"From a replenishment point of view, the question becomes: 'What do I want to send the stores at the size level?'" Schiller continues. "Think about it. If Roots' average price point is $50, the stores are open 365 days a year, and the company could sell one more garment per day [in each store] because the right sizes are available - that's another $2.4 million dollars." Roots' management sees eye-to-eye with Schiller on the issue: "If you don't have the right size and the right fit, then it's difficult to get customers to come back," says Goldberg.
Now there's a company that understands inventory control. To be successful, you have to manage inventory at the item (size/color combination) level. And small mistakes (like having a style in stock in every size but one -- the one the customer with an open wallet at the counter is looking for) can have a big impact on your bottom line.
Remember, the customer that leaves your store unhappy because she didn't find what she was looking for in the right color or in the right size is not just any customer. It is a customer who has already seen your marketing, already found your store, already taken the time to enter your store and has already found a product that she likes...It's like striking out with the bases loaded. All of your effort from paying the rent on your store every month to spending on advertising and all the attention to detail to make your store look nice lead up to this one moment, when the customer is ready to pick a product and buy it. Think about it, for every customer in your store there might be a hundred who didn't see your add in the paper that week or who walked by your store without noticing. Can you really afford to be out of stock in a size or a color?
I like this quote too:
"The one thing we do differently than most retailers is that no two stores are alike in terms of product mix," says Myles. "When one of our customers travels to another Roots store, there may be new products just for that store, so it's exciting to go in. There is always a surprise."
The smart retailer knows that no two stores are the same. Stores tend to be in different demographic zones and will therefore have a different clientel. Even those stores that are in the same region might have a different layout or different managers that will emphasize different products. The same product that is selling well in one store might not sell at all in another. So the cookie-cutter approach is not going to work. Each store needs to have a unique product mix to maximize sales.
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