Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/255289
February 2014 | Construction Equipment Distribution | www.cedmag.com | 53 Best Practices acres in Dublin, Ohio, in 2013, it became the focus of Franklin Equipment's first visual merchandising efforts. A retail designer was hired to create an interior plan incorporating new custom fixtures, video displays and retail drop lighting that doesn't cause glare. Creating an environment that reflects the brand and also makes customers feel comfortable was important. The look is distinctly industrial with polished concrete floors, and counters wrapped in concrete backing-board with the edges finished in raw steel. Fabricated I-beams hang from the ceiling to create the look of a warehouse. Custom fixtures and displays help build the brand iden- tity, but they also function well. The heavy-duty fixtures from Gabriel Logan are built to handle the heavy products that construction dealers typi- cally display. "With traditional gondola shelves you often have sagging, especially when you put a heavy water pump on it," said Gabriel. Placing the fixtures on casters makes cleaning much easier. The concrete flooring is also low maintenance. A slatwall system around the store allows Franklin Equipment to display a large variety of accessories and equipment in an organized way. In addition to gas- powered equipment the company sells straps, chalk boxes, tools, pins, gloves, electrical, and more. The rental counter is placed adjacent near the entry door, so employees can interact with customers when they walk in. Cash and carry items are near the counter. Different brands and types of products are grouped together logically. Displays are refreshed monthly for different specials, as well as seasonally. "It makes you feel like you are in an equipment store," said Gabriel. But the equipment store is definitely generating more than just "wows" from customers. It's generating sales. According to Gabriel, in just eight months the store has surpassed their expectations for sales of items displayed in the showroom, especially when compared to their other stores. "It's taken off much faster than what we planned for," he said. With an appealing space, customers are spending more time in the store. And the store is attracting new customers – approxi- mately 75 percent of the customers were not Franklin Equipment customers before the store opened. But an even more telling positive sign is that half of those customers have come back at least once and 30 percent have come back more than four times. "Our retention rate seems to be higher at the Dublin store," said Gabriel. Other benefits include a boost in employee morale. "I am convinced they come to work with a better attitude, and they are happier at the end of day," Gabriel added. "Not only do the customers like the space, but employees feel better about it too, and they are delivering better customer service." With strong evidence supporting the decision to focus on visual merchandising, Franklin Equipment is moving forward to bring the same design scheme into a recently purchased 65,000-square-foot store that was a former Saturn dealership. Two existing locations will be combined to fill that "superstore" in the near future. "We are trying to be as easy and more pleasant than What the Experts Say We asked two merchandising experts for some of the simplest, easiest ways for dealers to step up their visual merchandising. Retail design consultant Linda Cahan, of Cahan & Company, has worked with many equipment rental companies to improve visual merchandising. Steve Jones is a senior project manager for Gart Sutton & Associates, Inc, with more than 30 years of experience working in the power sports industry Information is Power - Cahan advises dealers to attach informative signage to each piece of equipment – an 8 ½ x 11-inch laminated sheet with three bullet points. "Guys are expected to come in and know what something is. If there is something new, men may not try it because they don't know what it is." Take One Product Out of the Box - According to Cahan things won't sell if people can't see them or if they don't have a price. Dealers should be sure to have at least one product out of its box so customers can examine it. Find Your Power Aisle - Watch what aisle customers usually walk through when they enter your store – it's usually the widest. According to Cahan, this is where you want your seasonal merchandise. Call attention to items by creating a pod of merchandise. Rotate the Merchandise - Jones advises dealers to rotate the merchandise often – at the very least seasonally. The more customers come into the store, the more frequently you should rotate. The reason: "You don't want customers to see the same things every time they come in," he said. Make Displays Interesting - "Stacking things in a pyramid instead of a rectangle will make a display more interesting," added Cahan. Angling higher-profit products is another way to call attention to them. Use Quality Displays and Fixtures - According to Jones, if your display looks shabby people will assume your business isn't healthy either. Measure Results - Jones says dealers should take a lesson from retailers and track the return on investment from each merchandising area. How many turns do you have? What are the sales per square foot? Tracking is the first step in identifying your store's hot spots – a place where things seem to sell better than anywhere else. (continued on next page)