Finding Retail Equipment and Supplies | How-to Guides for running your business from Business.com

To create a successful retail store where products fly off the shelves, you need more than great products — you need shelves, too. In fact, retail stores require a wide variety of equipment and supplies to ensure a profitable operation. Essentials for any retailer include displays and fixtures to show off your products, a system for ringing up sales, a pricing system, packaging supplies, anti-theft devices and security products. With the right equipment and supplies you can:

Reinforce your image
Encourage sales and impulse buys
Promote sale merchandise or featured items
Speed up the checkout process
Reduce errors in the checkout process
Reduce employee and customer theft
Increase store safety

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Fixtures and displays

Store fixtures and displays are a must for any retailer. The display cases, racks, shelves, gridwalls, slatwalls and showcases you choose speak volumes about your store, so make selections that reflect your company image — modern, upscale, elegant or budget-conscious.

I recommend: Turn to major retail suppliers, such as Nu-Era or American Retail Supply for displays and fixtures. For an extensive selection of new and used store fixtures, go to Flint Store Fixtures or Gershel Bros. National Retail Equipment Liquidators specializes in used store fixtures.

Mannequins

Mannequins can help transform a ho-hum window display into a work of art and can be instrumental in increasing sales of featured items. Mannequins come in a variety of styles, including torsos on stands, full-body, heads, hands and feet. Some feature flexibility so you can pose them any way you like.

I recommend: Find basic mannequin styles at MannequinLand.com, which lets you pick from a variety of shapes and sizes.

Point of sale (POS) systems and cash registers

In a retail environment, your POS system or cash register is your most important piece of equipment. POS systems include a computer, cash drawer, receipt printer and monitor. For a more basic checkout system, a computerized cash register will do.

I recommend: POS Software & Systems Group offers POS solutions for retailers. For cash registers, visit RoyalSupplies.com, CashRegisterStore.com or Cash Register Distributors Warehouse.

Barcode scanners and systems

Barcode technology is becoming increasingly popular with retailers. It's about 15 times faster than entering information by hand on a keyboard and about 10,000 times more accurate. The technology speeds up point-of-sale transactions and reduces errors.

I recommend: Find a great supply of barcode software, scanners and printers at BarcodesInc.com.

Security and anti-theft products

Every retailer needs to think about loss prevention and security. Fortunately, there are dozens of products on the market designed to help keep your store safe and minimize employee theft and customer theft.

I recommend: Protect your store with security camera kits from EZWatchPro.com. Security tags, detachers and other anti-theft supplies are available from SecurityTagStore.com.

Bags and boxes

The shopping bags or boxes in which your products leave your store play an important role. With your store name imprinted on the sides, they can serve as walking advertisements. The style and quality of your packaging should reflect and reinforce your store image.

I recommend: Stock up on boxes, bags, packaging and gift packaging at PaperMart.com. CreativeBag.com offers unique bags and boxes in a variety of shapes, colors and materials, including felt, leather and tin containers.

Supplies

To keep your retail operation running smoothly, you need a wide variety of general supplies.

I recommend: SpecialtyStoreServices.com carries a full line of retail supplies, including shopping carts, shopping baskets, tagging guns. Order price tags and sales forms at Staples.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

When buying equipment, take your time and plan well. Making a mistake due to a hasty decision can be costly.
If you are ordering supplies, especially supplies that need to be customized, do not buy more to save a little. Buy enough to test to see if they fit and what changes you want to make…and you will want to make them.
There is no such thing as a perfect layout of a store. Over a period of time, the type of merchandise you'll be carrying may change, requiring some display units, especially those that are moveable, to be replaced.

The official source of Finding Retail Equipment and Supplies is
the Retail Equipment page at Business.com

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