If all you have is a hammer.....

I recently read an article on Linkedin about measuring the effectiveness of visual merchandising (click here) 

The article focussed on the role of visual merchandising in increasing 'basket size.'

I don't disagree although I do have an issue with the term 'basket size' (an FMCG term) being used with regard to fashion businesses. 

Putting that aside, the article was correct but that's not all VM can do for your business.

I shared an anecdote in the comments section about 'window pieces' and another about using your windows to encourage sales of slower moving stock and that got me thinking about the 21st century retailer's toolkit.

The retailer's toolkit has grown since I started in retail - it's bursting at the seams with new and improved tools so why then do retailers always go back to the same tool?

The tool I'm talking about is 'price.' 

Inclement weather 'drop the price'
Slow moving stock 'drop the price'
New competitor moved in down the street 'drop the price'
Over stocked 'drop the price'

To use the tool analogy again, price reductions are a like hammer and as the old saying goes - 'when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.'

The fact is that retailers have at their fingertips so many other tools but none so simple as price reductions and in an era when budget cuts and efficiency dividends mean that there isn't enough time or people, it's easier to use a simple tool than learn how to use a new one.