Learn how to put together a product assortment for a specific season
To achieve this goal, I started by working with Annalisa who is the Planning Manager. She works closely with the Merchants to put together the assortment plan. We were working on the Holiday assortment plan at the time. From a planning perspective we started by reviewing the items that were sold last year and then added in the items this year that would replace the last year items. We did this by category, such as: gift tins, gift baskets, cookie boxes, gift towers and cookie jars. We made sure there were enough items within each category to support the volume that is planned. We also looked at retails to make sure there were enough of a variety of price points (low price points, mid and high). From a merchant perspective we looked at patterns and designs for the new containers, making selections on artwork designs and providing feedback and direction to the buyers and sourcing team. I got to help design the santa and snowman gift towers. I started by researching ideas on the web and pulling together designs ideas I liked. We then sent those ideas to the vendor and they sent us back sample mockups to approve. This was fun to see this process evolve week to week. We also tasted new flavor samples of cookies and brownies to determine which flavors would be sold in specific holiday gifts. It was fun to taste new flavors when they were in the beginning stage of development and provide feedback.
When the final plans are put together there is a separate assortment plan for each sales channel, like internet, retail stores and business gifts. To complete this goal I worked with both the merchants and planning team.
Learning Goal #2
Assist the merchandising team to prepare for Cheryl's "Bake Sale"
I was fortunate enough to be doing my mentorship during the time of the Annual Cheryl's Bake Sale. The bake sale took place at the Ohio State Fairgrounds on Saturday February 16th. The Bake Sale is an opportunity for Cheryl's to liquidate any excess inventory they may have left over from previous holidays. To help prepare for the bake sale, we identified the items that we would be selling and the price. This list helped create a price list for the customers. I also helped set up for the bake sale. We organized products by price point, category and ticketed the items for sale. I worked the sale all day and helped customers. We continued to restock throughout the day as items sold. Any items that they had a lot of, we offered as a “hot deal” and marked things down each hour. I was able to work with the marketing team to promote these hot deals and announce on the microphone to draw attention to the “hot deals”. It was also nice that after the sale, the president let us each take home a box of cookies for our hard work.
To achieve this goal, I worked with the merchandising team and marketing team and all Cheryl's employees at the sale.
Learning Goal #3
Learn how to put together a catalog layout for the Holiday catalog.
As part of the merchants responsibilities, after the assortment plan is complete and all the items are developed, they are required to identify where the items will be placed within the catalog. This is called “pagination of the catalog”. This was fun to me to learn that there is a process and logic to doing this. They start by determining how many pages there will be in the catalog. This is based on the financial budget. Then the merchants break up the catalog into different collections such as Traditional, Metallic, Snowman and Elf or “gifts for kids”. Then within each collection they determine how many pages there will be. Some collections are bigger sales volume than others so they get more space. Then within each page of the catalog, some items are bigger pictures than others. This again is based on which items will have bigger sales. When we placed the items on each page, we tried to “tell a story” and offer a variety of products on each page to make it interesting to the customer looking through it. We wanted to make sure each page looked different. To show this, I helped put the samples of each product up on the racks by page. This helps us get ready for the marketing turnover meeting so all team members can visually see how the catalog will look when printed.
The marketing turnover meeting is a formal meeting between merchandising and marketing to review the pagination with them. Merchandising provides direction on how the items should be photographed, big or small picture. And what products to emphasize within each picture. I learned that customers read a catalog starting at the top right picture and then counterclockwise from there. So your best item should be placed in the top right corner of the page.
I worked with the merchandising team and the marketing teams to achieve this goal.
Learning Goal #4
Learn how to put together the assortment plan for a specific season and how it translates to a retail store floor set.
To achieve this goal, I worked with Carla, Store Manager at the Westerville home office flagship store. I was able to take the Easter assortment plan for the store channel and help them set up the store to look presentable with all the new Easter products. To do this, we printed out the store assortment plan, so we knew what products we were expected to have at this store. It also showed where the products should be placed within the store fixtures. Certain big items are placed at the counters near the cash registers and also on the gift tables when you first walk in the store by the door. These areas are the center focus for the new seasonal products. The regular everyday products like All Occasion, Birthday and Baby gift containers are placed in the wall fixtures. For Easter, once we had the products on the displays we hung signs that show the price and offer. We also had to put out the new seasonal spring cookie flavors and make sure all the cookie baskets were stocked and looked full. Each store does a new floorset after each holiday.
It was interesting to me to see how the merchants do an assortment plan for the store level, because they have to think about the space constraints and where everything will be featured in the store. It's important that the store has just the right amount of product to fit their space. As the season gets closer, the store will make up gift baskets and ready to go products for each holiday.
I worked with the merchandising team and retail store team to complete this goal.
Learning Goal #5
Assist the merchandising team with putting together and presenting the seasonal "Style Out" for Fathers's Day and Summer.
To achieve this goal I worked with the merchandising team and mostly Jymme, Packaging Specialist. The Style Out is an open house style presentation that invites all the Cheryl’s employees to view the new line of products and taste the new flavors that will be launching during this time frame. The merchandising team is the area in charge of putting this together. I got to help them get ready for this Style Out for the Fathers Day and Summer catalogs. To prepare for this, I found a sample of each product in the catalog and placed them on the racks by page how they will appear in the order of the catalog. This gives employees a chance to see the products up close in person and ask any questions they have. They have found this helpful for everyone to see the size and have the opportunity to touch and feel the products if necessary.
The product development team also brings samples of all the new cookie flavors for everyone to taste. All employees are sent home with a bag of cookies. The marketing team also participates and shows employees any special marketing news. And the design team comes to show the design inspiration behind the patterns and artwork. The Style Out usually lasts about 1-2 hours and it's fun to see all the employees get excited about the upcoming season.