Winning the Retail Aisle for Holiday 2021

• T-ROC Staff
• Jul 7, 2021
• 3 mins read

 

Brands that want to capitalize on post-pandemic retail opportunities during the 2021 holiday season need to start planning now. While there are plenty of unknowns about consumer spending and which sectors will have the strongest tailwinds—all brands and manufacturers should prepare for several factors that will likely come into play.

 

For starters, today’s consumers are far more educated than they’ve ever been. Their buying journey more than likely begins online, with comparing prices, reading reviews, and watching videos. Then they’ll talk with friends and family to get their take on which brands to buy. So by the time they walk into a retail store, they’re looking for a sales associate to validate their research before they purchase.

 

As a vendor, you need to ask yourself these questions: Where does the consumer validation process request benefit your brand? Does it support your marketing strategy? What about your merchandising strategy? What about your workhorse, must-win products this selling season? Most importantly, does a consumer validation trend support your end goal: a fair shake in the in-aisle consumer interaction?

 

Just because you’re sorted into big-box retail doesn’t necessarily guarantee that sales will follow.

Your brand wouldn’t be the first to be impacted by a less than ideal location placement. Especially if you’re new in the assortment, or if you’re a specialty manufacturer that requires a more premium retail sales experience—meaning it requires your solution to be sold rather than where you rank in the consumer research validation.

 

Also, consider the validation process from the retail associate’s lens. With the expected increase in holiday staffing hired for holidays, there’s a very short window for associates to get up-to-speed, not only to validate a consumer’s research but also to gain the knowledge and skillset to be able to connect with the overall category ecosystem. For example, a home networking system can connect with smart kitchen appliances—being able to turn on the oven or schedule a load of laundry from a phone app. But if you don’t have a knowledgeable associate on your brand to connect those two, obviously you’ll be in a less than ideal situation from a manufacturer’s standpoint.

 

And speaking of connected home products, they are one of many high-demand categories with literally hundreds of SKUs. Along with health & fitness, and high-definition TVs, these high-demand categories can have over 200 choices—and that’s just in in-store. When you factor in online research, that can double, or even triple the number of choices available.

 

Knowing these obstacles, with validation shoppers, and overwhelming assortments that associates are expected to be experts in, you should consider other options to increase your in-the-aisle experience this upcoming season.

 

T-ROC, which offers end-to-end solutions for retailers, brands, and manufacturers, has several direct-to-consumer campaigns designed to complement and enhance your sales plans for holiday 2021. T-ROC can provide you with brand ambassadors in this highly anticipated selling season, who are not just expertly trained on your solution and the benefits that it enables, but who also certified on your overall brand strategy, the ecosystem capabilities that your product brings to the table, and your workhorse wins with key revenue drivers.

 

To learn more about these direct-to-consumer opportunities and how they can fit in with your back-half plans, get in touch with contact Lou Kindschuh, Vice President of Business Development, [email protected]