Ready to experiment? Instore’s here to help
EVERY BUSINESS IS AN EXPERIMENT. Tinker here, fiddle there, and hope for the best. One of the proudest purposes of INSTORE is to point out potential directions for your experimenting.
Take a section like our new, expanded “Monthly Survey” section. (That’s the page where we ask Brain Squad members how their businesses did the previous month and what were the hot-selling brands and hottest categories in their stores.) You can read that section in one of two ways : 1.) Read it to find out what other retailers are having success with, and either be happy that you’re already carrying those successful items or make it your mission to get them into your store right away. After all, you wouldn’t want to miss the boat on a profitable new category! Or 2.) Read it to find new, off-the-beaten path merchandising ideas that you might want to take a chance on in your store. The reasoning being, if customers in other parts of the country are fans, they might also like them in your store.
The great thing is that the section supports both types of interpretations, sharing the hottest brands and categories monthly, but also offering intriguing oddball favorites from retail readers.
The approach you choose to take, and the type of information you’re seeking in the pages of this magazine, says a lot about what kind of retailer you are – expert or novice, bold or cautious, creative or practical. Regardless, the information is there for all of you. And always available to use, however you choose, in the magnificent, ever-absorbing experiment that is your business.
Enjoy the issue!
Wishing you the very best business …
David Squires
Executive Editor and Associate Publisher
(Click here)