We Sell For Less and Our Stores Are a Mess!

What kind of image do you present when marketing your products? Are you professional and well organized or does your store/site/whatever scream, "sloppy!," to those who matter the most: your customers? Let's see how one leading retailer is winning the sales war, but losing an important battle: store organization.

WalMart is dominant in so many categories with the various products that they sell. In 50 years the company has gone from a local player to a world powerhouse and is on track to expand throughout the land of the largest consumer market in the world, China.

As much as WalMart is conquering new horizons and dominating the American landscape, one problem is arising: their stores are a mess. Visit your local WalMart store at any given time and you will find throngs of shoppers but few workers. Most workers are busy at the front end of the store ringing up sales, while others are scattered throughout the store putting up stock.

Why is this a problem? Quite frankly, WalMart is a victim of its own success. Stock turns over so fast, that the store must replenish during peak store hours in order to keep everything on hand. A good problem to have, right? Not if you are a customer who wants something and you cannot navigate aisles to find what you need as boxes of stock partially block you out.

WalMart's chief competitor, Target, seems to have gotten it right. Their stores are neat; the signs to help you find various sections are big, bold, and color coordinated; and stock replenishment does not take over the aisles. On the other hand, KMart was once an industry powerhouse and many of their stores are old and disheveled. More importantly, KMart is now an "also ran" as other retailers -- including WalMart -- have presented a better place to shop for customers.

As much as price is a driving factor in winning the sales war, store organization and cleanliness can eventually undermine sales as customers are turned off by a messy environment and choose to go to your competitor.

While many customers will accept a lower level of customer service [less floor help available, for example], clutter will drive them away faster than low prices will pull them in. You can tout, "Always low prices, always" in your motto, but your customers will flee if they find your store to be disorganized. Competitors wait in the wings to grab what you will lose: can you afford the loss of sales?

Matt Keegan is The Article Writer who covers topics as diverse as business, customer service, aviation, human interest, employment and travel. Please visit his site at http://www.thearticlewriter.com for samples of some of his work.

---

The Great American Customer Service Unawareness Campaign

Q: I'm so sick of you so-called business experts always... Read More

Importance of Good Customer Support in Online Computer Peripherals Shops

Looking for hi-fi computer peripherals? Finding it tough to decide... Read More

Keeping Clients Happy Keeps them Coming Back

Whether you are a seasoned small business professional, or you... Read More

At the Carwash; The Customer really is always Right

You have no doubt heard the saying that the customer... Read More

Make Your Customer Your Friend

The simplest way to describe a 'durian' (pronounced doo-ree-ann) is... Read More

Customer Service: Stop Sabotaging Your Customer Relationships

If you've called for customer service recently you're familiar with... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to See Customers Problems from Their Creative Side

Customer Service is a blessing and a curse; a blessing... Read More

4 Easy Steps to Better Online Customer Support

Customer support is very important when you're running a business,... Read More

Ten Ways to Help You Improve Your Customer Service

1. Stay in contact with customers on a regular basis.... Read More

Foolproof Customer Service Strategies (That Only A Fool Would Try!)

Ever notice how customer service varies from store to store?... Read More

The Dissatisfied Customer

We, as small business people, naturally dislike complaints from our... Read More

If Everyone Thinks They Give Good Service, Why Do We As Customers Think Its Poor!

First of all let's look at what customer service is... Read More

Customer Service Tips for Mail Order Businesses

Can we be too good to our customers?... Read More

Five Tips to Calm Cranky Customers

1. Tis the SeasonRecognize that everyone is frazzled during the... Read More

Tips for Curing Bad Customer Service

Bad customer service is everywhere these days - unmanned front... Read More

Basic Levels of Consumer Integrity that Presently Permeates Society

Reality is not always pretty. But here is a tad... Read More

To Complain and Win! - My Personal Recipe

Prime directive: Make sure your claim is reasonable! Otherwise, forget... Read More

Customer Service Is Dying - and Im Not Feeling So Good Myself

Have you ever called a company and been greeted with... Read More

Customer Service, Italian Style

Nowadays, we complain nearly all of the time about how... Read More

Moments That Matter

Many years ago, I was a first year apprentice assigned... Read More

Managing Your Business When One Client Takes Alot of Your Time

How often has your schedule been thrown out of whack... Read More

Becoming A Solution To Your Customers Problems

Those of us in home based and small businesses are... Read More

Your Career Plan--Think Like A CEO

You've been going 6-to-late; exhausted by running the supersonic treadmill... Read More

5 Ways Customer Service Managers are Implementing to Increase Customer Focus

According to a Forum Corporation survey of commercial customers lost... Read More

5 Golden Online/Offline Business Rules To LIVE Or DIE By

Whether online or off, if you plan on running or... Read More