AFTER THE MARKET Your work isn’t done when you leave the booth. This section shows how to turn your buys into high-performing inventory by pricing with confidence, merchandising strategically, tracking early results and adjusting quickly. Execute well now and your market investment becomes lasting margin—not just another stack of products.
STEP 1
Get Focused on Pricing Improve your focus on retail pricing. Price with confidence. Many times margin is not lost at the buying stage but at the pricing stage. Consider each product and whether it is part of a core category that drives traffic to your store, and if so, what price point is appropriate. If it is more of a promotional type of product, choose the retail price that grows gross profit but prevents over pricing. Consider how long you give the product to achieve results before it is marked down and cleared completely. Having a plan before the product arrives is crucial. I have been in many hardware stores that suffer from this lack of planning on promotional products and the customer is hit with too many of the stores “gotta-go’s” and not the “gotta-have’s” you want them to buy.
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STEP 2
Work With Your Team Work with your merchandising team to build a strategy for new products. Don’t just hope that it will sell. Have a plan for displays, price tickets and endcaps that will help with sell through and minimize the need for markdowns.
About Mike Mike Aylen has been working with hardware store owners in Australia and the U.S. to help them improve their retail pricing for over 15 years. With a no-nonsense approach, he guides retailers in using his SMART Pricing Program to develop more accurate and disciplined pricing strategies. These will grow sales and margin dollars on all items in the business, and more importantly give retailers more confidence in their overall pricing direction. Scan the QR Code to learn more about NHPA Strategic Consulting and book a consultation with Mike.
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HARDWARE RETAILING | February 2026