All Posts in Retailing Tips

In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:

Scaling is one of the most challenging things for businesses today. It takes time, money, strategy, and top-notch marketing to skyrocket from a successful small business to a more prominent, established brand.  

But many retailers, e-commerce, and CPG brands get stuck on marketing. It makes sense. Marketing can and does feel quite nebulous to those who don’t do it as their primary specialty. Especially in the ever shifting digital landscape today.

It’s why many e-commerce businesses choose to leverage outside companies in addition to or instead of internal teams. But what are the advantages and disadvantages of using an agency to boost your brand’s marketing and ultimately grow your business? This article breaks down the best and worst things about hiring an agency to execute your brand’s marketing strategy. 

Pros 

More Expertise, Skill Sets, and Creativity   

An agency like Hawke Media has a wide range of experts on hand on a wide variety of channels. That means you get more expertise on more channels, for less money than you would get hiring and training a team internally.  Agency experts work on their specialty daily with countless other brands, which makes them that much better at knowing what works best on …

Read More

In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:

In the U.S., Black Businesses Month is celebrated during the month of August, building on a successful initiative that has been running since 2004. It’s an opportunity to support the 10% of American businesses that are Black-owned, particularly in sectors such as health care, social work, repair and maintenance, beauty salons, and restaurants.

The idea originated in a project launched by the entrepreneur Frederick E Jordan. He saw firsthand, during a 50-year career running his own engineering business, how hard many minority owners found it to get the backing their businesses deserved. Today, statistics suggesting the Black community is under-represented amongst small business owners – as well as more likely to suffer unemployment and poverty – underline why Black Business Month remains as important as ever.

Support from big business

The good news is that large American businesses are waking up to the idea of minority support. Target Corporation, for example, has promised by 2025 to invest more than $ 2 billion with Black-owned businesses and to add products from more than 500 Black-owned brands to its shelves. Retailer Sephora is pursuing similar targets, as it seeks to become more inclusive in the merchandise it stocks.

It’s not simply an …

Read More

In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:

What Fast Fulfillment Means to Consumers

The unprecedented growth of the e-commerce industry has been front-page news – as have the global supply chain disruptions that followed. Most retailers’ supply chains were not prepared for the abrupt switch in transportation and fulfillment needs or the sudden spike in consumer demand. 

With supply chain disruptions making waves in even mainstream media, you might have thought consumers would loosen their expectations for fast and free shipping. However, recent consumer survey data revealed that since the onset of the pandemic:

33% of consumers have higher expectations for fast shipping 40% of shoppers have higher expectations for free shipping 42% of shoppers expect a two-day shipping option for every online purchase.

3 Unexpected Benefits of Fast Fulfillment

Most merchants know faster fulfillment will lead to a better customer experience, but there are actually benefits to nearly every aspect of your business when you prioritize a better delivery experience for your customers.

1. More Sales

According to consumers, promising fast shipping sells. A 2021 consumer survey revealed:

69% of consumers are more likely to click a display ad that mentions fast/free shipping 77% are more likely to purchase an item if it can be delivered…
Read More

In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:

Around the world, the exciting ambiance of in-person trade shows is back. After a two-year, pandemic-driven hiatus, retail trade shows are starting to boom again worldwide – and that’s spectacular news for brands looking abroad to fuel growth.

As pandemic guidelines relax, consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands feel a growing urge to get out and network face-to-face with global retailers. Trade shows are ideal venues to boost brand awareness and product discovery, build industry relationships and trust, and make deals to drive revenue growth.

If you plan to attend, exhibit, or speak at an international trade show, consider the following best practices. But first, let’s acknowledge how the pandemic has shaped today’s trade shows.

How COVID-19 changed trade shows

In 2021, U.S. trade show attendance rates declined by 48% in Q2 compared to Q2 in 2019 and the number of exhibitors fell by 31%.1 Hegel, Theresa. Despite COVID Hurdles, Trade Shows Go On. ASI Central. September 27, 2021. In 2022, the retail industry shows higher demand for in-person trade shows; yet, supply chain disruption and labor shortages have made the ordering process longer than before COVID-19. For instance, producing custom booth setups used to take a few days and …

Read More

In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:
Cosmoprof Reveals the Future Trends of the Beauty Industry

Do you need to brush up on your knowledge of the current and future state of the beauty industry? You’ve certainly come to the right place. The 2022 CosmoProf North America show was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center on July 12-14th, where our team was blushing over the many unique and innovative trends. As always, our team was happy to see familiar faces, including some of our RangeMe Verified™ suppliers, at the show.

As our team walked the aisles of exhibitors and learned about the products on display, there were a handful of existing and emerging trends worthy of highlighting, pun intended:

Pastel & Colorful Packaging 

I have to admit, I am a sucker for pretty packaging, and I know I’m not alone. It seems more and more brands are catching on to this trend, and I am here for it. Pinks, blues, purples–think Trix yogurt but more esthetically pleasing. RangeMe supplier, Slick Hair, exhibited their line of hair products with no shortage of pink. Consumers can say goodbye to bad hair days and hello to the ultimate slick and everyday hair-do with their SLICK STICK™. 

SLICK HairSLICK Hair Mermade HairMermade Hair Kim Chi CosmeticsKim Chi Cosmetics FluffFluff

Childhood Nostalgia

Have …

Read More

In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:
Instant Biologics: Sowing the Seeds of Success at Retail

When it comes to plants, I’ve always had two brown thumbs. Whenever I bought one for my apartment, I had little success maintaining it, or keeping it alive. Feeding it was a hassle that involved mixing and measuring that often turned into a mess on my kitchen counter. It was simply time and effort I didn’t want to invest.

This all changed when I met Jeff Robbins and Ari Tenenbaum, Co-Founders of Instant Biologics. Their brand, Instant Plant Food, consists of tablets that dissolve in water and provide all the nutrients a plant needs for three months. A packet contains four tablets, enough to feed one plant for a year.

I am now the proud owner of a snake plant for which feeding is a piece of cake. And it’s thriving – much like Instant Biologics, which has landed business from a half-dozen large retail chains including Target and 1-800 Flowers (and is currently onboarding another half-dozen). This soaring growth can be credited to their RangeMe Premium membership, participation in several RangeMe summits and ECRM’s Lawn & Garden and Sustainable Products: General Merchandise sessions.

Instant Biologics's Instant Plant Food Instant Biologics's Instant Plant Food Instant Biologics's Instant Plant Food

The idea for the company sprouted when Robbins and Tenenbaum decided to shift their focus from …

Read More