Retail Merchandising Cost UK: What You Should Actually Budget For
Retail merchandising is commonly quoted per store, per hour or as a fixed project rate. The difference between these pricing models can make comparing suppliers confusing, particularly when a project involves multiple stores, travel or work outside normal trading hours. Understanding what actually drives the cost can help retailers budget more accurately before requesting a quotation.
What is Retail Merchandising?
Retail merchandising covers the physical work involved in maintaining and changing the presentation of products within a store. This can include facing products correctly, replenishing gaps, implementing planograms, removing discontinued lines, changing displays and correcting pricing or point-of-sale issues.
Retail merchandising is different from category management. Category management involves the strategic decisions behind product ranges, layouts and merchandising plans, while merchandising teams carry out the physical implementation of those requirements within stores.
Why Merchandising Cost Varies So Much
Several factors can have a significant effect on the cost of a retail merchandising project. The number of stores, complexity of the work, working hours and travel requirements are among the most important.
A simple shelf tidy at one local store may require considerably less time and resources than a full category rebuild across multiple locations. Similarly, overnight work can involve different staffing requirements from work completed during normal trading hours.
Travel can also become an important factor on multi-store projects. A project covering several stores may require additional travel time and mileage, particularly when the locations are spread across a large geographical area.
Typical UK Pricing Structures
Retail merchandising suppliers commonly use several different pricing structures. An hourly rate may be used where the amount of work is difficult to predict, while a fixed store rate can work well where the scope of each visit is clearly defined.
Larger multi-store projects may instead be quoted as a complete project based on the number of locations, workers, hours and required deliverables. Overnight work, additional travel and other project requirements may also affect the final price.
When comparing quotations, it is therefore important to look beyond the headline hourly rate. A lower rate does not necessarily represent better value if travel, reporting or other project costs are charged separately.
Common Mistakes Retailers Make When Budgeting
One common budgeting mistake is looking only at the number of working hours without considering travel between stores. On a multi-site project, travel time can have a noticeable effect on the total amount of labour required.
Another mistake is assuming that reporting and photographic evidence are automatically included. Different suppliers structure their services differently, so retailers should establish whether completion photographs, exception reporting and written summaries are included before agreeing to a quotation.
Retailers should also make sure the project scope is clearly defined. Providing store locations, expected tasks, dates, working hours and any planograms or instructions can make it easier for suppliers to produce an accurate quotation.
How EXCITY Prices Merchandising Work
EXCITY Retail Support provides project-based quotations based on the specific requirements of each merchandising job. Factors such as store count, team size, estimated hours, working times, travel and project requirements are considered when preparing the quotation.
Where required, photographic evidence and completion information can form part of the project deliverables, giving retailers a clear record of the work carried out and any issues identified during the job.
The aim is to make the cost of outsourced merchandising clear before work begins, so retailers can understand what is included and budget for the project accordingly.
Whether you need support at one store or are planning a larger multi-site merchandising project, EXCITY Retail Support can review your requirements and provide a project-based quotation.