How to Increase your Profits in the Retail World

Some ways to better your business

1. You might be under the impression that employee theft and shoplifting are not a concern in your business, but a simple mistake with pricing can cost a retailer a fair amount. On average the shrink percentage in the retail industry is around 2% of sales. Learn to recognise and reduce the sources of shrink.

2. Up selling to a customer or just planning on expanding in to a more multi channelled environment, as a retailer you should learn to identify and take advantage of any possible opportunity of a sale.

3. Improving your customer service is one of the easiest ways to improve your business. Retailers should always be developing their customer-friendly policies, training employees to better their customer service and learn how to create customer loyalty.

4. Keep it fresh. A great way of getting return customers is to keep offering them something new and exciting or to expand an already existing product line. Keep in mind though that not only should there be a demand for the newly introduced item it must also be profitable and something that you yourself enjoy selling (it makes things easier to sell to people if you like the product as well).

5. Increase your marketing. Don’t keep putting off that advertising just because ‘you’ll do it when business picks up’ or ‘we’ll do it at a more popular time of the year’. As long as you’re not marketing/advertising your business people aren’t hearing about it as much as they could. All it takes is for one person to see the advert and then they tell their friends and family and they do the same and so on. The longer you leave it the longer you’re missing out.

6. Get to a show, get out the store and go to a trade show. These are great places that are actually developed for retail owners, buyers and managers to have the opportunity to network with others and improve relationships and suppliers.

7. Pass on what you learn. Whenever you learn anything about that has or will improve your business in anyway, don’t keep it to yourself share it with your staff, ensuring they know when and where to apply the newly found knowledge in the most appropriate way.