Audits, Tasks and Communication
Cloud AI-powered ✔️ Audits, 🗓️ Tasks and 📣 Communication app, purpose-built for retail and hospitality networks. Inspect your sites, verify brand standards, and send tasks. Get real-time reports, signatures, videos, and photo verifications.
Mother's day is the third largest retail holiday in the U.S, following Christmas and the back-to-school season. Seasonal programs like Mother's day drive big profits for retailers and restaurants. Mother’s Day spending reached a record $35.7 billion! “Mother’s Day spending has been growing consistently over the past several years, and this year’s spending is expected to be the highest in … Continue reading Mother’s Day in Retail: Interesting Facts and Emerging Trends
The United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia are all experiencing a swell in their aging populations. In the US 10,000 people turn 65 every day, and in just over a decade, 20% of the US population will be over 65. Already in 2016, 15% of Australia's population was 65+. An aging population means a greater … Continue reading How Pharmacies can Better Engage Seniors
Are small stores the next big thing in retail? It would appear so. Over the last few years, big name retailers have made the move towards smaller format stores. Target, for one, already has numerous small stores in various urban areas. They continue to grow their small format stores year over year to bring more … Continue reading 4 Ways SMBs Compete with Big Retailers Opening Smaller Stores
Are you disappointed with how your brand is performing in retail stores? Do you ever feel like you and your retail partners aren’t on the same page? If you find yourself nodding your head to those questions, perhaps your retail strategy is missing an important component: collaboration. When CPG companies and retailers form collaborative partnerships, … Continue reading 5 Tips to Improve CPG and Retailer Collaboration
It happens even to the best brands. You conceptualize and execute a retail campaign to get your product into customers’ shopping carts, only to see lackluster results. The campaign, to put it bluntly, flopped. It’s a frustrating position to be in, but how you handle and respond to program flops can help you learn and … Continue reading 5 Tips for Dealing with Unsuccessful Retail Programs
Recent news cycles are, sadly, dominated by reports of sexual harassment. Across industries, women and men are sharing stories of exploitation. According to the Harvard Business Review, 98% of organizations in the United States have a sexual harassment policy. Yet, harassment continues to exist in the workplace. This means current policies are failing to stop … Continue reading 5 Tips for Dealing with Sexual Harassment in Retail
Use this sample Sexual Harassment Checklist to create or update your sexual harassment prevention program across your locations. Developing a comprehensive sexual harassment policy is only the first step to preventing and stopping harassment in the workplace. For any sexual harassment policy to be effective, policy development must be followed by persistent training, review, and … Continue reading ✔️ Sexual Harassment Checklist
Use this sample checklist to create or update your wireless authorized retailer program across your retail locations. Checklists ensure that wireless authorized retailers merchandise and sell consistently with company standards and reseller contractual obligations. Regular audits help retailers and distributors be proactive and address issues before they become major problems. Audits also tend to cut … Continue reading ✔️ Checklist for Wireless Authorized Retailers
Across suburbs and cities, pet ownership is on the rise. Experts estimate that upwards of 60%+ of US households have at least one pet. The U.S. pet industry reached revenues of $136.8 billion. If you are wondering about the trends fueling the growth of revenues for all things related to Fido, check out our high-level … Continue reading 6 Trends Propelling the Pet Care Industry
Retail store execution is a critical part of any retail operation or campaign. Your brand vision may be on point, and you may even have brilliant plans to engage in-store shoppers, but if they aren’t carried out the way you intended, then your vision and plans won’t yield results. And while tools such as planograms, … Continue reading Empower Your Staff to Execute Winning In-Store Campaigns
Whether you like it or not, appearances matter a lot in the world of retail and CPGs. The look and feel of your products, and the way they’re displayed, can directly affect the purchase decisions consumers make. That’s why it’s incredibly important to invest in the creation and execution of your retail displays. You won’t … Continue reading 8 Tips for Creating and Executing Winning Retail Displays
Fact: CPG product launches are tough. According to I.R.I, more than 10,000 new products hit the retail shelves each year, but “less than 10 new launches capture more than $100 million in year-one sales.” If you’re a CPG firm looking to launch a new product, then your work is clearly cut out for you. How … Continue reading 5 Essential Components for a Successful In-Store CPG Launch
...and What You Can Learn from Them Is everything moving online now? With ecommerce, subscriptions, delivery services — not to mention free shipping being more popular than ever — one might wonder if consumers still have the need to go out and shop. The short answer is yes. Consumers are continuing to flock to physical … Continue reading 4 Digital-First Brands That Found Success in Brick-and-Mortar Retail…
Through our business and research, we have come across a number of high-level facts and statistics about the convenience (c-store) industry, its direction and emerging trends. We thought they would be of interest to our customers and readers. There are lots of convenience stores! Convenience stores continue to have steady growth as an industry, doubling … Continue reading Convenience Store Industry, Emerging Trends and Interesting Facts
It may be August, but if you work in the retail or CPG space, then your mind is probably in November or December (i.e. the holiday season) already. And if it isn’t, it’s high time to start thinking about the holidays. Brands across the board will surely bring their A-game to reach and convert shoppers, … Continue reading CPGs: 6 Steps to Ensure a Successful Holiday Season
Having the ability to connect with consumers across various channels (i.e. physical retail stores, ecommerce, mobile, and social media) isn’t just a “nice to have.” It’s an absolute must. Make no mistake: your customers are using several channels to research, browse, and buy. Brands that want to stay competitive need to engage consumers at multiple … Continue reading 4 Tips to Help CPGs Create Brilliant Multi-Channel Campaigns
Use this sample Lottery retailer Checklist to create or update programs across your locations. Many gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores, shopping mall kiosks and drug stores sell lottery products. However, selling lottery tickets and games carries certain legal and societal responsibilities. A lottery retailer checklist ensures that lottery tickets and games are merchandised and sold … Continue reading ✔️ Lottery Retailer Checklist
Keeping employees motivated is a challenge that retailers face all year round, but the task becomes especially difficult during the holidays when you’re dealing with seasonal staff. Why? Because unlike full-time employees, seasonal workers may not be as invested in your company and thus may not exert themselves fully. If you’re struggling with empowering your … Continue reading 9 Ways to Turn Your Seasonal Employees into Top Performers
Conducting store audits should be on the to-do list of every retailer, and for good reason — retail audits help you uphold company standards, improve operations, and promote a safe in-store experience. But what exactly are the types of store audits you should conduct and how often should you do them? More importantly, how can … Continue reading 3 Types of Store Audits Every Retailer Should Conduct
Use this sample Drive-thru Checklist to create or update your drive-thru inspection program across your restaurants and sites equipped with a drive-thru. You can pick-up dinner, grab a coffee, do your banking and, at least in Las Vegas...get married all at the drive-thru! Customers value the convenience and speed of service of drive-thrus. Below, a … Continue reading ✔️ Drive-Thru Checklist
Branding should be a priority for any CPG. A compelling brand attracts great people to your company, promotes loyalty, and increases sales. Promoting a strong brand experience is relatively easy when you’re calling the shots. If you’re running your own retail store or website, for example, your company is in the driver’s seat, so you … Continue reading 5 Steps CPGs Should Take to Keep a Cohesive Brand Experience Across Multiple Retail Banners
The holiday season is practically here, and if you’re in retail, you’re likely all geared up for the coming months. You probably have your holiday inventory ready to go, and you have a number of programs planned out. From seasonal promotions to winter-themed window displays, you know exactly what you’ll implement this holiday season to … Continue reading 7 Tips to Guarantee the Success of Your Holiday Programs
Use this sample checklist for Wine, Beer and Spirits Retailers to create or update your operations and merchandising programs across your retail locations. Checklists ensure that wine, beer and spirits are merchandised and sold consistently with company standards and regulations. Regular audits help retailers and distributors be proactive and address issues before they become major … Continue reading ✔️ Checklist for Wine, Beer and Spirits Retailers
The holidays are just a few short weeks away and we know that you and your staff are working hard on sales, promotions, and other seasonal programs. Before rolling out your initiatives, ask yourself: are you working just as hard to minimize loss in your business? While the holidays bring in more customers and sales, … Continue reading 4 Loss Prevention Tips to Help You Keep All Your Holiday Profits
Bindy recently asked a retail audience of over 49,000 retail professionals an open-ended question: "Do mystery shopping programs work?" Members quickly answered. The answers are overwhelmingly mixed or downright negative on mystery shopping. While some praised the insights it brought, the majority argue that mystery shopping simply doesn't work. Let's dive in. as good as … Continue reading In Your Words…Mystery Shopping Doesn’t (Really) Work
Some apps only work online ("in real-time"). Others only work offline (with synchronisation). Both models have advantages and drawbacks...so why not capitalize on the advantages of both? Store execution and retail audit software must work online and offline. Let's find out why. Connected is great...until you can't connect Here are a few situations where a … Continue reading Why a Store Execution App Needs to Work Online and Offline
Use this sample Hotel Safety and Security Checklist to create or update your inspection program across your hotels. Having the safety of a hotel property questioned can damage the brand and keep guests away. Below, a list of criteria for checking the safety of your hotel properties. Methodology: This checklist was compiled from a number of … Continue reading ✔️ Hotel Safety and Security Checklist
Use this sample Gas Station Checklist to create or update your inspection program across your gas stations. While individual situations vary, the following sample checklist details specific issues that may be included in a gas station inspection checklist. This checklist comes from the Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum and is included here in case the information is moved or … Continue reading ✔️ Petroleum Gas Station Checklist
Seasonal in-store merchandising is like the proverbial gift that keeps on giving. Programs like Halloween and Christmas may run for a few weeks only, but they have year-round benefits. Let’s look at three. 1. Seasonal in-store merchandising is a profits magnet Products selected for seasonal merchandising typically come with higher built-in margins. Seasonal merchandising leads … Continue reading Why Seasonal In-Store Merchandising Keeps on Giving
Whether you call them « audits », « assessments », « evaluations » or simply « visits », the practice of sending a district manager to a franchisee to check on brand standards, answer questions, communicate best practices and coach is widespread. Let's look at six reasons why franchisors should "audit" franchisees plus one reason … Continue reading 6 Reasons Why you Should Audit Franchisees (It’s not What you Think)
Ninety percent of purchasing decisions are based on visual appearance alone! Additionally, while product companies spend an average of 19% of their budget on promotional campaigns, less than 40% of displays are executed properly. If you are failing at merchandising, or merchandising execution, you are missing out on sales, period. Use merchandising audits to ensure … Continue reading Merchandising Audits: Purpose, Scope and Methods
Are your franchisees and sites fully in line with brand standards? A survey by the In-Store Implementation Network sought to quantify a facet of this issue, specifically merchandising, and asked retail professionals how they measure performance of in-store merchandising. Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed responded that they "make the assumption that the job got done" … Continue reading ⭐ Misconceptions about Brand Standards
A retail audit system helps multi-unit retailers achieve store-level compliance with brand standards such as operations, service and merchandising standards. How can retail audits help Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) and why do QSRs need retail audits? Here are 10 reasons why the QSR industry needs retail audits. Health and safety When preparing and serving food, … Continue reading Why do Quick Service Restaurants Need Retail Audits?
You need to check brand standards across your retail or hospitality business, for all franchisees and locations. How do you do that? Do you rely on district managers, their experience and personal touch or do you deploy checklists for all to fill-out? Checklists largely consist of yes/no answers to standard questions. When a district manager … Continue reading District Managers or Checklists?
A friend tells you what you need to hear, but don't always want to. This is why customer complaints are your friend. Let's dive in. Listen to those who speak up (many don't) According to research, only 4% of customers file a complaint on a company’s website or call center, but 42% of customers will … Continue reading Customer Complaints are your Friend. How do you Treat your Friends?
We have a bone to pick with some of our favorite QSR brands. It’s not the menu. It’s not the service. It’s not the seating, the parking lot nor the drive-thru. Quick service restaurants have obviously spent money, deployed systems and rolled-out processes in these key areas and it shows. But when nature calls, or … Continue reading Great Sandwich. Lousy Restrooms.
There are now mature, highly efficient, largely automated systems for conducting retail audits. Some organizations devise their own system, one or more "checklists", usually with Excel and email. Is this approach practical and cost-effective? In this post, we compare how much retail audits cost, with and without retail audit software. Let's get started. Audit Option … Continue reading How Much do Retail Audits Cost?
It is often said that success in retail boils down to execution. How well do retailers execute today and what is the cost of merchandising execution non-compliance? We had the opportunity to discuss the current state of in-store execution with James Tenser, Director at the In-Store Implementation Network. Below are some of the key findings … Continue reading The Cost of Merchandising Non-Compliance
We love getting to know our users, the thousands of retail and hospitality professionals, district managers and operations executives who use Bindy everyday. District manager is not an easy job. You are expected to be a financial advisor, a coach, a consultant, a trainer and at times a disciplinarian. A district manager needs to communicate, … Continue reading Killer Bees and Break-ins: The District Manager Diaries
Why a lexicon? Many industries have their own vocabulary to describe the various facets and nuances of their trade. Retail audits (also called store walks or store inspections) are no exception. This is the lexicon for retail audits, retail execution and brand standards. It is based on Bindy's interactions with operations and brand-standards minded retailers … Continue reading Lexicon of Retail Audits and Brand Standards
The 4th quarter is essential to a retailer’s bottom line. It is the biggest quarter for retail sales in the United States. In addition, over one-third of small businesses in the United States report that Q4 is the most profitable time of the year. Q4 is an opportunity a retail business simply cannot pass. The … Continue reading Why the 4th Quarter is Critical to Retail
Foot traffic analysis is helping brick-and-mortar stores gain the same rich customer insights e-commerce brands have been capitalizing on. When online shopping made headway, e-commerce brands had an upper hand in terms of data. They could track more than just how many people came to their site — they could look at how they interacted … Continue reading The Evolution of Foot Traffic Analysis and How to Use It
I live in the center of Toronto’s Greektown neighborhood. In a place like this, you’d think I could find a good Gyro. Let me assure you, Alexandros does not disappoint in this regard. The gyro is tender, juicy, and perfectly garlicky. But what I love the best about Alexandros is the feeling of getting a … Continue reading a Hospitality Masterclass From a Gyro Take-Out
This animal care checklist for pet stores is based on the Pet Retail Store Best Management Practices of the Pet Industry Advisory council. The Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC) has developed the following Best Management Practices (BMPs) as a guide for retail pet stores in developing excellent husbandry and care standards for the animals … Continue reading ✔️ Animal Care Checklist For Pet Stores
Inventory may be retail’s bread and butter, but it’s still very much a people-centric business. From stock managers keeping products in check to associates assisting shoppers on the sales floor, retail businesses are run for people by people. As such, the more engaged your employees are, the more likely your company will thrive. For this … Continue reading How to Bring Out the Best in Your Retail Employees
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