Ways to Avoid Retail Theft

This past February, the National Retail Federation (NRF) announced that retail theft if on the rise due to our struggling economy. While theft is always an issue, this recent report cited that there are more organized groups than ever before committing retail theft and then reselling the stolen goods to gain profit from their illegal actions. These groups, referred to as Organized Retail Crime (ORC) result in a loss of over 30 billion dollars a year for retailers. As independent retailers, there area a few things you can do to help decrease your odds of being a part of theft.

1. Research shows that communicating with your customers decreases theft. Say hello to all customers that walk into your store within 30 seconds or a minute at the most so that they know you are aware of their presence and are alert with their actions. Continue to acknowledge them while they are in your store with engaging questions about your store, your product, or how you can help them. By reaching out to them throughout their store visit, they will have less likely of an opportunity to feel alone enough to commit a crime. An added bonus – since most customers are not in your store to shop lift, this simply provides increased customer service!

2. Make sure that you are aware of the inventory in your store. Keep an accurate checklist, whether manually, through Quickbooks or your own excel spreadsheet, so that you are aware of what is currently in stock, out of stock, damaged, sold, or missing. If you find that certain items are missing, it is likely they are a high theft item. Be aware of what may be considered high theft to avoid their potential loss as well as to provide extra overview on these products. You can do this by merchandising these products close to the cash wrap or where ever you and your staff are the most often. Another idea is to secure them with security tags that will alarm if they leave the store.

3. Install video cameras in your store. The catch? Even cameras that don’t work will alert thefts and persuade them NOT to shoplift. You can purchase video cameras that appear to be real or even buy real but used cameras that no longer work. Of course, working cameras would be your best bet but this is a costly investment that not everyone can afford. One company to check out for these options would be Security Tag Store, www.securitytagstore.com.

4. The floor plan of your store can increase or decrease your chance for theft. Try and balance your store space so that you have visible access to all areas in which a customer may be, with exception to a dressing room, of course. Use mirrors to see challenging corners that may not otherwise be visible. Lock up expensive merchandise in glass cases or with security tags. Do not allow customers access to dressing rooms without having to be let in by a sales associate and limit the number of items they can take into the room with them. When they come out of the room, count the products that came out with them to make sure nothing is missing. You can also use alarms on doors that should not be opened so that customers cannot sneak out a back door. Even customer bathrooms should be locked so that you can monitor who is going in and out of them. While this may seem like a few more extra steps then there is time in your day, all of these actions will provide valuable store security if you need it. In addition, it also provides supportive customer service.

5. Signage can be used to reinforce security messages. Let shoppers know you have security cameras or that your store has a security alarm system. Make sure potential thefts are reminded that you have sales associates watching both customers and products throughout the store. Don’t be scared to alarm them with “Shoplifters will be prosecuted” signs, as well.

Finally, make sure that your store is well kept in an effort to help you see what is out of place or possibly stolen. Tidy up every day throughout the day and make sure all of your sales associates do this, as well. Remind everyone, including yourself, that is not just to have a great looking store but also to avoid theft.

We need to hope that most customers are still honest and trustworthy, but as the saying goes – better safe than sorry! Make sure you are taking care of your store by  taking control of your store security.

Retail Real Estate – Do You Know What Yours Is?

Have you ever wondered what the specific value of space is in your store? A good way to equate value to your retail floor space is to access the best parts of your retail floor plan and determine the worst spots, as well. In doing this, you will be able to understand your retail real estate.

What Make a Hot Spot in Retail Real Estate

Is there a spot on your floor that everyone seems to notice first, no matter what is being merchandised? Traditionally, this spot usually includes store front window displays, aisle displays, and the merchandising space by the check out counter. In addition, wall space can often provide valuable retail real estate since it lifts the eyes of the consumer and draws attention if merchandised well. Locate the best real estate spots in your store and begin to take inventory of the product featured in these spots and their sell-thru. Then, as time progresses, start to utilize these spots to turn inventory over through the use of retail real estate. Are you looking to highlight new product? Use your real estate hot spots to do this. Need to get rid of some access inventory? Again, use your real estate hot spots to help you move your product. Make sure you acknowledge the change in your retail real estate as your product and season changes, therefore adjusting your floor plan, as well. When you move fixtures, your retail real estate may adjust, also.

What Makes a Weak Spot in Retail Real Estate

Have you ever noticed a spot in your store that no matter what you merchandise there, it just doesn’t seem to sell or even get noticed? This is a retail real estate weak spot. Nearly every store has them and yet many stores don’t know how to use them. The reality is that you probably need this space for your products, so good or bad, you have to use it. A few ideas to help make the best use of this real estate is to showcase product here that are double exposed somewhere else, which is a common practice for retailers to do (show your product in more than one spot to ensure visibility). Another idea is to put something here that customers know they want, such as stocked items including t-shirts or socks. In other words, offer something in this weak spot that customers come to your store for and will find no matter where it is placed. Finally, you could always use this space to feature your sale items. Everyone likes a sale nowadays, so put your weak real estate to good use by showcasing your great markdowns and must haves at discounted prices!

By understanding how your retail floor space works for you, you can then use this to your advantage when merchandising your store. Make sure you know your retail real estate to make sure that it is working for you!

Buying When You Already Have Too Much Inventory

Many small business owners are inspired to own their business because they want to surround themselves with their passion, hobby, or interests. While this can prove successful for some, it can also prove challenging for others when it comes to retail. For most people, buying for your store is not as easy or as fun as shopping for yourself.  In fact, it can be down right difficult, frustrating, and scary. Suddenly, a big “for sale” sign isn’t as exciting as it use to be for you since the possibility of what you buy for your store may end up on a sale rack if it does not sell well.  Because it’s your sale and your money, this can bring added stress to the already endless list of stress that the world of retail has.  However, that said, sales are part of the package when you sign up to work in retail, however there are ways to help limit how much of your inventory ends up on the sales racks.

To help control inventory, particularly in an economy when shoppers aren’t separating themselves from their wallets as easily as before, retailers should take a complete analysis of the current inventory assortment based on the points below. Consider how these points will help you with your current inventory sell through so that when you make future buy decisions, you will find your inventory balanced more evenly and your register filling up more quickly.

Product Sell-through vs. Square Footage of Product Allocation

How much space does the product you sell take up in your store? Is the product in your store that is not selling taking up more space? The goal is to maximize your store with products that are moving. You should markdown the product that is not selling to help increase the chances of it selling sooner, eventually opening up your store space for more products that have proven successful. It also allows your open to buy dollars to become more available, allowing you to potentially introduce new product. Make sure that you do not let slow moving product sit on your floor too long without marking it down, then make sure to continue to mark it down until it sells. It is wasted space if it is just sitting there. The first 30 days of any new product on your floor should allow you to understand if customers want this or if you will need to mark it down eventually. The goal is to have the products that sell faster, or even at all, take up the majority of your floor space. We all make poor buy decisions, so deal with these mistakes if necessary to get to where you want to be next time in your buying decisions.

Product Hot Spots and Weak Spots

By now, as a retailer, I am sure you have discovered the power of merchandising. Whether you have or have not paid much attention to this, make sure that you take the time to determine the retail real estate in your store that helps move products while on the contrary, determine your store space that doesn’t seem to help increase product sell through. By understanding this, you can maximize your sales. There is always going to be “dead space” on your floor and like it or not, you may need to use this space to merchandise some of your product. Make sure you merchandise and re-merchandise your product routinely so that you offer customers a refreshed shopping experience, but also the opportunity to move products from the hot spots to the weak spots and vice a versa as needed.

A merchandising note – If you have product that customers come to your store for, this is the product to put in a weak spot versus a hot spot since they already know they want it. Use your hot spots for products that you need to sell, not only the ones you know will sell. Mix it up!

Excess Inventory Control

Unless you are one of the few retail buyers who is always on target with what their customers want and you know will absolutely sell, it’s possible you have extra inventory sitting around. The goal for you is to move it. And move it now! Don’t wait for the possibility that it may come back in style or that the economy will get better. Mark it down and get it sold. Hold a special sale. Or sales. Offer discounts for special customers. Whatever your plan is, the plan should be to not let this product take up space on your retail floor or in your back room – even if you hate the thought of selling it for less than you planned to.

Controlling Your Buys

It’s so tempting to bring in a ton of great new things to your store and just start over, so to speak, when you have a lot of things that you know are not working for you. BUT – hold back. Find control and find balance to bring these new items in without cornering yourself in a position where your current inventory will financially put you in a hole. Unless you have the resources to be flexible and to buy without concern, then make sure you strategically plan to get your currently inventory out of your store before bringing in a ton of new things. I don’t believe that you can hold off on buying anything new, however. Customers want to be surprised and tempted and enticed to buy, so you need to give them that with what is in style, with what they want, and with what you know they need. That said, find balance and control with what you already have and what you want so that you can better manage your inventory needs.

Still looking  for more help? You may check AdvanceWare for its scalable and flexible inventory software (http://www.advanceware.net/) that is suited for Quickbooks users, wholesalers, distributors, online retailers, importers/exporters, 3rd party logistics warehouses, and any other inventory-based businesses to help you in your inventory needs. In addition, you can find some video demo at http://www.advanceware.net/videodemos.asp

 

 

Boutique Boredom – How to Bring Your Store Back to Life

Boutique and boredom are two words I never want to hear together, however I have many clients who tell me that they are bored with their own boutiques. After listening to them describe their ups and downs as boutique business owners, I often hear one thing fairly consistent from each of them – which is that they are bored with their retail store space.

If you are a boutique or store owner, then you can certainly relate to walking into the same place everyday and often trying to capture a new perspective on it depending on the season, your mood, the economy and more. Some of you can do this beautifully, seeing a space that can transform the same way your product changes from season to season. Unfortunately,  many boutique owners are not able to see past what currently exists in their retail space and look ahead to what could exist in their retail space. For this reason, their store layout, merchandising, aesthetics, and more stay consistent day after day. They find themselves bored, which can lead to poor work energy, bad buying decisions, lazy customer service and ultimately, weak sales. In the world of retail, this can lead to your retail death.

To help avoid you dig your own retail grave, there are a few things you can do to reinvent your retail space. To begin, you need to empty your mind from any preconceived perceptions you have about your retail space. Let go of any ideas regarding what your store is and is not in regards to layout. I want you to start from scratch, allowing you to see your store from a new perspective. While I realize this may be difficult, do your best to look at your store as a blank sheet of paper in terms of how the fixtures, shelving, and general floor plan are laid out in your store.

By allowing yourself to see your store as an empty space, similiar as to what it was before it became your store, you will open up new thoughts of what it can be instead of what it is.  Now don’t get crazy here unless you can afford to. If you have the money to spend on construction and professional design, great. But for most of you, this is not a realistic option. So instead I want you to bring your store to life again with the resources you currently have. Inexpensive options to help reinvent your space include paint, so while considering your floor layout you can also consider using paint to bring your store back to life.

Cash Wraps

Every store needs a cash wrap. Where, after owning and working in your store for sometime now, do you think this would be best suited? You will most likely want to see the door from the cash wrap and not have your back facing the door, so keep this in mind. You also want to plan for customers waiting to be rung up to have space in case there is a line, which is of course a great goal. If you currently have a cash wrap that is not being utilized in both location and function as best as possible, think about how you could change this. Adding some simple features or taking away some current clutter may bring your cash wrap a whole new life. Remember that the cash wrap is also a great space to include point of purchase opportunities, which include small items for purchase such as candy, keychains, hair ribbons, and more. By offering these small items at your checkout destination, customers are more inclined to add something additional to their purchase and therefore make you more money. Keeping these items low in cost is ideal.

Fixtures

Once you have your cash wrap station determined, you can then look ahead to where your current fixtures would be best located on your new floor plan. You want to maximize your floor space by offering customers easy walkways and easy visual views of the store, so keep this in mind when positioning your fixtures. By doing this, you will allow your customer to shop more comfortably. Retail research tells us that customers shop similiar to how they hold their pens. In other words, if they are right handed, they tend to move towards the right first when in a store and vice versa. Since most people are right handed, you should consider the right side of your store a stronger opportunity for retail real estate. Now I know I just told you to forget about your current floor plan, however I want you to quickly let yourself remember what frustrated you the most about your current retail space. Whatever that something is – whether it is the tight walkways, crowded fixtures, limited shelving, or only one fitting room – I want you to consider these points when redesigning your new floor space.

Fitting Rooms

While fitting rooms are not relevant to every boutique owner, those who do need them need to listen up. Fitting rooms need to be great! Don’t cramp your customers in tight corners when you are trying to sell them something they want to wear to parties, work, and more. Find a way to make your customers get cozy in the clothes they try on. Maybe the room itself is small, but the space outside of the room should be inviting. Floor length mirrors, borrowed high heels, a chair – add whatever it is that you think will help make your customers find themselves at home in your clothes. Cramping them in too small of rooms may bring hesitation to their purchasing decisions since they can’t “really” see what they look like. Most importantly, give them space. And in doing so, give them style in your fitting room design and decor to help create the mood you want your product to represent.

Style

This can either be the fun part or the worst part for many boutique owners – style through design. Whether it’s the  throw pillows on a bench, the bold pink wall against crisp white curtains, or the lack of color and just plain beige that makes up your style, you need to consider how this influences your overall retail space. Like it or not, your style will influence who shops in your store. Think about who your target market is, what you are selling, and how your store style impacts store sales. Maybe it doesn’t impact sales. If this is the case, try and figure out how style can help bring your store back to life. This is a great place to use paint and freshen things up. Paint is cheap, however the time it takes may be holding you back. Don’t let it! Style can make all the difference! In addition to painting your walls, you can consider painting furniture, fixtures, murals, and more to help enhance your space. You can also purchase some accessories to help recreate your retail space without breaking your budget. Pillows, wall art, mirrors, statues, and more help create a retail style that can ultimately influence your retail space. Consider how each of these details may work for you.

By allowing yourself to see your retail space as a blank canvas, you can open your thoughts to new ways to bring your store back to life. Don’t ever feel like you have to settle in one retail space layout just because that’s how you positioned your cash wrap, fixtures, and everything else from the start. The same way you re-merchandise your store routinely, you should also consider re-arranging your store space as you see necessary to help maximize your store sales. Making these changes will not only allow you to drop that bag of boredom you have been carrying around, but it will also create new energy for your repeat customers to shop in your store! It will also give you a great excuse to merchandise your store from a new perspective, which always adds excitement to any boutique owner. So what are you waiting for – fall asleep tonight with a blank canvas in your head and start thinking about how you can bring your store back to life.

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