The myriad of factors influencing retail are complex and, in many instances, beyond anyone’s control. While influences such as weather and technology impact consumers’ shopping behaviour, the retail industry and the suppliers within this sector continue to maintain the status quo while making the incremental shifts necessary to adapt to changing demands.

It is often the ‘business as usual’ approach that may be overlooked when thinking about opportunities for growth, and yet this is the one factor that sustains businesses in the here and now.

Steady Hand

Retail merchandising is one such service that continues to steady the ship. It is about maximising sales and profit margin by ensuring that shelves are well-stocked and that the brands have the most effective point of sale in-store.  However, it is also about building relationships with retailers, to persuasively negotiate space gains and product prominence in-store. All of which represent opportunities for amplified brand awareness and increased sales.

Often overlooked, is that the core to effective retail merchandising is a hugely influential sales piece that is built around the focus on relationships at store level in order to gain floor space and strategic brand display.

Relationships at the heart of sales

While FMI may be well known for our pride and focus on our people, what is perhaps less known, is our commitment to the training and development of our staff. Unique to FMI retail merchandising is that all members of our staff are professionally sales trained. Sales is at the core of our business and we understand that to make the incremental gains in retail merchandising our staff need to be skilled at identifying new opportunities and to feel confident at effectively negotiating space wins. The training helps them achieve this.

FMI have been trusted to consistently deliver large scale retail mechanising campaigns for brands like Coca Cola, Mondelez, Keelings Fruit, Irish Distillers, Glanbia and Barry’s Tea.

Operating across Ireland, the scale of work is impressive. For Mondelez, FMI deliver 3,906 monthly store calls across a total of 1,261 stores, which include retailers such as Centra, Spar and Super Valu. For Irish Distillers, FMI delivers 1,683 monthly calls across 913 outlets, which include Dunnes, Tesco and Eurospar, amongst others.

Working with such influential brands on this scale not only drives significant sales volume for retailers, but it positions FMI as a prominent supplier of merchandising services.

The scale of the operations means that there is a layered approach to the servicing for these brands and retailers. FMI have regional managers who work with our sales managers, and retail managers who manage the reps in-store. This layered approach means that we are able to service the brands we work for and to deliver volume for the retailers. It allows FMI to build relationships with retailers from shop level to the boardroom.

Change of View

Retail merchandising is so much more fluid and dynamic than merely stocking shelves. It is the foundation of strong brand awareness, the silent cornerstone of delivering the intended brand perception to the customers, and the untapped opportunity to gain more presence in-store to drive more sales. Working with FMI who, over the years, has carefully built up solid relationships with all major retailers in Ireland, will be of substantial benefit.

If you want to learn how FMI could help launch your retail merchandising campaigns, get in touch with the team today. It’s definitely a move you should make.

To find out more please email gavin.spencer@fmi.ie.