When retail inventory is large – the retailer needs to identify multiple types of product categories, including differentiating them into two distinct groups. It includes hardline and softline products. Retailers need to approach each group differently since it has a different effect on retail sales.
Hardline Vs Softline Goods: What are they Exactly?
Both hardline and softline are two basic forms of merchandise in a retail store. Hardline goods are non-personal items that are hard to touch and cover a wide range of categories such as home appliances and electronics items. Since it has a high price tag, an average shopper would not purchase such items regularly. They see it as an investment for their future, and only purchase such items twice a year or once the item gets damaged.
As for softline goods, it is the exact opposite of hardline, which are soft to touch and personal. It can be clothing, footwear, or other items. If you are a small retailer, it is best to specialize in one category to reduce costs. Another factor is implementing data-driven planograms for your retail store to better execute both categories properly. Planograms are visual merchandising tools, which help retailers effectively plan and execute both hardline and softline products in their stores. For example, if you are a retailer who runs soft goods in your store, and you would want your shopper to know you for apparel, it is worth building a brand around that to entice shoppers. However, it is not a good idea to stock hard goods suddenly with soft goods, which will make the shoppers confused and result in diluting your retail brand.
Factors to Consider When Stocking Hardline & Softline Goods
- Organize & merchandise your store:The first thing you need to know is that hardline goods are easier to organize compared to softline goods. It is because of their large size and general packaging. Since such goods are packaged in boxes, it is easier to merchandise them on the shelf if you have already planned each dimension. If you reduce the size of the packaging, it requires less shelf space per product and results in adding more items to your store. This will be more helpful when you can stock popular items with unpopular ones. On the other hand, soft goods are challenging to organize because of the variations in shapes and sizes. For example, if you own an apparel store, you need to organize clothing of different sizes and categories separately to avoid a messy appearance.
- Store layout & assortment planning: A well-designed store layout design, using your retail data with planograms – is important to store your products, especially when it comes to stocking hard goods. That is why you need to create a customized planogram design to guide your shoppers through the store and encourage them to see all items in your store. For example, when a customer walks into your store for buying a washing machine, they will likely walk straight into that area of your store without browsing other items. That is why you need to create a path for your shoppers to walk and entice them with additional items such as stabilizers and washing machine stands to make impulse purchases.
Overview of Nexgen POG
Nexgen POG is a robust and user-friendly cloud-based visual merchandising tool. It is designed for quick and efficient planogramming with minimal effort. Planograms can be designed by easily dragging and dropping the products. The multi-device compatibility feature of POG allows you to obtain, share and edit planograms on any device, including your phone. It helps in designing store-specific planograms for increased product visibility and sales.
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