NEWSROUNDUP

owe’s Canada has brought its store detailing services in-house with the development of a new team, called the Merchandising Service Team (MST). The program originated with Lowe’s Canada’s U.S. parent, which introduced MST there at the beginning of 2019.

MST teams are composed of between five and seven store associates whose role is exclusively focused on merchandising tasks. They’re responsible for executing resets, but they’re also expected to “snake through the store” to carry out bay servicing. That includes ensuring planograms are properly executed and that labels are all accurate. The MST team must maintain product displays, readjust elevations and reposition products, while providing feedback on merchandising strategies.

According to Anne-Sophie Konrad, senior director, field merchandising for Lowe’s Canada, the goal is “to ensure a steady pace in maintaining merchandising programs in our stores so that they are ‘grand opening ready’ at all times and that customer experience is always at its best.”

To ensure that outcome, the new service team has been put through the necessary paces. “We invested significantly in our new staff, who received a full week of detailed training on what is expected when we do a reset, planogram maintenance, etc.,” says Konrad. “Our goal is for our MST staff to bring standardized expertise to Lowe’s stores and their customers.”

So how is MST different from what was in place before? Konrad points out two main distinctions. First, she says, the new system takes pressure off employees and allows them to focus on their regular tasks. “The new MST team reports to the merchandising business unit and are 100 percent dedicated to merchandising tasks.” This, she adds, will further allow the resets to be more consistent from store to store.

“The second difference relates to our vendors, who benefit from the fact that our MST staff cater to all our bays and products,” Konrad says. “As a matter of fact, the program results in improved merchandising quality throughout our stores, so our stores are more attractive and the overall customer experience is enhanced.” How has the program measured up so far? Konrad is positive about the initial progress. “I must say that we are very pleased with the results to date. Our stores look better, but we are also increasing our speed to market, which is positive for us, for our vendors and for our customers.”