10 Tips to Retail Success

Although my days in retail are long gone, during the 90’s and early 2000’s believe it or not my name and retail were often used together. A half baked idea I had in the middle of the night turned around the impending fate of a UK department store, although I got written credit, I never saw the financial reward that others in the same chain did. All the same the road was good, and by the time I left the retail industry, there would have been few companies that would not have employed me.

The simplest things often have the biggest results, and here are ten tips I recommend applying to your daily practises if you’re aiming to succeed in the retail world. I appreciate that some might seem simple, but it’s often the simplest of things that make the biggest differences:-

1. The Weather

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   Always check out the weather, if it’s sunny promote sun praising products near the front of the store, if it’s raining or windy promote items that might best suit that situation. Don’t think this might not apply to your business, think big this will apply to more than you expect.

2. Training

   When looking at staff, check out the employment service. Often there are schemes available for people with few qualifications or experience. Not only do these people often turn out to be the hardest workers, but due to giving them experience many come to you free of charge for a period of up to six months. This allows you to offset your pay budget getting the right people to the right wage, alternately if your KPI (Key Performance Indicators) driven use the lack of expenditure to increase your payroll, or store expenditure. Another plus part is often this service allows you the ability to improve trade by good promotion of your store.

3. Get Involved

   They say charity begins at home, however it works beyond that in retail. The more active you are in charity the more likely you are to succeed. Charity often comes with not only a feeling of wellbeing, but free promotion. In a store I had that sold Easter eggs, I got a confident sales assistant to ask customers if they wanted to buy an egg and donate it to charity (i.e. children’s homes). I did the same in a different store when it came to Christmas, this time with toys and sweets instead of eggs. Each donation comes with a letter of thanks to promote in your store, and often much, much more. It’s not just charity to get involved in, think projects; if your town does not have Christmas lights, then start organising a collection for Christmas. Free publicity through local papers often brings people flooding to your store to donate, once in they are more than likely to see what you’re selling. A town that I raised money for Christmas lights in, my stores footfall increased over 100%

4. Say What You Think

   Don’t agree with the general consensus if you don’t agree with it; part of my reputation revolved around me standing up and announcing polar opposites to the general view. Don’t be argumentative, just stand by your beliefs.

5. Study The Opposition

   Take time out to shop in other stores, someone else often has some great ideas that are not properly seen through, see the potential in a good idea poorly executed and harness it.

6. Stand Up To The Enemy

   In retail the biggest enemy you have is the shoplifter, take a harsh stand against them. Often use underhand techniques to make sure they tell their scumbag friends that yours is not a store to be messed with. My hard line with shoplifters saw not just a few, but pretty much all disappear. Forget law enforcement, have them arrested and they’ll be back tomorrow. Give them a good scare!

7. Make Friends

   Every single surrounding retail outlet is your friend even if you sell the same product, the sooner you realise this, the sooner you’ll succeed. Making friends with other shop keepers ensures word of mouth floods freely from store to store.

8. Handling Staff

   Reward and look after your staff, if they do well show them they do, a small gift even from your own pocket can work wonders. Consider employee of the month programs, duty management, and other incentives. At the same time beware the treacherous snake, all companies employing more than 10 staff in one store have someone that believes they can do your job, show them they cannot; and providing you do it legally if they continue to be a problem dispose of them. Life is all about making the best of things, don’t tolerate someone doing malicious damage, if talking to them as a friend does not help, then get rid.

9. Stock

   If your storerooms have considerable stock in them you’re doing something wrong, if your part of a chain find out what other stores are selling, exchange stock or look how they are selling them. Look at your store stock levels, could adding more stock promote higher sales by making a better statement? Most importantly check stored stock regularly, if you’re not physically checking in stock it’s often surprising how much stock is hidden by receiving staff because they don’t want to promote it.

10. Protect Yourself

    If you have the next big idea, even if you think there is a chance it might fail make people unrelated to the business aware. Put your plan in writing, and sign it; send copies to people in different levels of the business, and send them via a trackable method. My big idea made someone else millions, don’t make my mistake. Every retail manager that is worth their wage has an idea that can revolutionize a business, what’s yours?

I hope this helps, if you need any questions answered why not leave me a message and I’ll come back to you. But most importantly, despite the shadiness of some of my statements, always remain the right side of the law, don’t misinterpret my words, everything I ever did was legal.