James Tenser

Target and Wal-Mart Give Individual Attention to Customers

August 31, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Target and Wal-Mart Stores may be the biggest mass merchandisers in the country, but both believe business results can be improved by tailoring what they do to individual shoppers. Do you think Target and Wal-Mart are capable of achieving a "neighborhood store" feel?      [more...]

Charles has it right--localized store schematics mean little absent a systematic practice for implementing them on a daily basis in the store. Four years ago a Walmart executive stated that it used 300 different localized POGs for just three cooler doors in the dairy department. Multiply that across the full range of departments and the intricacy goes through the roof.

The typical store manager doesn't stand a chance at fully meeting these implementation requirements, which means compliance is chronically poor. I believe this circumstance tends to thwart even the best-considered local merchandising and Shopper Marketing plans.

The largest chains suffer most from this challenge, since the psychic and geographic distance between HQ and individual store is greatest. While I am in favor of localized planning in principal, large retailers first need to refocus on their master systems for making stores work effectively. That will require true collaboration between merchants and operations people who are too often at odds today.