Merchandising Display Policy

MERCHANDISING DISPLAY POLICY

Safety first

We believe in looking after your safety and the safety of customers and visitors to our store. Here are some of the important things to remember if you are receiving, unpacking, displaying or storing merchandise.

Always use correct manual handling techniques.

Use a safety knife for opening boxes and cartons.

Cut away from your body when using a safety knife.

Don’t block entrances, doorways or aisles when unpacking boxes.

Don’t leave packaging materials orcardboard anywherein the store – remove all packaging materials from the floor and fixtures immediately.

Cardboard boxes and cartons must be flattened and takento the recycling depot.

Non-recyclables are to be placed in the appropriate waste receptacles.

Check that shelves and fixtures are safe before displaying stock.

Tidiness

Follow these guidelines to make sure the merchandise looks great all the time.

Clean shelves and merchandise daily.
Check that merchandise displays are neat once per hour and at the end of the trading day.
Replace dirty or tattered price and display tickets immediately.

Merchandising principles

Follow these guidelines when placing and arranging merchandise for display.

Maintain sufficient stock on the shelf. You may need to check fast selling stock frequently.
Do not stack products on top of each other. This will ensure that products do not fall and can be reached by customers and staff.
Bring stock to the front of the shelf so that displays look attractive.
When displaying a product line that has several sizes on shelves, place the smaller products on the top shelves and the larger items on the lower shelves.
When displaying a product line on hangers arrange merchandise according to its colour and then hang the merchandise on racks from smallest to largest. Depending on the gondola rack used, sizes should go from left to right or front to back, starting with the smallest size.
All products must have a price ticket or barcode.

Displaying merchandise

General merchandise

Place new merchandise so that it will be seen by customers. Generally merchandise is noticed when it is placed:

where customer traffic flow is greatest
at the front of each department
near the point of sale areas.

Merchandise that sells well or has a high profit margin must be placed in theprime retail position. This is the position on a fixture that is between the eyeand hip area.

All displays, fixtures and fittings must be placed to allow easy access forall customers. Remember to allow space for access by prams, wheelchairs and visually impaired personswith and without seeing-eye dogs.

All merchandise on display should be appropriate for the image of BigS. Items that are damaged, dirty or faded should not be on display.

Remove unsuitable items from display immediately and report them to the department supervisor.

Seasonal lines

Seasonal lines should be displayed using the following guidelines.

Mother’s Day/Father’s Day

Set up 30 trading days before event.
Maintain maximum stock levels up to and including the date of event.
Discount next trading day after event.
Remove and store specifically branded products, eg Mother’s Day mugs,two trading days after the event.
Move generic stock back to relevant department next trading day after event.

Christmas decorations

Set up 55–60 days prior to Christmas Day.
Maintain maximum stock levels until close of trading day prior to Christmas Day.
Discount the next trading day after Christmas Day.
Move to a less prominent position in store two trading days after Christmas Day.
Remove display 14 trading days after Christmas Day and store unsold stock.

Easter stock

Set up 55–60 days before event.
Maintain maximum stock levels until date of event.
Discount the next trading day after the event.
Move to a less prominent position in store two trading days after event.
Remove display 7 trading days after the event or before use-by date, whichever occurs first, and discard unsold stock.

New season’s fashions

Set up in hot zone 30 trading days prior to season change.
Maintain two of each size on rack for first calendar month of season.
Move to warm zone in second calendar month of season and maintain full price.
Discount in third calendarmonth of season.
Discount further at season end.
Remove and store unsold stock 7 trading days after season ends.

Big S Employee Policy & Procedure Manual

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