Retail sales are the most common type of business. So, direct contact with the buyer makes it possible to give the retail outlet an attractive look. However, practice shows that some business entities do not focus on completely those areas of activity that can bring the greatest profit.
Modern retail outlet owners often do not think about which methods or tools to use to increase sales. At the same time, even wholesalers sometimes need to think about retail.
The relationship between wholesale and retail entities
There is a certain relationship between these two categories, namely:
- with an increase in retail sales, an increase in the corresponding indicators among wholesalers can be seen;
- with the intensification of sales according to the recommendations of the wholesaler, the level of loyalty at the retail point increases;
- taking into account the characteristics of the retail business, sales from the wholesale seller increase due to better satisfaction of demand.
Sales monitoring
Demand both in general and for a specific product under the conditions of modern management is of particular relevance, and therefore requires constant monitoring. To create all the conditions under which sales will be successful, it is necessary to properly organize the implementation process itself, taking into account certain factors, starting with the appearance and packaging of the goods, ending with prices (wholesale and retail), as well as points of sale.
What must be taken into account and controlled by a business entity in the sphere of trade? Experience shows that in order to make the right and effective decision, it is necessary to clearly systematize information that is relevant to the activity. In this case, the first stage of monitoring is the collection and analysis of data. The next is direct decision making.
Key retail performance indicators
To ensure that sales volumes do not decline, it is necessary to monitor two indicators of retail performance:
- the number of customers who visited the store;
- the number of buyers who bought something at the outlet.
The first indicator is calculated quite simply. You can put an appropriate sensor at the entrance to the store, which counts both incoming and outgoing customers. Errors in this case can only occur if the same buyer comes in and comes out several times. But they will be insignificant.
The indicators on which the number of customers in the store depends
Among those, we highlight the main ones:
- location of the retail outlet;
- the presence of signage;
- uniqueness of the trading offer;
- organization of advertising;
- other services.
Often, retail stores with the opening of their outlets focus only on one of the above factors. And experts proved that only with the consideration of these indicators in the complex will it be possible to maintain sales volumes at a stable level.
Nevertheless, the most important indicator is the location of the outlet. In second place is the choice of the specifics of the product. The first indicator also depends on this factor. So, when it comes to everyday goods, the location of the store matters. If the business entity is supposed to sell goods with a certain uniqueness, then in this case the location of the outlet is not so important. It is advisable to consider the indicators of sales to increase store traffic in more detail.
Patency
The location of the outlet affects a factor such as cross-country ability. The latter is determined by the total number of potential visitors. For this, a representative of a business entity can stand at the door of the store and count the people who walked past this outlet and looked interested in it. To obtain more complete data, all potential buyers can be divided into men and women, and also distribute them by age.
Signboards
After establishing the patency of the store, you need to attract the eyes of potential visitors. A signboard is used as an effective tool, which should:
- be noticeable and conspicuous;
- clearly define the specifics of the goods that a person can buy in this store;
- Announce the benefits of certain purchases (low prices, assortment and high quality).
Unfortunately, determining the effectiveness of a sign is difficult. This can only be done empirically.
Unique offer
If it is not possible to organize a point of sale with high traffic, and there is a desire to open your own business, this will be helped by this factor. The uniqueness of the trading position is why any buyer wants to go to the store, which is located even in the gateway. Thus, the first thing that is simply necessary for sales volumes to always be stable is to provide a product or service that is unique in its definition.
An example is the following:
- Direct deliveries of Chinese tea (over 1000 varieties);
- European dry cleaning (in just 5 hours);
- over 100 models of boilers with free installation;
- delicious high-quality whites at the lowest prices, etc.
Organization of advertising
Not all business entities can afford to shoot commercials for their subsequent broadcast on television. Also quite expensive are billboards in the main streets. Therefore, this article will pay attention to other, no less effective methods of advertising the promotion of goods.
An effective method is to place relevant ads on the Internet and in local newspapers. Positive feedback from customers who are satisfied with the purchase and service that the price has arranged can also be of great help. Sales can be significantly increased if the printing house order the appropriate flyers and booklets. Ideal advertising is information about a product or service located along with other data that a potential buyer may need. For example, on the back of the flyer you can print the addresses of the best points of public catering or the schedule of trains. In this case, the information content of such a booklet increases significantly, respectively, and the likelihood of its conservation, too.
As for the Internet, advertising on the World Wide Web has one undeniable advantage. This is an affordable price. Sales can be significantly increased if you create an appropriate store website, which will be regularly updated.
Other services
For example, an entrepreneur decided to open a cosmetic store in a small town. How to notify the whole village about this? It is very simple - to invite a stylist who will be able to select and adjust the image of customers completely free of charge, for example, within a month, and notify as many people as possible about it with flyers. It really should work, and in a month many women will know about this store.
Another good example is the sale of ordinary plastic windows. Retail sales will increase significantly in the future, if you offer to rent a special device with which to measure the thermal conductivity of windows and calculate the heat loss. With the proposal of this device, the rating of a business entity will significantly increase.
Thus, sales growth can be achieved using the above recommendations.
Reasons for the ruin of some stores
Studies in the retail business have shown that up to 80% of small businesses go bankrupt in the first five years of their work. This is often associated with significant costs associated in turn, for example, with the rental of premises for the store. The volume of retail sales is closely dependent on the assortment of goods. Also, often there are not enough good specialists who are able to work effectively with customers.
For the successful development of their own business, one can
not ignore competitors, but it is not recommended to constantly look back at them. What is meant in this case:
- rely only on yourself;
- engage in an increase in the number of customers (to attract buyers, not just passers-by; increase traffic and try to create a lineup of customers);
- increase the turnover by convincing each visitor to make some kind of purchase, increasing the size of the average check and the number of goods in it, ensuring the maximum of repeat purchases;
- eliminate any problems that arise with personnel: find highly qualified personnel, prevent any theft among employees, educate professionals, create an effective system for monitoring both sellers and administrators;
- build effective marketing (abandon low-performance advertising, take a balanced approach to sales, and develop profitable pricing).
We will talk about how to get a stable planned sales volume.
Sales formula
Sales must be calculated in order to analyze the growth or reduction of this indicator. This will allow any business entity to control its success and make timely decisions with a rapid decrease in the relevant ratios.
There is a well-known formula for sales:
OD = (UPR + Pr) / (C - P), where
UPR - conditionally fixed production costs;
Pr - profit without interest;
C - price per unit of goods;
P - variable costs per unit of goods.
An important indicator in the analysis of sales is its gross volume. In this case, the calculation of gross income is carried out, but for some time it is based on the turnover, operating in the form of the norm of the trade allowance. Gross income for the planning period is based on the forecasted turnover.
Conclusion
Summing up the material presented, it should be noted that sales volume is a rather important indicator of the performance of a trading company, its value largely depends on both internal and external factors. Only if the business entity will try to take them into account when planning its own activities, will it be able to achieve good results.