Managing people in Retail Store- CARE

When the first Marks and Spencer store was opening up in Mumbai the HR Head from Marks and Spencer-UK had come to visit the site to have a look on the standards of the infrastructures provided to the employees. She took me by surprise when she asked me where the rest rooms are available for the employees as she wanted to check the hygiene and sanitation of the restrooms. She wanted to make sure all the essential requirements of the employees are fulfilled before the opening of the store. Such is the impact of Human resource in the western countries.
Till a few years back human resources in any retail organisation in India used to treat employees within the organisation as just one “employee number” and there used to be no emotional bonding between them. Here as far as I have experienced the human resource department is yet to develop in a very professional manner. Here for many the role of human resource means nothing but administration work such as preparing salaries on month ends and recruiting staffs. Slowly this notion is dying out and most companies have started utilising this department in a more productive manner. Now the administration part is either outsourced or a separate department is created for the same so that the human resources team can concentrate and develop their role in the corporate. They have now started understanding the importance of employees and started developing various methods to retain them.

In a retail store the sales associates or the frontline team is the backbone of the business. Hence the HR team needs to really take care of them and take care of their daily requirements within the store. Because this team needs to continuously stand on the shop floor they tend to get tired very early, and so the HR needs to take care of their health, need to develop motivational factors like incentives or perks to continuously motivate them and also impart knowledge to them and train them periodically so as they become more efficient in their work. If the employees are taken care of they will in turn automatically take care of the organisation. As more time is spent on the shop floor it becomes their second home and hence they tend to become like a family and expect more security, hope and of course love from the HR. A strong faith and trust needs to be developed between the HR and the employees and at the same time strike a good emotional bond between them. They also need to create a productive bridge between the management and the employees. If the same is missing it is reflected on their day to day performance and due to this the business gets affected. The HR needs to come up with new initiatives for the welfare of the staffs. They should provide recreational facilities to them, so as they are not stressed out at the end of their shift. Within a store I strongly feel that at-least once in a month the store HR needs to interact with every individual employee and address to their personal issues, and need to highlight the same to the management. During festival seasons and sale period when the store is busy with activities I feel the store HR also need to be involved with the team, understand the effort they are putting in while working for extra hours, around fifteen to eighteen hours.
The store HR’s job is a tough job as he has to cater to employees coming from different background, with different grievances or queries, need to be able to reply or solve them very positively without creating any imbalance within the shop floor. At times it becomes very difficult for an HR to handle such situations. Experience and everyday learning makes one perfect in this field. One needs to be personally very strong as an individual to handle this role or you tend to lose very early.
I have seen many store HR’s who have joined as executives and then get promoted as managers in the Corporate office after getting exposed to tremendous knowledge and experience in handling employees. They have then started training, mentoring and guiding the sales team on the shop floor.

Store warehouse

It is very clear that if business needs to flourish in a retail store the retailer needs to make sure that the right type of product is available at the right time to a customer. In order to make this successful the retailer needs to make sure that his supply chain management, which ensures continuous supply of goods from suppliers, manufacturers and vendors is efficient enough, his logistics team, which controls and manages the material movements from the manufacturer or supplier to the warehouse and store is in place, and has got a well managed warehouse in place with an efficient process in place to ensure that products reach the store in time to the customers.

During my tenure at the west zone operations team at Future Group I had to visit couple of Big Bazaar stores to understand the performance of the stores. I make it a point to visit the back office and the store warehouse on every visit of mine to a store as this will give you a clear picture as to whether the store manager is doing his job or not. At one such visit I noticed that the warehouse was in a complete mess. Stocks were dumped in such a manner as if they were garbage. The pile was so huge that the wall at the other extreme end the floor of the warehouse was not at all visible. It was a total mess. No one had any idea as to what stocks were there and as to from when it is lying in the warehouse. When we decided to clear off the stock we noticed that most of the stocks had not been taken to the floor, most of them were damaged, and many were in excess quantity and were required in other stores. It took us four days and three nights to segregate and clear the stocks and to outward all the excess and non required stocks back to the city warehouse. The total value of stocks inside this small warehouse was worth ten thousands of dollars. The reason for the mess was there was no proper planning as to how to manage the warehouse. There was no proper area demarcated to inward and outward goods. The bins were not properly marked and stocks coming in were not properly placed at the required sections. All stocks coming in used to be just dumped and gradually it used to pile up. Also stocks were not taken to the floor regularly as the staffs used to find it difficult to enter the warehouse due to the pile created, one of the reasons for the pile to generate. Even if someone wanted the stocks they had to climb the pile to get, and in the process damage most of the stocks. Gradually the entire warehouse had been so clustered with merchandise that those that were piled below the ones coming in lately had got either damaged or not in a condition to sell. It obviously showcased the efficiency of the manager. To avoid such a scenario it is very important to keep a warehouse neat, all merchandise neatly stacked or binned to avoid damages and shrinkage. At no given time the stocks should be lying in the warehouse for a longer period as it involves cost and hence blocks the flow of money.
The warehouse team is responsible for in-warding and out-warding of goods, storing of goods and maintaining the same within the store. It’s very essential to maintain the warehouse very systematically for smooth operations of flow of merchandise from the warehouse to shop floor and vice versa.
How do you make sure of this? My experience ( I was personally involved in setting up the Marks & Spencer warehouse in Navi Mumbai) says at the initial stage during store opening period itself the warehouse team should prepare a layout along with the planogram of the warehouse. At the site as per the planogram they should de-marcate the area properly so as different area is allocated at the bay to receive goods and send goods. Separate fixtures with slotted angles are preffered to stack and hang the goods in shelves or bins. Depending on the size of the warehouse the department and sections need to be marked accordingly. Once the sections are identified the slotted angle bins are fixed. Partitions are then created in the slotted angle bins and then depending on the merchandise they are either hanged or stacked. The placement is again department wise, product wise, style wise, colour wise and size wise. This has to be done in this order so as then it becomes very easy and convenient for any individual to identify and do the picking of merchandise very easily. All the partitions need to be also labelled accordingly. For instance if it’s an apparel store the warehouse has to mark areas for men’s wear, ladies wear, and kids wear separately. Further menswear should be segregated into casual wear, formal wear and so on. These should be again segregated to top wear and bottom wear.
All stocks placed in cartons should be labelled on the box. The label should indicate the product description, style code, colour code, size wise quantity, and in-ward date. Once these basic points are taken care of it becomes very easy for the warehouse team to place stocks whenever they arrive at the warehouse in a very systematic and orderly manner.

Alteration- a service

Alteration service

The development of malls and organized retailing has directly and indirectly benefited the consumers a lot. This development has witnessed the evolution of many tools linked to customer service, leading to a complete change in approach by all retailers, big or small. Providing alteration service is one of them.
I remember in the early eighties to early nineties we used to not buy readymade garments, but prefer stitching one, due to non-availability of the perfect size, and the absence of alteration service. Even the few which existed used to be an expensive act.

Since some few years around I have noticed a drastic change in the way the small retailers have responded to this new concept of alteration service provided by the big retailers at the malls. During all the festive seasons, especially during the Diwali (Festival of Light- celebrated in a huge scale in India) season every readymade garment shop will station a tailor just outside the shop just to take alteration orders from the customers. To compete with the big retailers they encourage all their customers to buy the garment of their choice, not to worry about sizes as they will be altered free of charge by their in-house tailor. (The one stationed outside the shop) Providing free alteration by most of the retailers to their customers have encouraged the shoppers to buy more goods.

This concept has also introduced customized garments wherein all gents trousers have open ended hems and ladies sleeveless kurtas (tops) will have a pair of sleeves attached as an option for the customer, in case she wants the sleeves to be stitched.

Most of the Retailers who are in the business of selling readymade garments have introduced this facility of providing alteration facility to their customers. The advantage to retailers is that they are able to convert more customers, and increase the sale. The customers find this service more convenient, as well as time and money saving factor.

Every service provided to a customer is fine as long as it is targeting a small size of business, but needs to be properly planned, a proper process implemented to run the service process if targeted to a bigger business house. Same goes to the alteration system.
Alteration service can go for a toss if a proper system is not put in place by the retailers.

I still remember an incident which I experienced along with one of my colleagues in one of the shops I was working with. We were standing near one of the cash tills at the men’s section. A customer in his late thirties approached us with a bill and told us that he had come to collect his goods given for alteration. The shop we were working in did not have a proper customer service desk. Hence any customer could approach the nearest sales executive and request for service. My collegue took the slip from the customer, went to one of the areas at the back office where all altered garments used to be kept. He came with one of the bags, and gave the customer. The customer thanked him and left from there.
In the evening the customer came back with the merchandise. A young gentleman had accompanied him now. He took out one of the garments from the bag, which somewhat looked like a Bermuda, and asked us whether it is the same trouser he had purchased for his son. His son was around five feet and seven inches in height, and the Bermuda-like trouser was obviously not his. He had purchased a similar material trouser and wanted its inner length to be reduced by 2 inches. The tailor had mistaken the measurement and reduced the length of the trouser by 2 ft. and made a Bermuda out of it. We had to apologize to the customer for such a drastic mistake, buy some more time from the customer, replace the trouser, alter it as per his requirement, and home deliver it.
The obvious reason for such a terrible incident to occur was absence of a proper alteration process and system within the shop.

The Trial Room

The best time to check for efficiency of a perfect trail room process is during week ends, and sale period. I am sure everybody must have come across this experience of waiting outside a trial room for your turn to come, and see people in front of you with one or two shopping baskets full of merchandise to be taken inside the trial room for trial purpose during a typical week end. You get more frustrated when it’s your turn and the customer ahead of you has six to eight merchandise to be tried on. Looking at this situation you either get irritated, or feel like not waiting there for another minute. Many customers end up leaving the garments after experiencing such a situation. Reason for all this is lack or absence of a proper trail room process.

Presence of trial rooms in a departmental store selling readymade garments is very essential as it is one of the service providers for customers. An efficient trial room should be able to give all the comfort and necessity required by the customer during a trial of the garment selected. The trial room also acts as a strong resource for customers to shop-lift merchandise and hence to curtail the same a strong process need to be implemented at the trail room for customers to try the garment.

Every trial room should have proper hooks, mirror and a stool and proper latch inside the trial room. The trial room should be spacious and comfortable enough for one person to try the garment without facing any inconvenience. Separate trial rooms need to be in place for ladies and men’s and should be placed at the respective section and very near to the concerned department. Outside every trial room there should be a signage mentioning the process and store policies related to trial of merchandise.

Mostly in lifestyle department stores the customers are allowed to carry only three garments at a time. The security guard manning the counter is expected to give token to the customer who is trying the garment inside the trial room. Once the customer comes out of the trial room the security guard should then politely ask for the token back from the customer. The token will have a number representing the number of garments taken in for trying. This will help the security guard to keep a track of merchandise movement from the floor to the trial room by customers. At the same time the customers are also aware of the process and feel comfortable to carry few garments at a time rather than carry the entire stuff. The security guard should then opt to collect the garments which are not required by the customer after the trial and offer a shopping basket to retain the garments which the customer wishes to buy.


During a trial process the security guard on duty should check that all tags are in place on the garments taken for trial by the customer before and after the trial. The guard should also check as to no merchandise is left inside the trial room by the customer at any given time. He should also check if any valuables like wallets and mobile phone is not left inside the trial room by the customer. If in case he finds any valuables he has to submit the same at the customer service desk.

The security guard posted at the trial room should be very vigilant and should be on duty all the time during the trading time of the store. At any time never a trial room should be unmanned.
The department manger should also see to it that one staff from the particular department is assigned at the trial room every day.

The department manager also should ensure that the trial room is kept neat and clean, mirrors are being cleaned by the housekeeping staff and free from litter. Outside every trail room a bin should be placed for customers to drop the merchandise which they intend not to purchase after the trial is done. Periodically the staffs from the respective department need to collect these merchandise from the bin and display the stocks back on the shop floor. At no given time should the trial room be used for storing of stocks, or used as a stock room.

customer service desk

Because I covered most of my retail experience abroad I somehow still feel we are way behind when it comes to customer service compared to the service catered to customers abroad. Whenever I go for shopping the lack in the service part, whether small or big, catches my eye immediately and due to some instinct within me I tend to bring it to the notice of the manager who as in most cases appears to take the suggestions with a chocolate smile on his face, but rarely puts it in practise as you end up seeing the same think in your next visit. The best department to judge this is at any customer service desk inside the store. What I have noticed is people here tend to work very mechanically or tend to showcase a very trendy and sophisticated atmosphere, but when you interact with them they will be equivalent to a roadside vendor. To be very specific, when I meant mechanical means at most of the desk they have a signage stating exchange timing 10 am to 4pm or 6pm and no exchanges on Sundays and no refunds and exchange on undergarments, etc. because the policy says so, and hence if a customer comes for an exchange on a weekday when there is not much crowd around 6pm the staff will coolly say, “sorry we do not entertain exchange after 6pm”, without even understanding the fact that the same applies only if there is a crowd at the desk and one is helpless to entertain the same. This is what I meant by working mechanically. I have noticed that most of them place the board reading “May I Help You” but not in a position to help you or entertain you when the need arises. I am sure you all must have experienced the same. The real reason is that no one has been really made to understand what and how important this desk is and why and how will one benefit if they take this activity behind the desk very seriously. According to me one should never post anything negative at the customer service desk as it gives a very wrong image of the store and its people.
A customer service desk is situated mostly near the entrance to the store. As the name suggests customer service desk is a department where all the doubts, enquiries, and problems of the customers are answered or solved. The customer service in-charge should be well updated with all the activities happening within the store. He should also be aware of all the departments within the store and the products that are available within the store. He should also be thorough with all the company and store policies. He should also be aware of the system software, and other processes within the store.
Various processes are handled by this department. All the goods returned by customers, exchanges of products, selling of gift vouchers, providing gift wrapping service, store announcements and paging, attending calls, handling of damage goods returned by customers, lost and found products, customer feedback process handling and emergencies are taken care at the customer service desk. They are also responsible directly or indirectly for handling the baggage counter wherein customers coming to shop in the store would prefer to keep their bags, other items in this counter until they finish their shopping. Hence they are also responsible to handle unclaimed baggage in this counter. The members at the customer service desk need to be thorough with the procedures while handling all these processes mentioned.
Hence the team should be very efficient to handle any such problem and take action efficiently. They also keep a track of all the daily activities occurring at the desk in a register. Registers are maintained to keep track of returns and exchanges, to issue gift vouchers that are issued from the desk to all such customers who wish to buy the same. According to me it’s a very happening place as you will come across various types of customers and in the process get to learn a lot from them. When at the desk it is very important for one to understand the need of the customer, and serve the customer as per his convenience and not vice-versa. Maximum effort needs to be maintained to ensure that the customer leaves the desk happily without any problem. The service provided at the customer service desk shows the work professionalism of the store and the service interest the store shows. The team managing the customer service desk should be very energetic, helpful and should have lots of patience and every time portrait a positive attitude towards customers.

cash counter management

Cash counter management-Head cashier’s responsibility

The maximum number of customer interaction that one faces in a retail store is the cash counter. Hence it becomes very important to keep the cash counter very efficient and manned at all times. An effective and neat cash counter is a sign of a very professionally managed store.

It’s the responsibility of the cash counter in-charge or the head cashier to see to it that each and every cash counter is managed properly. At start of the trading it’s important that the cashier assigned to a specific cash counter needs to look into the following points.
· The cash counter is neat and tidy.
The cash counter should not be untidy as it is at this place that a sale is closed. It’s a very sensitive area from the point of sales, and hence it may convert or break a sale. It is at this place that customers make impulse decisions. Cash counters being untidy and dirty can irate a customer and it can be one of the major reasons for loss in sale.
· To ensure the cash till/POS machine is working:
Before letting customers approach your counter for billing cashiers should make sure that the POS is functional and there is no problem. The cashier also needs to check and update all schemes, offers for the day with the help of the systems personnel. This helps in efficiency in billing and help in reducing long queue and delay at the cash counter.
· To check all telephone lines and EDC machines are working:
The cashier needs to check whether the phone lines and the EDC machines are working. The reason is if a customer wishes to pay by credit card the cashier needs to swipe the same on the EDC machine and to get authorization from the bank the telephone line needs to be functional. During week ends and peak seasons stores are packed with customers and there are a long queues in front of the cash counters. At this stage if the telephone line or the EDC machine is not working then it will be a nightmare for the cashier as he will have face the customers anger. Hence its very important to make it a practice to check the telephone lines and the EDC machines before the billing process.



. To ensure stationery is available:
Cashiers need to make sure stationeries like pen, stapler, rubber stamps, calculator, manual bill book, etc. is available at the cash counter. These are essential stationeries and are required most of the time during the billing process. If any one of them is not available during the billing process it delays the transaction. Also it does not show a professional approach to a customer and due to the delay the customer becomes irritated. It may also be a reason for loss in sale.
· To ensure returns are sent back:
Most of the times customers tend to decide not to bill some items and leave the same at the cash counter. If not attended to it tends to pile up at the cash counter and makes the place very uncomfortable for the cashier as well as the customer. Hence at every interval the cashier needs to make it a point to send such items back to the department or section to where it belongs.
· Q-Manager in place:
Last but not the least cashiers should ensure that Q-managers are in place in front of the cash counter to avoid crowding of customers in front of the cash desk. Q-managers will help the customers to form a proper queue so as all customers get to bill at the cash counter in turns without any problem.

The head cashier should ensure this is practised religiously every day.

Reports generated by the head cashier:

Usually a head cashier is expected to generate a report which shows the total number of transactions done in all the cash counters, a detail SKU wise report, a detail tender wise report and a detail report in all individual cash counters which will reflect all the cancellations done, refunds made, and any other specific transaction made apart from the billings made. Based on these reports the head cashier has to submit his daily submission report to the store manager. Also all investigations are done based on these reports. Some software also has the efficiency to generate report period wise, apart from date wise, and also time wise, i.e. between a specific time periods in a day, individually in all cash counters. The more the reports are detailed the easier it becomes for a head cashier to investigate a case.


Banking process:

Banking of the daily sales cash also is the responsibility of the head cashier. It is very crucial for the head cashier to tally the entire physical collections made with the system report, and to report of any shortfalls immediately to the concerned cashier the same day. Once all the cash collections from all the cashiers are made, the head cashier does the banking process early in the morning the next day.
· He first needs to bundle the currencies denomination wise, count the same and record it in the bank deposit slip.
· It is very important and mandatory to note the organizations PAN number (Permanent Account Number) for all deposits above fifty thousand rupees made in India.
· Once the money is deposited he needs to file the acknowledged slip received from the bank, and get it signed by the store manager on a daily basis, along with the reconciliation slip of the previous days collections made.
· The store manager needs to check that the collections made and the deposit made in the bank should be the same and should not differ at any time.

The head cashier also needs to take care of the petty cash for the store. All expenses for the store are taken care by this petty cash. Money from the daily sales collection should never be used for the day-to-day expense of the store. He needs to ensure that the entire daily sales collection is banked immediately the following day.

Most of the major retailers take the help of cash pick-up security agencies to pick up the daily sales collections from the stores on a daily basis and do the banking process. The head cashier keeps the collections ready prior to the agent coming to collect the cash. Once the agent comes, he checks for his identification and then hands over the collections after taking his signature and name on the daily cash collection register. Once the cash is banked the agent issues the acknowledged slip received from the bank back to the head cashier. When such an agreement is done by the retailer and the collection agent, no risk is involved as safety of the money is ensured as well as insurance cover is ensured by the agency.

Cash counter trivia

Have you ever stood in a long queue in front of a cash counter in a departmental store or a super market? How do you feel? This is the only activity which I hate while shopping in a store. Most of the times I have noticed customers standing in the queue get into minor arguments. The reason is plain and simple. They lose their patience at one level and then need to find a reason to vent their anger on someone or something. So they will come up with some weird reason to come up with an argument. It is more painful if you will come across stores where the cash counters are not well equipped or the cashiers are not trained properly as all these ads on to the delay in billing and lengthening the queue.
It is at the cash counter that the sale is closed. Most of the retailers are not aware of this important fact and hence ignore this important section or do not put much effort on improving the same. The staffs at the cash counter need to be much disciplined in their activities that they do and need to also concentrate a lot in their work. Cashiers have a tough job to handle as they have to handle daily transactions of around an average of hundred thousand per day. They need to be well verse with the system software and need to have proper training session’s at-least every six months in soft skills and technical skills. As they interact with maximum customers in a day they need to be very polite, helpful in their approach and carry a positive attitude every time.

Once the cashiers enter the store they get ready to collect the float money and the stationary required at the cash deskk .Float money is a fixed amount of cash distributed to all the cashiers at the beginning of trading. It consists of currencies in smaller denominations. Every cashier need to sign on a register handled by the head cashier on receiving this float money. It also becomes the cashier’s responsibility to collect all the stationeries required at the cash desk during the collection of the float money from the head cashier. The head cashier assigns them the cash point for the day. The Head Cashiers are to maintain till allocation records for cashiers at all times.

What need to happen at the cash counter?

The cashiers are then supposed to clean up the cash desk, check the phone lines and Electronic Data Capturing machines (EDC machines), arrange the float money providedcash in the cash till drawer, coins of different denominations in different slots, and notes of different denominations in different slots containing the hook to hold the cash, as this practise will help the cashier to provide exact change to a customer during the transaction process as well as to avoid shrinkage at the end of the day. They should cCheck availability of shopping bags, whether all sizes of shopping bags ar available and sufficient enough to suffice for the day. In case any particular size falls short then the same has to be informed to the head cashier so as he will inform the person concerned to replenish the same..
Being proactive and preparing for the day in advance at the cash desk improves efficiency of customer service at the cash desk. At routine intervals and at the end of the day the cashiers are supposed to clear the cash counter of all the merchandise left by the customer due to change of mind, by returning it back to the relevant department through the helper or personally, and at change of shift or during closing need to do the reconciliation activity. They then have to hand over the day’s transaction to the head cashier and sign off for the day. All cashiers need to have basic knowledge of the products sold within the store and also need to update themselves on a daily basis the schemes or offers running in the store, the currency rate in the market as they have to deal with foreign currency transactions as well. They also need to have good communication skill and knowledge of the local language is an added advantage. The basic understanding of how to handle cash is expected from cashiers. A cashier is expected to process all transactions at the cash counter through his or her personal log-in ID only, as all data enetered in the system will be recorded in individual log-in ID’s only.
The cashiers also need to be very smart and alert during cashiering process. They should be able to trace shoplifters, and customers indulging in malpractice. They should also be able to identify fake notes while handling cash at the desk.

Have you ever come across a cashier who greets you politely before accepting your goods for payment? Mostly you will come across a cashier who is either very aggressive in his actions, rude, or a very silent person. While your turn comes for payment you will never notice him looking at, forget about giving you a smile, nor will he acknowledge for the payment done. You will also notice him being very stressed out.
Whenever a customer approaches a cash counter for billing a cashier needs to at every moment look at the customer, smile at him and also greet him. It’s the cashiers job to collect the merchandise from the basket or trolley with utmost care from the customer, and not wait for the customer to hand it over to the cashier.
He then has to scan each and every product carefully without committing any error. If a product does not have a bar code he should be able to enter the alternate item code (AIC). Simultaneously while scanning the products he should check for products carrying offers and observe if the same is being reflected on the screen or not. In case the offer does not reflect on the screen the cashier should call for an authorised person to apply the discounts manually.
After the last product is scanned the cashier is then expected to look at the customer with a smile on the face and inform the customer the final transaction total. He should then ask the customer for the mode of payment he would like to use for making the payment. Payment is made by cash, credit cards, and vouchers/coupons and in some cases by credit notes.

Placement of Merchandise

Placement of merchandise is the art of displaying merchandise in an organised manner so as to offer the right quantity of the right merchandise in the right place at the right time. The concept of S-T-P is implemented in this process.

The objective behind placement of merchandise inside the store is to allocate correct space to all products, and to make sure that the products are grouped together as per the assortment plan and aligned in the right way so as to make it visible to the customer Proper planned placement of merchandise allows enough aisle space for customers, and racking space as well as stacking space for merchandise. This helps in easily identifying slow sellers and fast sellers, missing goods with respect to size or colour or pattern. It also helps to avoid damages to the goods, and helps customers to be able to browse, identify and pick the required merchandise easily. The format and layout of the store place an important role when it comes to placement of merchandise. The placement varies from one type of format to another. For a value format the placement of the merchandise is based on volumes, while for a lifestyle store format the placement is more based on merchandise assortments.
Further the placement of the merchandise also varies based on the verticals i.e. for Apparel, General Merchandise and FMCG products. Within verticals also it varies based on the type of merchandise.

Let us understand this with some examples of products from different verticals.

The placement of stocks in case of Apparels should be brand wise, product wise, style wise, size wise, colour wise and price wise as per the demand of the store and the nature of the merchandise. The direction of placement should be top to bottom and left to right.

FMCG products
When placing merchandise on shelves and other fixtures one needs to note the first in first out method (FIFO). It helps the retailer to clear the stocks that have come in first on the floor from the shelves first.
In this method the products are placed as per-
Brand
Type
Batch No
Expiry date
Weight
Size
MRP

All the products which have come recently are placed behind on the shelves and the products arrived earlier are placed in front on the shelves. This way the older products are sold ahead of the recent ones.
FIFO needs to be strictly followed for FMCG goods as they are perishable goods. Retailers cannot afford to keep these goods on the shelf for a longer period as they will increase the retailers’ shrinkage.
Loose food grains, and other types of staple products mostly come in sacks. Care should be taken when they are stacked on top of each other. The stack of sacks should not be very tall, but convenient enough for the staff to manage it.
Soft drinks, tetra pack products, mineral water bottles need to be stacked along with the carton one above the other. Only the top most carton need to be opened and the product displayed for the customers.

General Merchandise
Under this vertical let us first understand placements related to electronics and home appliances.
· The heavier products are placed at the bottom and the smaller units are placed on top.
· The gradation in the shelf is big to small –left to right as we face it, the prime reason being our tendency to look from left to right every time, and not the other way round, hence even the higher priced products are placed at the left hand corner.
· The eye level shelves which are between shoulder height to hip level get maximum reach, here the main products are displayed and focused upon.
· All products placed on pallets should be at chest level.
· Merchandise displayed below the knee level is lost to a customer. This space should be utilised to store excess merchandise required for replenishing. Hence in some stores cabinets are placed below the shelves at knee level.

Product handling is a very crucial aspect in retail. Stacking same items one above the other must be carefully executed to avoid unnecessary damage / scratch to the items.
Movement of items is to be limited and performed only if it is to be replenished.

In most of the general stores and supermarkets in India the placement of stocks on the floor is not up to the mark. One will notice that stocks are just placed wherever space is available and a signage is placed besides it. You will also notice signages which say,
“TOUCH IT, FEEL IT,
BUT CONSIDERED SOLD IF BROKEN”

Such signages are very prominent near crockery and gift article section. I personally as a retail expert would not entertain any signage conveying such a negative statement to a customer. Simply because it is the responsibility of the store staffs to take care of the merchandise, and the way they are placed on the fixtures.

Just to make maximum utilization of space does not mean one should get into such an activity inside the store. It is very essential to plan your space properly to display merchandise. Proper stacking of merchandise on the store floor plays an important role in reducing stock damages. Merchandise should be stacked on the floor in such a manner that goods are not dumped on each other thereby damaging them.

Because of not placing merchandise properly on shelves the chances of damage to goods is high. Items which are fragile in nature e.g. crockery, toys, electronic items, etc, should always be placed or stacked one by one on a rack. They should never be all dumped together or placed haparzardly. For fragile goods the shelf space should be enough for just one row of items. The staffs should also take care to place every product in such a manner that there is adequate space between items to enable one to easily pick a piece from the rack.

The operations within the store can run safely and smoothly if a proper process of managing space, understanding fixture capacities and placement of merchandise is followed.

Racking and stacking capacity
This is a very basic and most essential process which every store needs to follow during merchandising and displaying the products on the shop-floor. The objective behind it is to avoid inconvenience and congestion on the shop floor, and minimize damages of merchandise on the shop floor. It provides convenience to the customers while shopping and improves the ambience of the shop floor. This process also is very beneficial for better inventory management.


Let us understand this concept along with the various fixtures used inside a store to display merchandise. Please note that this is a standard benchmark to be followed while displaying the merchandise on the fixtures. It also depends on the dimension of the merchandise and hence may vary accordingly.

Fixtures used to hang merchandise on the wall panels :( Mostly used for apparels)
Sloping arms: these arms are used on gondolas or slat-walls to display men’s, ladies and kids tops
Racking Capacity:
Max. 7 pieces per unit

Pegs: these are used to mostly to display accessories. Various types of pegs are used depending on the structure of the back wall panel. They can also be placed on gondolas.
Racking Capacity:
Maximum 15 pieces per unit

Step arm: placed in gondolas and slat-walls and used for displaying men’s, ladies and kids tops
Racking Capacity:
Maximum 15 pieces per unit

D-bar: This fixture is used on gondolas and on slat-walls and specially used to rack stocks more in quantity.
Racking capacity:
For blazers- maximum 12 pieces per unit
For men’s and ladies tops- maximum 35 pieces per unit
For kids tops- maximum 50 pieces per unit

Fixtures used on the floor to rack merchandise

These fixtures make it very easy for customers to browse through the merchandise.

4-way browser with straight arms: used to display men’s, ladies, and kids tops and bottoms Racking capacity:
Maximum 60 pieces per unit

4-way browser with step-arms:
Racking capacity:
Maximum 40 pieces per unit

The 4-way browser can be customised as a browser with two straight arms and two step/sloping arms on opposite side. Racking capacity will accordingly change.

8-way browser with u-arms: this fixture is used to display only kids’ tops and bottoms
Racking Capacity:
Maximum 64 pieces per unit

16-way browser with u-arms: this fixture is also used only to display kids’ merchandise, especially to promote co-ordinates or sets of tops and bottoms.
Racking Capacity:
Maximum 128 pieces per unit

Fixtures used on the floor to stack merchandise: used for apparels and mostly for FMCG and General Merchandise.

3-feet shelf: These shelves are used on wall panels, or on a 4-way gondola. They are either made of wood, metal or glass, depending on the format and concept of the store. Merchandise from every category can be displayed on this fixture and this is the most common and effective fixture used in all store formats.The capacity of stocks to be placed on these shelves completely depends on the type of merchandise being displayed. It will again vary depending on the format of the store.

A- Gap Table: This fixture is mostly placed in the centre of the department and all new arrival merchandises of any style in different colours are displayed in this fixture to highlight the collection. Advantage of this fixture is that it can hold more stocks comfortably.
Racking Capacity:
Maximum 160 pieces per unit

N-Table: also termed as Nesting or Nordstam table. It is mostly placed at two corners of the entrance to the store or the department. Sometimes in the absence of the gap table it might be positioned at the centre of the department as well.
Racking Capacity:
Maximum 110 pieces per unit

Fixtures used in supermarkets and hypermarkets

N-Table (Square): This fixture is mostly used to display general merchandise and consumer durables. Its capacity to hold stock again depends on the type of merchandise being displayed on it. Here in the picture you can see loose utensils displayed on it with a maximum capacity of 400 pieces.


Bins: Bins are used to display free size loose merchandise which are mostly on offers. This bin is also used to promote merchandise in various departments.
They are of three types:

Stack bin: as the name suggests one can stack loose merchandise in it. It can be assembled as a two layered or three layered bin and placed to the two ends of a gondola. One can stack around 150 pieces of loose merchandise in this bin.
Maximum capacity:
to stack around 150 pieces.

Stall Bin: This particular bin can be stalled in any prominent area within the store to promote loose merchandises and general merchandise. Mostly stocks which are on offer are placed in these bins. Also this bin is mostly placed near cash counters to encourage impulse buying.
Maximum capacity:
to fill around 200 pieces.

Hyper bin: These bins are the bigger version of the stall bin and are basically used to stack bigger merchandise like pillows, cushions, beach towel, etc.
Maximum capacity:
to fill around 250 pieces.


Pallet: heavy products from FMCG like loose staples in huge cylindrical vessels, molded luggage from general category of merchandise, and consumer durables and electronic items like refrigerator, television, etc. are not placed directly on the floor as it does not give a good image of the product. Hence they are placed on pallets. Advantage of using pallets is that it does not damage the flooring.

Staff grooming

Frontline sales team oOn the shop floor:-

Once the staffs enter their department they need to be dressed in full uniform as per company norms, and also get properly groomed as per the service standards.

Appearance
The frontline team is the brand ambassador of the store. The customers visiting the stores are greeted by this team and are assisted by them. Hence they are expected to present a neat & clean appearance. They are expected to be in uniforms (including shirt, trousers, shoes & socks) which must be worn clean & ironed. Care should be taken so as no stains, broken buttons, or loose thread is present on the uniform. Shoes should be clean & polished all the time. No sandals/slippers/sports shoes and white socks to be worn while on duty. Nails must be clean & cut as most of the time one will be handling merchandise. When in store premises, even during off-duty hours, a well dressed appearance needs to be maintained. Hair should be combed before commencing duty, never in front of customers.

Specifically for Men
· Uniform prescribed should be clean and pressed.
· Shoes should be clean and polished.
· Hair must be short, clean & tidy.
· One is expected to have a clean shaven look.
· In case of beards/moustaches, must be trimmed, neat & tidy.
· Nails should be cut or trimmed neatly at regular intervals.
· Any type of earrings studs & bracelets are not to be worn on the floor during official hours.

Specifically for Women
· Lady staffs having long hair should tie their hair not keep it loose, not much oil applied to it.
· No (gajras) string of small white jasmine or mogra flowers hooked on the head.
· They should avoid bright coloured nail polish and long nails as they will be a cause to distract customers or damage the merchandise on display.
· Minimum, non-flashy jewellery should be worn.
· Dangling earrings, noisy anklets & bangles must not be worn on the floor
· Only very light make-up to be applied (lipstick of very light shades only)


Personal Hygiene/Body posture
· Staffs need to keep their Hands clean at all times as they mostly will be handling merchandise or in contact with customers.
· Floor staffs should avoid biting nails on the floor.
· Floor staffs should also manage body odour & bad breath to be under control as they are offensive to the customer.
· Presenting Self by maintaining straight & upright posture on the shop floor, should be the floor staffs motive.
· Slouching on the floor should be avoided and hands in pockets & hands on the hips are not courteous to the customer & hence should also be avoided.

Dress Code
· All frontline staffs in the store should wear a prescribed uniform everyday.
· The back-end staffs mostly are expected to be in formal dress code.
· The direct & indirect staffs need to display ID cards when on duty so as it helps the customers to identify the staffs.
· Service staffs handling edible foodstuff should wear clean gloves while all staffs working inside the kitchen & live bakery sections at FMCG stores need to wear caps when on duty.
· The shop-in-shop staffs & brand promoters have their approved uniforms.
· Mostly black socks & black belts are preferred as a part of staff uniforms.

Housekeeping, security & other contractual staff also have their own prescribed uniforms with shoes.

STP IN RETAIL

A typical retail store is segmented either as a lifestyle or a value format and the store is positioned accordingly after targeting the right audience. Every retail store may further be segmented within into various verticals, and these verticals are further segmented into departments and sections. Now onceOnce the concept of store format is clear one needs to clearly understand the departments, products and their assortment hierarchy within a store. Understanding product assortmenthierarchy (product mix) is very essential as it helps one to display the products in the right manner and easier to assist a customer buy a product. It also helps one to plan the layout of the store very systematically.
Many retail organisationstores have large number of brands and products within the verticals, like Apparels, FMCG and General Merchandise and are termed as product lines. Apparels which is referred to as Product Line. They offerconsist of shirts, trousers, t-shirts and other products. Therefore, it can be concluded that these stores have a wide product line with different products (shirts, trousers, t-shirts). These various options that are provided are termed as product width. The shirts within the apparel section are further in differentiated by styles, sizes and colours which are termed as the product depth. Therefore, it can be concluded that they have a wide product line with different product lines (shirts, trousers, t-shirts). Product line depth indicates how many product variants are there under each brand/ product line.

· In a retail store the various departments and sections are the segmentation of the entire store done as per customer type
· and the placement of merchandise on the various fixtures based on the layout inside the store are positioning of the merchandise
· and the product width and depth available is again for targeting the various types of customers inside the store.

Store layout:
Store layout should entertain customers to move around the store to purchase more merchandise than they may have originally planned. Before a store is set up the layout of the store is prepared. It involves the elevation plan for placing of fixtures on the walls and the floor; it shows how the walkway in a store should be and how much spacing needs to be given between departments and sections. Store layout is nothing but a Plano-gram of the store. It is similar like a map. It has information related to the sections, the fixtures used, area each section has occupied, which product is displayed where, and so on.

Grid layout: (Courtesy: Retailing Management-Levy and Weitz.)
It is mostly used in small grocery and FMCG store operations. It contains long gondolas of merchandise and aisles in a repetitive pattern. It isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing arrangement. Customers are not naturally drawn into the store.

o Racetrack track layout:
The race track layout facilitates the goal of getting customers to visit multiple departments. It is a type of store layout that provides a major aisle to facilitate customer traffic that has access to the store’s multiple entrances. This aisle “loops” through the store, providing access to smaller self contained departments.
The race track layout encourages impulse purchasing.

o Free-Form:
A free form layout arranges fixtures or aisles asymmetrically.Its successively used primarily in small specialty stores or within the departments of large stores. In this relaxed environment, customers feel like they are at someone’s home. Fixtures are likely to be expensive, hence customers are not naturally drawn towards the store. Hence personal selling becomes more important. Theft is higher in such layouts.