Walmart Drives Exclusive OP Shops for Back-to-College

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart rolled out an exclusive store-within-a-store program for OP apparel nationwide in an effort to attract back-to-college shoppers. It is one of the largest single department executions for the chain -- with 27,000 pallet displays -- but is still in line with its "Project Impact" move toward cleaner merchandising and reduced SKUs."In the past, a display at Walmart was about one buyer, one product and putting as much product on the display as you can get. This was about just putting the right amount of product on the displays," says Brad Jones, principle and executive vice president of New Creature, the Rogers, Ark.-based company that designed and produced the corrugated pallets. The Iconix Brand Group, New York, makers of OP, have been producing other exclusive lines for Walmart, notably in youth swimwear, but the recent concept shops are part of a larger back-to-school effort. "Back-to-school season is a very important time of year for Walmart. It's the second biggest retail buying season of the year after Christmas according to the National Retail Federation," says Melissa Hill, a Walmart spokesperson. The shops feature up to nine pallets in some stores with one bold color assigned per display. Each unit holds 16 trays filled with items. Walmart provided the color scheme and artwork, and New Creature designed and produced the 27,000 pallets that were sent to about 3,000 stores. Coordinated overhead signage and clothing racks complete the concept shop with a cohesive and clean look. Walmart's ongoing effort to clean up its aisles has driven promotions deeper into the stores and directly affected the design of the new displays. They measure 24 inches by 24 inches, much smaller than the standard pallet size of 48 inches by 48 inches that New Creature has produced for Walmart in the past."Part of Walmart's strategy is to reduce SKU count and not over-inventory the stores," Jones says. "We had to create a display that could hold the right amount of product and have it be about the product and not about the display."The smaller size drives about 35% of the corrugate out of the display. "That saves cost and gives the shopper more space in the pad to shop," Jones says. "It hurts our top-line revenue because we would have typically sold bigger displays, but it is the right thing to do for the store and the shopper."Walmart has been moving away from wood pallets, which can scratch the faux wood floors within some stores, so the base of the displays is made of paper that is color-coordinated with the display. All OP displays were assembled and packed at New Creature's Los Angeles facility. "When the displays get to the stores, all they have to do is take the protective shipping shroud off them and roll them out to the floor. They pop the signage information on the top and it is ready to go," Jones says. Walmart launched the displays in July, and Jones expected them to stay up for a month -- longer than the typical promotion would have appeared in Action Alley.The displays won't be restocked and instead will "shop down." As the stock dwindles, stores can move product from one display to another or lift out entire trays from one unit and place them in another. When just a few trays are left, stores can pull them from the displays completely and merchandise them elsewhere in the store. Prices are featured prominently on top of the displays. OP juniors tops and young men's tees cost $9 or less, and Walmart is using the price point to attract shoppers. "In light of the current economy and challenging job market, we know that parents and teachers are going to be looking for a little extra financial help this year," says Andy Barron, Walmart's senior vice president of merchandising. "Walmart can make a big difference for shoppers who take advantage of our unbeatable prices, including our $9 offerings, to meet all of their school supply needs.""In a year when people are going to shop and want to save money the most, they got it right, and I think their sales will reflect that," Jones says.

Walmart Drives Exclusive OP Shops for Back-to-College

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