Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1918-06-07
JUST TWO ENDS TO MERCHAN.
DISING

There are just two principal divis-
ions to merchandising. They are
Buying and Selling. Of the two, we
believe that the former is of most inn
portance: fct if you do not buy right
it is mighty hard to sell right. Manv
merchants pay entirely too little at
tention to the buying end of the bus
mess. They remain behind the cOun-
ters of their stores doing the work o.
an ordinary cheap clerk (f there is
any such thing as that now days. and
wait for travelling men to come and
tell them what they want, how much
they want Of it and how lnick they
should pay Cor it, They take no
means of informing themselves as to
what merchandise is worth in the big
what Salt Lake travelling men tell
them. Sometimes the prices paid arc
right and as low as the same grade
Of merchandise can be bought for in
the Eastern markets and delivered TO
their stores; in some cases, the prices
are unreasonable, and as a result the
merchant has to overcharge his Gus
toners and not infrequently loses
their trade. Many of the consumers,
through the medium of mail order cat
alloys, are better posted as to the val
e H. L., q H.. ,l,o, ~
and if he feels that he is being over
charged, naturally he resents it. A
good many merchants have adopted
the plan of going East to the big mar
kets once or twice year to do most
of their buying, and apparently are
gaining considerable advantage by so
doing. We are convinced that this
will gradually gain in favor until it
will become almost universal rule
with merchants. To be sure it will
require some capital and ready money
TO do this, but the merchandising game
is unsympathetic in its nature. and
like most other human activities, is
a question of the survival of the
strongest and fitest The little fellows
who cannot adopt improved methods
will naturally have to drop out.
When merchants learn to buy right,
the question of the mail order house
and it's competition will have been
largely solved.
In the matter of buying, the news
paper cannot be of much assistance,
aside from occasionally Offering sug-
gestions, which may or may not prove
helpful; but when we turn to the
selling end Of the business, it becomes
an important factor. And even with
goods bought right, and housed right
there is still something to be done be-
fore the money they represent finds
it's way into the cash register Your
goods may be ever so nice, late, styl-
ish and well made, and the price may
be as low as is possible for the grade
of merchandise offered, but unless peo-
pie know these things they are not
any more likely to buy from you than
from others, and they may actually
be sending away for goods of inferior
quality and be paying "a higher price
for them, because, perchance, at some
time in the past they have apparently
obtained better bargain from mai
order house. They need to be told OF
these things; told frequently and i'm
pressively. The human mind is oper
to suggestion, and confidence on the
part of the merchant or salesman in
spires confidence in the purchaser
A merchant who cannot give any gooc
and logical reason why customer
should buy goods from him, is moi
likely to succeed where there is com
petition. 1t requires confidence an'
enthusiasm to become good sales
man, and this feeling of optimism
and confidence must be reflected IL
your advertising,
H
THE QUESTION OF SERVICE