The NEW Retail Merchandising & Marketing Conference

Late last year, NARMS International made the announcement that it was changing the name of its annual spring conference to The Retail Merchandising & Marketing Conference. Registration and a new set of details are now available for the largest gathering for retail merchandising and marketing industry players across North America. The showcase event will be held April 14-17, 2012 at Saddlebrook Resort, north of Tampa, FL.

The agenda, now available at the Conference Center on www.narms.com, promises to challenge, educate and update each and every attendee and their staff. The dynamic program is headlined by keynote speakers Daniel Shapiro, Vince Lombardi, Jr. and Art Turock. Educational sessions focusing on running your business, developing a top notch staff and dealing with modern technology challenges and opportunities will bolster your networking experience with NARMS members, manufacturers and retailers. The very popular Manufacturer/Retailer Connection Session is back for its third consecutive year to allow you to hear directly from key industry players about their at-retail plans.

Everything you need for four terrific days in Florida can be found at the Conference Center. Here you can register, make hotel reservations, sign-up for the golf event and access sponsorship opportunities. Those interested in exhibiting can also find links to the floor plan and registration for the trade show. You can also go mobile and carry the agenda with you in your pocket by scanning the QR code with your smart phone.

The Retail Merchandising & Marketing Conference is a chance for you and your staff to get away for a few days, relax and focus on your business and industry while networking with peers, attending educational sessions and high energy motivational speakers. You will come away refreshed, energized and ready to take your place as a leader in the industry. Click here to access the Conference Center and to register. #RMMC561

Jan 27, 2012 IRI/Morning NewsBeat

Below is the list of articles you will find for the week ending 1/27/12 edition of Retail Industry News.

- Dollar Stores Keep Growing, But Prices May Not Be Main Driver
- Wegmans, Whole Foods, Publix Make Annual List Of Best Workplaces
- Walmart Makes Major Executive Changes, Names 1st Woman To Run Sam’s
- Trader Joe’s Looks To Mile-High State
- Bottom Dollar Schedules 14 Pittsburgh Openings
- Office Depot To Test PayPal’s New In-Store System
- Sansolo Speaks: Life’s a Niche
- Hy-Vee Launches New Smartphone App
- Kroger Expands Pet Prescription Business
- Supervalu Gets New Chief Marketing Officer
- FastNewsBeat
- The MNB Wal-Mart Watch
- Executive Suite

Click here to read Retail Industry News

The Evolving Store

Today we turn our focus to new survey from Deloitte as reported on by DSN Retailing Today. The survey and the subsequent report listens to what retail executives expect to happen in the next five years both in their physical stores and on-line. As members of the at-retail merchandising and marketing industry, it is imperative that we are in-touch with these views because they represent huge opportunities to be of service to our manufacturer and retailer customers.

These executives say that e-commerce will increase three-fold over the next few years, but most still believe the store will remain the primary point-of-purchase. The increase in on-line sales will change the way retailers use their talent, physical space and store operations to keep pace with increasingly personal customer demands. The study surveyed 39 retail executives in September 2011.

As a result of the study findings, Deloitte offers four recommendations to retailers. The first is to refresh strategy to enable operating models to respond quickly to marketplace changes. The next is to realize that there in nothing more important than the in-store experience. The third is to revisit talent management to allow store associates to deliver the more tailored experience. The fourth is to connect and integrate customers from the store to a multi-channel experience.

All four of these recommendations advocate loudly for the use of the at-retail merchandising and marketing service companies of NARMS. These merchandisers, professional installers, event marketers, national and independent brokers are all about mobilizing quickly and tailoring the customer experience to changes in the marketplace and resulting strategic shifts. Outsourcing key shelf level initiatives can maximize store assets and allow sales associates to focus on their core competency, taking care of the customer.

As the report suggests, the physical store will still be at the epicenter of this multi-channel world. You can download your copy of the Deloitte report by clicking here.

Field Workforce Management: US-UK Distribution Agreement Announced by Natural Insight and CACI Ltd.

Leading Workforce Management Solutions Offered in Mutual Markets; Optimisation Technology Provides Retail and Service Organizations with Unparalleled Verification, Accountability and Accuracy

STERLING, Va. & LONDON — Two leading workforce management firms, Natural Insight and CACI Ltd., today announced an agreement to mutually distribute solutions already providing significant cost efficiencies in their respective markets. The Natural Insight platform and CACI’s InSite FieldForce and CallSmart products have become recognized as productivity leaders with respected brands and high-volume retail and service organizations. The complementary distribution agreement allows even greater, expanded capabilities for customers.
Read more

Getting on the Scorecard

Growing sales and expanding margins. This is how most retail executives define success and how most of them are measured. Certainly any successful business needs to be mindful of these metrics. However, using them solely as the basis for merchandising and operational decisions has some downfalls. That is the key message of the latest Competitive Edge newsletter by Willard Bishop Consulting.

As the author points out, by these measures alone, maintaining operating margins can cause retailers and brand marketers to over-invest, over-promote or under-invest in areas that might be the only real competitive advantage they have. The example is cutting back on in-store labor to maintain the bottom line at the cost of excellent service. The result is lost store traffic and eventually market share. It often takes aggressive price promotion to regain lost territory. As margin erodes, the downward cycle begins.

Competitive Edge uses some graphic examples of scorecards where everything looks great on the surface, but fails to account for what is certainly to come. They also advise the use of an improved scorecard which accounts for new shoppers, how much the new shoppers spend and how many shoppers are trading down as a result of price increases or perceived bad service.

Retailers using this revised approach take into consideration the results of excellent in-store execution. The members of the at-retail merchandising and marketing services community help provide high marks on this type of report card because their services directly lead to an enhanced shopping experience. NARMS members also help to gather the shelf-level data involved in compiling such a scorecard in the first place.

Take few minutes and download the Bishop report by clicking here. An effective measure for real growth takes the value of at-retail service providers into account.

Continental Logistics Solutions Acquires ISO 9001 Certification

Northlake, IL. – Continental Logistics Solutions (a CTL Global, Inc. company) is proud to announce another step in its commitment to continual improvement and customer service with the certification of its Quality Management System to ISO 9001:2008 standard.
Read more

Jan 20, 2012 IRI/Morning NewsBeat

Below is the list of articles you will find for the week ending 1/20/12 edition of Retail Industry News.

- NRF Forecasts Retail Industry Sales Growth of 3.4 Percent in 2012
- Lynch Stepping Down As Winn-Dixie CEO
- Target To Focus On Competing With Online Retailers In 2012
- Marketing To A Food Stamp Environment
- Sansolo Speaks: Who You Calling Old?
- Starbucks Pre-Paid Card Generating More Than A Quarter Of Its U.S. Revenue
- Walgreen’s In-Store Health Clinics To Allow People To Make Appointments
- Dollar Stores Keep Growing, But Prices May Not Be Main Driver
- Wegmans, Whole Foods, Publix Make Annual List Of Best Workplaces
- FastNewsBeat
- The MNB Wal-Mart Watch
- Executive Suite

Click here to read Retail Industry News

Survey Seeks to Sharpen Services

One of the big takeaways from the 2011 NARMS Spring Conference was how much our manufacturer and retail customers value field representative background screening and certification. They want to know that the people who are going into the store environment to provide at-retail merchandising and marketing services are good ambassadors of their brands. The leadership at NARMS is looking for your participation in a very brief on-line survey designed to help us get a clear picture of member needs in our Background Check and NARMScertifyU program. Click on the link here to participate in the survey. Only one person per company is asked to reply.

In 2005, NARMS teamed with USIS to provide affordable pre-employment screening services. For $8.00 per screening, the USIS/NARMS package included: A criminal records search via the USIS Widescreen National Criminal records database including sex offender data as provided by the various state sex offender files, social security number verification, search of the USMA National Retail Theft Database, wanted persons security screen and a terrorist watch list. USIS is now part of HireRight. USIS will conduct background screening for government accounts and HireRight for commercial accounts including NARMS.

NARMScertifyU is an online learning center offering career-building courses. Developed by industry experts for marketing service representatives, NARMScertifyU provides a valuable learning experience. Online courses can be accessed anywhere and anytime, so the reps can learn at their own pace. It is an opportunity to become an industry expert by earning course certificates. Each certificate earned leads to more exposure and credibility. The increased retail knowledge improves job satisfaction and overall success for all stakeholders.

It is only through your continued involvement as members that we can continuously improve our services, and together, raise the profile and professionalism of what it means to be a member of NARMS. Please take a few minutes of your busy day to take the survey. The data will be used to evaluate and evolve these tools.

Continental Transportation Services Secures New Warehouse Space

Northlake, IL – Continental Transportation Solutions (a CTL Global, Inc. company) announces the opening of a new warehouse in Bensenville, Illinois. This modern facility provides more than 3.1 million cubic feet of flexible production and storage space supporting various clients with the three business units of CTL Global. In addition to the space, CTL Global gains the ability to offer extensive cross-docking solutions, with over 20 docks available within this facility. The new facility is located at 560 Supreme Drive in Bensenville, IL, just 4 miles to O’Hare International Airport’s Cargo Entrance.
Read more

Webinar Series Returns with Key Account Management Session

Exciting news this week from NARMS International as it announced the return of the highly popular NARMS Webinar Series. The next installment will be on Thursday, January 26th at 1:00 P.M. CST. Frequent NARMS contributor Mark Hunter, otherwise known as The Sales Hunter, will lead Key Account Management: Maximizing the Opportunities. The NARMS Webinar Series is an important value added member benefit, so make sure you complete your membership renewal for 2012 so you do not miss out on future educational programming. The series is sponsored by associate member Natural Insight and powered through the technology of associate member ReadyTalk.

Managing key accounts can take a significant amount of time and resources, which is fine if the business is profitable and sustainable. During this hour long session, Hunter will share specific steps you can take now to keep problems from arising. More importantly, he will show you how to find ways to grow the business and do it profitably. All participants in the webinar will receive a copy of the same training materials he provides in his key account management seminar, which he has delivered to numerous CPG companies. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions and interact with Hunter during the session via the ReadyTalk chat function.

Hunter is well known within the NARMS community. His background includes 18 years with three major CPG companies and the past 13 years as a consultant and speaker on sales. His clients include numerous CPG companies, such as Wrigley, Unilever, Heineken, Cadbury, and more. To find out more, visit his website and blog at www.thesaleshunter.com. His book, High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale without Compromising on Price, releases next month. You can find it on Amazon.com.

Maintaining key accounts and actually growing the business is vital to all in the at-retail merchandising and marketing service business. The session is complimentary to NARMS members but is also made available to other interested persons at a non-member rate of $99.95. We encourage you to share this invitation with other co-workers and anyone else who might gain value from this information-sharing opportunity. You can register by clicking here.