I want to congratulate everyone who’s reading this
newsletter because if you’re reading this that means you've survived one
of the most challenging years for business in a long time. It also means
that you've been doing a lot of things right this year. Some of the basic
and essential things every successful Retailer does.
Things like using new technology to enhance your business.
You probably have a well developed website that your customers can use to
access your business even if they can’t make a trip to your store in person.
You probably send your customers a newsletter via email on a
regular basis .You probably are using the internet to send that
newsletter rather than snail mail.
You are probably using "Social Media" like Facebook in your business to keep your customers up to date on
what you're doing in your store.
You have probably attended at least one of the major CHA
Shows . And taken advantage of the Show specials to bring your customers
value pricing
It means you’ve stayed competitive with other stores in your
market, especially the “Majors” by meeting their advertised prices.
And you’ve been doing many more basic retailing tactics to
increase your sales and make your business more profitable.
So, again, I say CONGRATULATIONS
to all of you .
This is also the time of year that we start thinking
about New Years Resolutions. Let’s write down some New Years Resolutions to
make for 2014
Resolution 1. I will approach everything with a positive
outlook. I know that negativity is a self fulfilling prophesy. I will not let
negativity rule my life or my business.
Resolution 2.I will stop doing the things that I know don’t
work, that didn’t work last year and have never worked in the past. Things like spending so much money on new product
that I can’t afford to buy my best selling categories that sell every day.
Resolution3 .. I will start keeping a record of my daily,
weekly and monthly sales. I’ll use them to track how I’m doing compared to last
year and against my sales plan..
Resolution 4.. I will faithfully record my receipts so I can
keep up with how much stock I have on hand. You want at least a turnover rate
of 2. That is you turn your average Beginning of the month stock level at
retail 2 times in a year.
Resolution 5.. I will take a critical look at my stock to
see what merchandise I need to mark down and get rid of. I’ll use the month of
January to move this merchandise out.
I’ll remember the 2 rules about marking down merchandise.” Don’t fall in
love with your merchandise” and “Your first loss is your best loss” That
means if you’re going to take a markdown make it a good one. Take at least 50%
off, maybe more if the product has been around a long time.
Resolution 6.. I’ll look at the vendors that I
do most of my business with and become more important to them and make them
more important to me. This is how the big Retailers work. They maximize their
business with the vendors who are leaders in their field.
Resolution 7.. I'll make every effort to attend the CHA Winter Show in Anaheim January 11-14, 2014. There will probably be only one CHA Show in 2014 and you want to take advantage of all the industry information and show specials that are offered at the Show.
We’ll, 7 Resolutions are enough.. If you follow through on
all 7 you’ll have gone a long way in making your business more efficient and
productive,
Happy Holidays to everyone
No comments:
Post a Comment