To start, identify what it is you want to promote. And don’t just say “your store”. Instead, determine what is about your store you want to promote. You may realize there are a few angles you can take, and likewise, a few different audiences to share these details with. Next, determine what you can do to generate interest. Consider your budget – or lack of it – and how much time all points will take. A few things to consider doing include:

1. Send out press releases to local media, including newspapers, magazines, web and TV based.

2. Share details with other community businesses and retail supporters. This can be via a professional email, a press release, phone call or even social media.

3. Share details with your local Chamber or Mainstreet Organization.

4. Generate a social media strategy to generate a buzz. Make sure to use it effectively in order for it to be successful!

5. Get help where help is needed. No time to tweet? Allocate responsibilities among your staff. If it’s just you, be realistic with what you can do and what you won’t do. Then do what you can exceptionally well.

6. Create strong signage to use in your store, as well as offer a takeaway postcard for customers after their purchase.

The one point you do not want to overlook is TIME. You can’t chase an event 5 days leading up to it and expect a tremendous success. This may happen sometimes, but should not be your goal and certainly is not likely to be successful for most retailrs doing this. Instead, plan a promotion calendar for your entire year that allows you to work months, weeks, days and ultimately, hours in advance to lead you to a successful promotion. Additionally, by creating a calendar you will see what times during the year may make sense to have certain events, sales and more. It will also show you more clearly where the holes are.

Need more help? Check out a few more of our favorite PR focused blogs!

Tips On PR Phone Etiquette

How To Write A Press Release

Publicity Myths Shattered

The funny thing about increasing sales is that it doesn’t always take a huge change in your store to do this. Often you have the inventory, the people and the opportunity to do this… but aren’t. Then again, change is sometimes exactly what you need to do to increase sales.  Which category do you fall into?

Below are five tips to help you boost sales and increase store revenue.

1. Always have extra products available for quick add on sales. Whether it’s bottled water (even if it makes no sense to the rest of your store assortment), fun accessories or random knick-knacks, the ideas is to give customers something to touch while they are getting ready to check out. Their lingering of additional merchandise should lead to add on sales – and more money in your register.

2. Use smart sales strategies. If a customer is checking out, let her linger over your great add on products near the cash wrap. But also engage in conversation to help her understand why she needs something else. When customers are shopping, react to their body language, questions, overall engagement and more. Basically, offer customized customer support per each unique customer. And don’t forget… standing behind the cash wrap area (or your desk!) is a very hard way to create sales in your store.

3. Pay attention to your best sellers – and react to them. Do you have two left in a top performing item? Buy more NOW! If you let best sellers sell-thru without re-ordering them, you lose money. Plain  and simple. Give yourself enough time to order things that need to be ordered… which leads us to our next point…

4. Markdown slow moving items. If inventory isn’t moving, mark it down and get them sold at a reduced price. Keeping old inventory in your store that isn’t selling not only makes your overall store assortment look stale, it hurts your bottom line. Mark these items down, sell them and move on.

5. Train your team on products, selling techniques and your store “brand”. If it’s just you working in your store, then you know what you are doing – or not doing. But if you have a team of 1 or 10 or 100, you need to train everyone to be on the same page. Set selling standards. Introduce product knowledge workshops. Identify your store mission, values and how you want customers to perceive your store – and the people that work there. Remember to follow up with reviews to make sure things are getting done. Without a strong team, you will miss sales. It’s very simple, really.

Finally, wear cozy shoes so you don’t mind being on your feet all day. Eat healthy so you have energy. Rest your body – and feet in particular – when you aren’t working so you have the energy to work retail hours. And of course, have some fun. Enjoy your work, and your time off. This will all lead to more sales since it will lead to a healthier you!

If you are standing in the shoes of someone who has to decide what makes sense to support your friends and family as customers, you know it can be tough. From everyday discounts to special holiday incentives to freebies and more, business owners are challenged with the drama – yes, drama – of making sure their friends and family feel special when shopping with them. As small business owners, it’s drama  enough just to handle your ever expanding to-do-list, so adding “keep friends and family shopping and happy” often becomes just another chore to check off. Luckily, with a little planning and a lot of heart, keeping your favorite people (or your not so favorite people but blood makes them count) happy can be  as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Set Limits.

Limits, boundaries, deadlines… call it what you want, but the key is to identify what you offer your friends and family in discounts and shopping incentives so that there is no confusion. If it’s written out and identified clearly, it’s easy to blame the “policy” versus having to take the blame yourself. If you still get heat for it, remind them you are running a business and policies are part of your business model. Still getting heat? Maybe you need to find new friends… Or at least accept that they may not be the right customer for your business.

2. Offer Exceptions

If your mom makes the cut, give her a special deal that exceeds your typical discount. On that same note, break rules whenever you want for whomever you want should you feel the urge, need, desire. But only you have this control, so use it wisely. Don’t throw this around whenever… save this for truly special occasions – if at all. Remember, you’re in business to make money – right? Plus, if you throw these types of exceptions around too often, they will become expected. This should definitely not be your goal.

3. Make Them Feel Happy

Sometimes just the feeling of “being special” or “standing out” is all your friends and family may need. Host a special evening just for your fav peeps to shop, offering great deals, discounts and some light appetizers and beverages. Take it up a notch with music, local designers or any other extra effort that shows you really went out of your way to make this special event worth attending. While shopping is the goal, sometimes it’s just nice to show them how much you appreciate that they support you and your business. Of course, this is assuming they are referring people your way, right?!?!

Extra, Extra

To round out these special incentives, discounts and more, make sure to always be thankful of any business you receive – plain and simple. The competition is tough, so friends, family or just some stranger on the street all equally deserve your appreciation as a business owner. Going the extra mile for those you care about is a perk you should enjoy… not dread due to the constant abuse of your generosity. So remember -  create boundaries, write out your policy and invite friends and family to shop away! But please… promise yourself, your friends, your family and me that you won’t become that business owner who depends on them for all your business. All the perks in the world don’t equal up to that making a successful business strategy.

One way to get a good grasp on your inventory is to narrow in on your top sellers. Ask yourself a few key questions to help understand why they are your stop sellers.

1.       Have they always been your stop sellers?

2.       If not, why do you think they are now?

3.       Are there other products that would compliment your current top sellers and potentially sell as well? For example, if you are selling a lot of wine toppers, would cocktail napkins be a nice addition to your store assortment?

Likewise, determine what have become the worst sellers in your inventory and make plans to get them out your door as soon as possible. Easier said then done, yes. However, it needs to be done – even if you have to take a loss on some of your product purchases. Letting them sit on your shelves and make no return at all for you is worse than at least recovering some of your initial investment. By doing this, you may allow yourself to afford smarter purchases for your business today… or at lease sooner than later.

A few things you should consider when determining how to move inventory that has not been selling include the following.

1.       Call your vendors to see if they would buy back their stock. While not all vendors do this, some will consider it depending on your contract, your relationship, and your future business opportunities with them.

2.       Markdown your inventory right away if you haven’t already. Don’t just bring it down to 20%, but bring it down to 40%, 50%, even 75% off if you have to. Price to sell! The plan is to get it out the door, allowing you to get rid of access inventory that may be holding you back from bringing in new product that will have more selling potential.

3.       Host a special shopping event that caters to selling marked down items. Add special incentives to purchases made with multiple items. For example, you could have 50% off the first item, and 60% off each additional item. You can add additional or other incentives to help sweeten the deal. Buy one get one free. Gift with purchase. You get the idea.

4.       Some small business owners are willing to trade their inventory with each other depending on their customer base and more. If you have relationships with stores that this is a possibility for, consider how this may work for you.

Don’t be afraid to mark your product down because in doing so, you may take a loss. The bigger loss you are at risk for is not moving any inventory at all and ultimately having to close your doors. Be realistic with yourself as to what is the best scenario for your store, ultimately allowing you to bring in products that sell.

The goal of analyzing your inventory is to create balance. Top sellers should outweigh bad sellers in a perfect world, but this isn’t always the case. Re-evaluate your inventory each week, or at the very least each month, to best support your store trends and sell through. Have tips to help support inventory control? Let us know! Please comment below.

[tweetmeme]Whether you are a mom and pop store or a big chain retailer, deciding on your POS system is a critical step in your retail plan. Even those of you working craft shows and managing a business from home can gain from the right POS software! From improved cash flow to better time management, things you will want to consider for a one stop/shop POS system include:

1. Inventory Management

2. Improved Cash Flow

3. Great customer management

4. Improved Sales

5. Reduced Paperwork

6. Off Site Access

7. Easy Understanding &  Navaigation of Software

8. More Time For You

So now the question is – where do you find this?

Chicago based Cashier Live is on a mission to provide low cost, high value point of sale software to independent retailers. Forget tedious hours of installation – they know you don’t have time to spare. Don’t worry about frustrating training seminars – they make learning a snap. And getting started? It’s free! You simply need to sign up for their free, 30 day trial. And because you can access your POS system online (and without complicating hardware to deal with), it’s easy to get familiar with all the fun, supportive features they offer right away.

Okay, so it sounds too good to be true. A few logistics to get it all going may dampen your good mood, but they have made it all very easy for you – promise. To learn more about Cashier Live, visit www.cashierlive.com.

The calendar known as 4-5-4 divides the year into months of 4 weeks, then 5 weeks, then 4 weeks and so forth. Beginning on Sundays and ending on Saturdays, it also ensures holidays are lined up and like days, such as a particular Wednesday, are lined up so that sales reporting can be done accurately.

As effective and beneficial as this calendar is, there is one problem that it brings to the table. It only covers 364 days. The extra one day that isn’t covered on the calendar is easily managed, though, by proper bookkeeping completed by each unique retailer. During Leap Year, though, retailers may opt to add another week to the calendar – though some retailers ignore this altogether. When a 53rd week is added, you simply push your weeks back by one to compare to the previous year. Essentially this would mean you would ignore the first week of the year. It also gives retailers and vendors a great reason to get excited – more time to meet annual sales goals!

In addition to allowing sales to be reported more accurately, there are two more valuable reasons to use the 4-5-4 calendar. The first is payroll. This calendar can help guide you in your payroll decisions and help manage your accounting. The second additional reason is inventory control. With a balanced calendar, taking inventory and tracking inventory can be done more accurately when completed routinely.  

While it’s common for large, corporate stores to use this calendar, not all independent retailers have introduced this to their stores. Most retail software systems have this calendar integrated into their systems, however some small business owners still track sales the old fashioned way (pen and paper or their own excel spreadsheet). Certainly there is not a right way to do this – only you can determine that for your store – but there are easier ways to manage your business. This calendar is definitely one of them. A great tool for retailers, if you aren’t following the 4-5-4 calendar already, you should consider how it may be helpful for you.

1. Provide a variety of prices.Consumers may not be willing to spend as quickly as they were before the holidays, but they will still spend if something intrigues them enough. Make sure to catch their attention at every price point that your store caters to… and possibly a little lower than your norm to get a few additional sales. These prices can be regular priced or products on sale. Either way, make sure you make them worth wanting through your displays and sales pitch.

2. Don’t put everything on sale but rather showcase what you want to sell. Even if you know something has been in your inventory for too long, your customers may not. Highlight this product by freshening up it’s display, how you merchandise it, what you merchandise it with and how your sales team supports it. Taking a fresh approach towards merchandising and ultimately selling older goods can often surprise you in the results… quick sales or unexpected sales to surprising customers!

3. Consider who your audience is and if whether or not you are reaching out to the right demographics. Often the biggest mistake retailers make  is not knowing who their customers are. January is  the perfect time of year to evaluate your business, and with that comes evaluating who your customer is. If you believe you are missing a core customer, find ways to reach this new audience. Consider various marketing tactics that include business to business marketing, promotional mailers and more. Your new audience may be just who you need to reach in order to obtain the sales goals you set for your business.

4. Give thanks to those who have already shopped at your store. Why not let your customers from 2009 know just how much you appreciate their business? By offering an incentive for them to return to your store, you open up the opportunity to gain additional sales. You can do this through having a customer appreciation sale, a special event, offering an incentive based coupon or in many other ways. Be creative in how you reach out to your customers and what you offer them so that they will actually want to return to your store. 10%, 20%, even 30% may not do it alone.

4. Stand out from your competition. Whether it’s through visual displays, product assortment, customer service, sales or special events, make sure you stand out from your competitors. Customers who shop local or independent boutiques are typically aware of their shopping choices, so be  ahead of the game by being the best at the game. Work hard to stand out and be the best in your local area – not only through product assortment and customer service, but special events, exciting sales and more. January markdowns and cluttered sales racks can get old. Bring something new to the table that your competition is not.

5. Introduce new selling strategies to your business. Consider selling at local markets, cross selling with other boutiques, swapping stale merchandise with friend boutiques for new product, selling merchandise online and much more. Be creative and think out of the box – whatever your box may be. By introducing new avenues to make sales, you increase your opportunity to make money.

Finally, be realistic and work hard. Now is not the time to get cozy and sit back. Dive into 2010 with ambition, dedication and new ways to get your business ahead. Stay focused, keep learning and always look for ways to grow your retail business in what is still a tough retail market.

What Can Wholesalers Do?

The fact is, the price of many products at retail have gone down in their market value, therefore their wholesale price should reflect this. As wholesalers, if you aren’t already offering incentives, discounts or some sort of savings in your sales to retailers – you should be. Of course, this all depends on who you are. Many wholesalers are doing great or getting by because likewise, the retailers who are selling their product are comfortably moving their product. But if your product falls into the category of not making expected  sales, it’s time to help out your retailers.

What Should Retailers Do?

If you are a retailer who is struggling to make sales, consider how you can help your margins before you bring new product into your stores. Discuss options with your vendors that include discounts, incentives or possibly even product buy backs based on sales – or lack of them. Plan in advance how you will manage the markdowns customers are expecting, but also plan to make sure your customers don’t expect more markdowns to keep taking place. Buy less of more so that customers can’t wait around for what they want to still be there, but for less. And make sure your vendors know you are making these changes to support your business overhead and hopefully they will support you along the way, as well. After all, if they fall into the category of products needing to be marked down, then they should be smart enough to know it’s sell for less or don’t sell at all!

At the end of the day, as a retailer or wholesaler you want your products to sell. By supporting each other to make this happen, you can keep each other happy and ultimately – the final customer, too. But be realistic and be fair. These negotiations aren’t for everyone and retailers should respect that…. Likewise, wholesalers should respect their retailers if they don’t get reorders. Whoever said retail was easy certainly wasn’t working in it during a tough economy! Luckily, the battle is often worth the fight.

Planning a flat season is a good way of managing your inventory and most importantly, your dollars. Unless you have had significant growth over the last six to twelve months and firmly believe your growth will continue, planning for a flat season is the safest bet for your business. It’s likely that vendors will have excess inventory of their own that you can get in last minute should you see the need to, but let them carry excess inventory versus you in an effort to control your margins. The goal is to keep your inventory lean and avoid long periods of time between product arrival and product sell thru when possible. For example, fall fever may start in August with back to school in full gear and the traditional summer months coming to an end, but if you know your customers will still be wearing shorts in October, hold off on having too much Fall arrive too soon. Customers are buying later than they use to as a result of the economy, so pushing your delivery times back, as well, helps to keep your floors fresh and current according to the buying trends of your customers. As independent retailers versus big box players, you have more control over the ins and outs of your product arrival and selll thru and should lean on this information as you make your purchasing decisions and delivery date decisions, as well. Finally, keep some extra dollars available for product purchases made in the midst of the season. As much as we want to believe we will know what is the best seller before it even hits our floors, you may find a surprise or two that you want to bring into your assortment. Save cash as part of your sales plan so that you can chase these orders and move them quickly on your sales floor.

Planning for markdowns is inevitable for most retailers, but your goal should be to plan for as few markdowns as possible. If you take the controlled steps outlined above into consideration during your next buy season, it’s likely you will see a big difference in your markdowns once products arrive. Maintain a strong, realistic mind set when making your decisions and remember - let the vendors have excess inventory in their stock, not you!

Many independent, small wholesale companies sell their products at retail cost to consumers while also trying to gain retail accounts. This makes sense. What doesn’t make sense, though, is when wholesalers lower the suggested retail prices they sell their products for to conusmers and then expect their retail accounts not to blink. For example – if you have product that wholesales for $20 and is suggested to retail at $40, your retail accounts will strive to sell your products at $40 in order to cover their investment, overhead expenses and more. You, on the other hand, can afford to mark your products down from $40 since you base your profits on wholesale mark-up. Unfortunately, in doing this you may lose the respect from retailers that you should want and definitely need.

Retailers are more savvy than ever and do their homework when it comes to their competition. They want to know who else is selling what they sell, who their local competition is and who is selling the same things they do online. If that happens to be you, you can be sure they will take it up with their sales rep or you directly if your retail costs are lower than your suggested retail prices. Be aware of this and be respectful of this if you are in fact a manufacturer or wholesaler…. disrespecting this can equal a loss in retail accounts. In addition to retailers having their eyes on you, their customers are often bringing attention to them regarding where they can find a better deal. Be careful they aren’t surprised to find out that their competition is also where they buy their product from!

It doesn’t make sense for you to sit on your own inventory forever, so we don’t suggest you never mark your products lower than suggested retail. What we do suggest, though, is that you are honest and upfront with your sales reps and retail accounts so they know when you plan to mark your products down. Possibly you have a seasonal sale for a limited amount of days? Let them know. Maybe you want to make some permanent markdowns after 6 to 8 weeks into the season. Let them know this, too. By making them aware of this, they can be better supported and aware of what their own marketing strategies should be. If you do it with respect, hopefully they will return the favor and respect your marketing plans, as well.

Ultimately your strategies should reflect your business goals and your position on retail partnerships. But being aware of these price point issues and potential conflicts can prepare you for discussions that may have caught you blindly otherwise. As your business grows, your marketing strategies and retail support will alter, as well. But while you are growing, remember to respect this very valuable issue along the way (and always).