Home Center Merchant

BILL FISHMAN

Bill Fishman & Affiliates

11650 lberia Place

San Diego, Ca.92128

A LONG Madison Avenue they la call it the hat trick. When an account executive or a copywriter is stuck for an approach to the sales promotion of a consumer item he puts on his hat, leaves his ivory tower and visits the point of purchase. It is here. in the real world, that he is able to take the pulse of the buying public and of the retailer who has the responsibility of making all the marketing elemehts come tos-ether. There is morE to be learned by-the marketeer in the few hours out there where the action is than in weeks of reading market analyses and in ceiling gazing waiting for that creative brainstorm that will make the public beat a path to the retailer's door. I still use the hat trick.

When I find myself in a market where one of my retailing clients has a store unit I allow at least half a day to drag the store manager, and as many of his departrnent heads as possible, from competitive store to store. As a matter of fact, I also drop in at those retailers considered only fringe competition.

I've also become conditioned to the reluctance of some of the managers to make the tour. Most admit they haven't set foot inside a com- petitor's showroom in over a year some in over 5 years. But. they claim. they've been watching the competition's ads, and telephone shopping periodically to determine their price points. That's not good enough. When they are coerced into the hat trick. moSt of these managers iue shocked by what they've learied. o The large contractor customer that our manager thought bought exclusively in his store shopping at the independent just 4 blocks away. Competition doing a bang up job with d-i-yers after remodeling his showroom (in 1979) and joining a buying group. r Evening and weekend shopping hours now being offered by competition. o The discount house showing a larger selection and lower prices on a brand of ceiline tile that our manager thought we had exclusivelv in the market. o Good old Joe. who told us last year he was leaving to go into the contracting business with his brother. working as a counterman behind the competitor's counter. o Competition offering after hours clinics for their d-i-y customers. o Delivery policies that are much more stringent at the competition.

Here are some of the incidents that caused shock reactions durins our recent shopping trips.

Contractors buying take-with dimension lumber and plywoods from the gal at the K-Mart building material counter.

. An expanded paneling department at the competition helped explain why our paneling sales were off.

A houseful of windows on our competitor's loading dock ready for shipment to a builder who promised. but never gave us, the opportunity to bid.

Our great "special" buy of light bulbs available at almost every other competitor's store.

. Our line of power tools priced below our cost at a competitor.

. A product line showing better value in fireplaces at the competition.

The visits to fringe competition can be very informative. Shopping the local furniture and carpet stores confirms or allows us to question the market acceptance of the colon and types of floor coverings that we stock. The department store merchandising helps us keep a handle on what's hap pening in home fashion.

I try to have a tour end with a visit to the newspaper office. It's sometimes helpful to reestablish the company goals with the publisher. editor and advertising director. (Many times the same guy wears all 3 hats.) Given the retailer's objectives. the newspaper can help with better ad locations. more classic ad layouts. more exciting type face selections. and the overall development of a "retail" image.