and we will get it sorted! https://lnkd.in/eUP2Un7R

Check out this Ontario data from the LCBO P10 Merchandising Industry Trends. It doesn't compare too differently from this The Drinks Business article from the UK... some similar big trends from P10! View Industry Trends here: https://bit.ly/48Ay9gl View The Drinks Business article here: https://bit.ly/3wrp9wk #FWMCan

Don't miss out! The Top Shops deadline is fast approaching on April 30th. We all understand the significance of benchmarking, but why not hear it straight from past Top Shop honorees? In this video, Herb Homeyer from Homeyer Precision Manufacturing, Mark Vaughn from Vaughn Manufacturing Co., Inc., and Matt Wardle from JD Machine Corp., share valuable insights on the crucial role of benchmarking in your business: https://bit.ly/3xCQcFL

Think it would cost too much to hold frequent special events in your shop? That need not be the case, especially if you cooperate with your business neighbors. There are some ideas for under $50 in today's Specialty Shop Retailing blog. #independentretailers #shoplocal #customerservice #retailing #smallbusiness