CHECKLIST FOR A PRODUCT OR SUPPLIER NOT PERFORMING AS YOU WOULD LIKE

We see too many businesses quitting a product or a supplier without consideration of all the factors. 

If someone says to us a product or supplier is not working, here is what we ask:

1. Can you see the product from the front of the business? Can those walking past the business see the product? The most common product that cannot be seen from outside the front of the shop yet should be seen from outside the front of the shop is cards. 
2. Is it in the best location? Location can make or break a product. It can take several moves to find the location that works best.
3. Is the offer fresh? We have seen retailers put up a display and not change it once before quitting the products a few months later. A job of the retailer is to make a product look fresh and appealing.
4. Do employees know how to interact with the product? Do they promote it on the shop floor?
5. Is the product promoted outside the business, on social media? Take cards, again - they are ideal for smart promotion on social media, several times a week yet most newsXpress members go months without posting about a card or cards on Facebook.

The failure of a product or supplier often comes back to how the retailer engages with the opportunity.

While you have a right as the retailer to decide what you stock, quitting a product or supplier without working through the questions in this advice may deny you the opportunity of fixing a core structural problem with your business.