When setting up or reorganizing the parts store, maintaining product packaging can be easily overlooked. This is a very important part of how your store looks, and it’s an easy step toward making the store more consumer-friendly. The goal with packaging is to draw attention to the product inside, inform the consumer of the product features and benefits, and help with organization of inventory.
Vendors put a lot of time, effort, and money into making their products look good, but it is usually up to the dealer to make sure the packaging is displayed correctly, clean and free of dust, not torn or ripped open, and readily accessible for the consumer to pick up and look over. Following are some tips to making sure your inventory is flying off the shelves: - Dust packaging regularly. If this is done on a weekly or bi-monthly basis it becomes a much simpler job than waiting to do this every couple of months. Often a quick swipe with a dry cloth or duster does the job just fine.
- Contact your distributor or the vendor directly if a product is found on the shelf or returned with damaged packaging. In most cases the vendor can send out a replacement box or an exchange can be arranged if necessary. This becomes much easier if done individually with each product instead of waiting until inventory time when you end up with a whole pile of damaged packages.
- Make sure the packaging is displayed on the shelf with the correct facing forward. It’s amazing how often the wrong side of the box is displayed just to gain a couple of inches of shelf space. The product will never sell if no one can see what it is.
- If possible, display products from the same vendor together. Usually the vendor will have a specific design they use throughout their products, and by facing these products together a unique and concise plan-o-gram effect is achieved.
