Photo: Ed Yourdon
If there was a retail rabbit he would have come out of his hole…taken a look around…realized that “baby its cold out there” and told us that the next 6 weeks are going to be slow in sales.
This is normal! The first two weeks in January can be and usually are good for most retailers. The consumer has Christmas money (gift cards were again the number 1 gift item) and they haven’t yet received their credit card bills.
But they are BARGAIN hunting so unless you are at LEAST 50% off they are not stopping in. We have also found that if you have a touch of spring in (some call it resort) you will pick up a few full price sales and have the chance to test Spring/Sumer trends.
So what to do during this “off” time?
1. Clean out the old inventory! Do not pack it and save it for next year. Mark down and kill it. This is your chance to clean up shop and build cash flow for the next season.
2. Take inventory. Since your inventory is at a low this is the perfect time to take stock.
3. Take a good hard look at what makes money and what doesn’t. Do not keep repeating mistakes because the sales rep is so nice. If you have a vendor that is not profitable, kill them. It doesn’t matter what it took to get them in your store.
4. Clean and I mean CLEAN every tiny corner, nook and cranny.
5. Update the look of the store with some fresh paint. I like to paint the back focus wall the color of the season.
6. Move fixtures around, keeping in mind traffic flow and dead spots.
7. Review your overhead. Look at cell phone services, freight bills…this is a business of nickel and dimes. It’s important to keep that overhead from creeping up. Keep in mind that Wal-mart does everything 30% cheaper (read more efficient) than Target. That’s the bottom line.
8. Play games with the staff. See who is the first person to make the sale of the day? Play pass the $20—the person that makes a sale gets to hold onto the $20 until another person makes a sale. The person to make the last sale of the day keeps the $20. Or have a contest for most units sold to one person (UPT).
9. Plan your buys. You can’t sell from an empty cart. Look for new brands, bodies and adjust your price points.
10.Most important relax Spring is just around the corner!