From the Co-Founders of The Retail Owners Institute.Tips | Tactics | Insights on the Business of Retailing.
In our experience, the Thanksgiving weekend - Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday - also marks the beginning of a very pensive time for many retail owners.
While it is a very busy time in the stores, the owners are more like politicians on election night. All you can do is wait for the results to come in!
With that comes the opportunity to sit back and reflect. And of course, to give thanks.
And so it is here at The ROI.
We too like to use this time of year to reflect on all that we are thankful for. And it starts with you!
The community of retailers who use The ROI – about 30 each hour, 24/7 – is a diverse and huge world-wide group.
Your dedication to your customers and your employees, your perseverance, and your good cheer through this ever-changing world of retailing is inspiring. We admire each and every one of you.
Thank You! for all that you do in your stores, your communities, and beyond. Many of you are reinventing retailing for the future.
And thank you for your support, loyalty, and feedback and ideas for The ROI. You are indeed an inspiration to us.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
The ROI NEWS asked retailers this question about the effectiveness of Social Media: “Does it raise sales?!”
We invited retailers to take a short, quick, 6-question survey about their use of promotional tools in general, and, in particular, “Social Media”: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, Other.
We asked, and you answered!
You quickly confirmed that “social media” is in fact a hot topic among retailers!
And, you are willing to share your experience with it with others, and for that we say, Thank You!!
You’ve heard about 3D printers, right? They are computer devices that use a blueprint (a “digital model”) of an object and produce (“print”) one or more copies of that object by painstakingly building up layer after layer of its form.
Essentially anything that is manufactured can be replicated, one by one, with a 3-D printer!
And, be ready. It is coming to a store near you very soon. Shouldn't it be your store?
The National Retail Federation sponsored a survey in early May of retail small business owners across the country (those that meet the SBA definitions for employee size and revenue.) Contrary to the doom-and-gloom of the "Retail Armageddon" stories, this survey confirmed that retail owners are optimistic and looking to expand.
Few believe their business will be in worse shape in 12 months;
Nearly half expect revenues to increase;
Many have goals for expansion or implementation of new technologies.
As we often discuss, retailing is a very dynamic industry, constantly changing and evolving. To be successful, retailers must pass frequent flexibility tests. So we paid particular attention to this recent headline in the New York Times*: "The freshest ideas are in small grocery stores."
We have a mental image of a wide-open plain with hundreds of prairie dogs, cautiously poking their heads above ground. Looking around, they slowly realize they can actually venture out into the world once again. And venture forth they do. One by one at first, then more and more. Enthusiastically. Energetically. Excitedly bounding about, encouraging others to share their sense of adventure and fun. And that’s what we imagine is next for independent retailers. Here’s why.
The same thing applies to your inventory.
Any "turkeys" in your inventory need to be gone by the end of the Thanksgiving weekend. No matter how low the price needs to be, there are 3 vital days to get non-sellers out of your inventory.
Remember, the week after Thanksgiving Weekend is the time to have NO "turkeys" in stock.
Pat Johnson and Dick Outcalt, The Co-Founders of The Retail Owners Institute®, have been called "The Zen masters of retail finance!" Since 1999, they have been assembling their proprietary content into a unique self-help website. The Retail Owners Institute is an unmatched resource that assists retailers worldwide with basic financial training, assistance and easy-to-use tools. Their engaging and empowering how-to resources about the financial levers in retailing are informative, fun(!), and retailer-friendly. Their promise: "Everyone will 'get it'!" Pat and Dick are recognized experts in strategic retailing. Working only as a team – Outcalt & Johnson: Retail Strategists, LLC – they have been consulting, publishing, and speaking professionally throughout North America since 1990. They focus exclusively on retail, or wherever retail is involved. They work with CEOs, CFOs, boards and owners of retail operations, as well as manufacturers or wholesalers expanding into retail. And they also are Retail Turnaround Experts.
Since 1999, empowering retailers and store owners to "Turn on your financial headlights!"