One of the first and most important things any buyer should do before purchasing merchandise is to define their marketing plan. Without a clear marketing plan, you run the risk of overspending and/or buying the wrong merchandise.

In order to define your marketing plan, you need to be able to answer two important questions:

1) Who is your customer? Knowing your customer involves knowing the demographics of the trade area. For example, are your customers young, middle aged, or more mature? In addition, you must be knowledgeable of the socio-economic status of your potential customers. Are there young families just starting out with limited resources or older families with more disposable income?

Do your research! You must learn as much about your customer as possible to determine what will sell in your area.

2) Who and where is your competition? Check out what similar retailers are offering in your area. Are they selling the same product mix you intend to carry? If so, you need to think about how to set yourself apart.

Once you’ve determined your marketing plan by defining your customer and the competition, now you can plan the type of merchandise your store will carry. To do this, you need to keep two things in mind.

1) Define your store clearly! Decide upon the image you want your store to project. Do you want your store to be eclectic or more focused? The merchandise your store will carry must project your store’s image.

2) Stick to it! Now that you have decided on your store’s image, be consistent. Your customers will come to know you by this image.