Month: August 2018

The aim of this article is to expain why retails distribution and traditional product distribution are rapidly being replaced by direct sales and intellectual distribution.

Firstly, let me explain what I mean by retail selling and traditional distribution: In traditional distribution, manufactured products are distributed to wholesales. The wholesalers then sell those products to retailers and the retailers sell the products to the consumer at a significantly greater cost than than the manufactures sold them for. Retailers have no choice other than to charge more, as they have to pay for advertising, salaries, lighting, etc. and those costs must be covered by the customers if they are to make money.

Intellectual distribution is the ability to provide product and service information to the potential customer, who then orders from the manufacturer (direct sales).

Have you ever been into a shop to enquire about product prices, only to return home and identify the product far cheaper Online? The product you are ordering is exactly the same, but Online you may be receiving it directly from the wholesaler or even the manufacturer. The Internet has revolutionised the way companies promote and educate us about their products and the costs to the customer are greatly lessened as a result.

What does this mean for retail distribution? Can you see why many retailers and stores are going out of business? Is this situation likely to continue?

It is my belief that it is the older generations who are be less skilled using the Internet, keeping retail from disaster. Imagine what will transpire when the majority of the population are online and ordering directly from the manufacturers. Many people do food shopping on the internet, Christmas shopping online, we buy books, cds and dvds on the internet! Is there any limit to the products that we can purchase directly from wholesalers or manufacturers?

The reality is that retail distribution is suffering and direct sales is booming. This may be a very bad thing for retail outlets (look what happened to Woolworths in the UK!), but a great thing for direct sales companies (i.e. Amazon).

As individuals we can capitalise on these economic trends. Firstly, we can order goods from direct sales companies. Also, we may be able to align with a direct sales company, promoting the products and services they offer. You can be an independent agent and earn commissions from any sales you generate. This is ideally suited for the Internet and is definitely something worth considering in today’s economy!

Hockey cards have been around for a long time. From the Parkies in the fifties to modern day upper deck cards, weve seen several different variations throughout the years. Many people Ive talked to used to collect hockey cards as children, but have gotten away from the industry and have forgotten about the thrill of pulling that big name player from a pack of cards. Most people that used to collect are so far away from the industry now that they dont even know what companies provide product anymore or how to buy.

As children, we just bought packs. Collectors these days will buy packs, but really are more interested in boxes, especially hobby boxes. Lets talk about what a hockey hobby box is. The main players in todays market for hockey are In The Game and Upper Deck. In fact, they are virtually the only players. After the lockout of the 2004/05 season, a lot of the smaller companies that produced hockey cards either went out of business or were in a sense blocked from making hockey cards due to the fact that Upper Deck basically bought exclusive rights to the NHL and NHLPA. In the Game hung onto its market share by focusing on retirees and prospects, therefore getting around the Upper Deck monopoly. Both of these companies product multiple products in a calendar year and many of these products have both retail and hobby versions. What is the difference? Retail versions of products normally contain mostly base cards and are found in local corner stores that sell hockey cards. They are very much marketed for retail business to be sold more or less by the pack. Some versions of retail boxes do have special card hits, but they are the minority. A hockey hobby box on the other hand is made for the hobby card collector. Each box will have a good ratio of hits. For example, a twenty four pack box may state that the ratio of special card (being rookies, game used cards, or autographed cards) is one in four. They do not guarantee the ratio, but most times they are pretty close. In this case, the hobby collector would normally buy a whole box as opposed to single packs in order for the next to guaranteed ratio of special cards.

Why then do companies even produce retail and hobby versions of the same product? Imagine you are that child again who loves to collect hockey cards. Retail versions are easily accessible by the pack and because retail boxes contain less hits and more base cards, they are normally a LOT less expensive than hobby boxes. Children can still enjoy buying that pack of cards and pulling a special card of a special player. Hockey hobby boxes are normally much more expensive and are normally bought by more serious collectors who are adults and are interested in potential value for the cash they put out. Normally an entire box is purchased so the near guaranteed hits are gotten. Hobby boxes also are not allowed to be sold in retail stores, but must be sold in hobby stores only. This by itself would attract a different kind of collector.

Retail and Hobby versions of hockey boxes ensure that we are all able to collect the cards we love. For all the reasons we buy cards, there is a version that is right for each type of collector. Young and old can both enjoy the thrill of opening a pack of cards. Enjoy your favorite hockey box in hobby or retail version today!

So, how DO you close a retail store? That seems to be a common question among retailers these days with the economy in a tailspin, but the more important question is this: “How do you close a retail store PROFITABLY?”

And that is a question that doesn’t seem to get one good answer. Well, for most independent retailers, if the economy has really beaten you down and you haven’t been able to establish any sort of marketing plan to accommodate for the economy, then closing your business is definitely the best answer to your woes.

With the question being simple in context, the answer is somewhat complex, but this is an area of consulting I’ve been doing for quite a while now, so I’ll lay it on the line with you.

First, do your research. I’ve never been one to candy coat anything for anyone. I tell it like it is.& So, go to Google, Yahoo, or your search engine of choice and search on any term(s) you can think of pertaining to this topic. There you will find plenty of companies and consultants that provide this service. This is where the fun begins.

Just like any other service provider you would seek out, you’re not going to hire the first one you contact regardless of what they say or how good they seem, which is why I always tell people that contact our offices, “Call all the other guys first, THEN get back with me”. This may seem pompous to some and maybe even stupid to others, but the reason I do this is because I know that, A.) I won’t work with everyone, and B.) No one else in the market place offers what we do. There, I said it.

So, back to the question at hand: How to close a retail store. It all centers around a solid marketing system. Well, unless you are wanting to close your business because of old age, retirement, divorce, death in the family, or any other reason NOT related to poor sales and slumping economy, then you may not know exactly what a solid marketing system means, otherwise, you probably would not be wanting to know how to close a retail store in the first place. Make sense?

Any and all successful businesses revolve around one simple, yet complex, principle: solid marketing systems or what I like to call the Retail Marketing Triangle: Marketing, Merchandising, and Salesmanship, all of which play a very important role in a solid marketing system for retailers.

Here are some questions you need to ask yourself to get started:

1. What kind of relationship do I have with my existing customers?

2. Do I have the contact information of all my existing customers?

3. Have I been staying in touch with my existing customers with direct mail, email, and phone calls?

4. Is my inventory good? Is my store full? If so, of what?

5. Have my sales been declining? If so, why?

6. Am I always actively seeking new customers?

There are literally dozens of other prevalent questions, but these are some of the main ones that help you determine where to start. By the way, closing a business is NOT something you want to do yourself UNLESS you have a system to follow. I’ve written a book about it, but I’ll provide a link for that at the end of the article. The book I wrote tells basically how we set up for and manage a successful retail liquidation Sale, beginning to end, and most times get a 90%-140% return on inventory cost for our clients. Does that happen every time? No.

Anyway, the reason you must ask yourself all these questions is that the answers will play an important role in how successful your Sale is. For example: if you have no customer database, then what we do is strategically build a database saturated for your close proximity area based upon who your ideal customer would be. Then we send out a very unique, custom sales letter about your store and your Sale, which is presented in an oversized invitation format. The key here is the copy of the sales letter. Writing copy is no easy task, but there are many books available on it should you be so inclined to write your own. The point: while this method will bring LOTS of people into your store to launch your Sale, if done properly, it will ALWAYS be better if you have an established list of regular customers to market to.

Next, your inventory. So many people contact me about doing a Sale for them, they send me pictures of their store, and the shelves and counters are half empty, and what they do have available is either old, outdated, or undesirable. I used to think this was common sense, but I’ve learned never to be surprised by things like this. Listen, if you want to close your business, if you want to do it profitably, then make sure you have a healthy, full inventory you’ll make a whole lot more money. Oh, and be sure to hire a professional. Oh, and when you hire a professional, be sure to ask them details about their marketing systems. You’ll be surprised at the different things you’ll hear. Let me just put it this way: there’s a lot of candy coating going on out there.

Now, you will have to make regular price reductions throughout the Sale, but you’ve got to be smart about it. Don’t start too high (most people not in the know start too high including many professionals), but also be sure to not mark down too soon. That could cost you money.

There’s so much more to tell, but I’ll leave it at this: If you’re going to be closing a retail store, then your Store Closing Sale must be well planned. If you already have a website, then be sure the company you use to help you actually builds or integrates a lead generation page or site for you to help you quickly establish a hyper-targeted list of customers that you can market to for free during your Sale, and secondly, make sure you have someone to help you that is truly qualified with a mind for CURRENT marketing methods.

You can’t afford not to. Learn more about how to close a business here.

Effectively tapping the potential of barcode scanning can help retail outlets to better manage their resources. With the advantages of barcode scanning, like faster data capture, accuracy, and automatic identification, retail outlets can increase their operational efficiency, accuracy of inventory tracking and stock levels, workforce productivity, and provide better customer service. Also, barcode scanning ensures efficient point-of-sale management, faster customer checkout time, and better inventory controls.

Easy To Identify Faster and Slower Selling Products
Barcode scanning facilitates quick identification of faster selling products in the retail outlets. These faster selling goods can be immediately replenished to maintain adequate stock levels and meet the customer demand. Knowing about faster selling goods can help to reduce revenue loss due to out-of-stock product and provides a competitive advantage. Similar to fast selling goods, the slow selling goods can be easily identified by barcode scanning. This helps to maintain low-levels of such slow selling items, eliminate unwanted stock, and better manage inventory investment. Scanning barcodes can help monitor the display position of products thus allowing fast selling products to be placed in better locations in store.

Quickly Change Pricing Models
Selling the products at right price is crucial for any retail outlet to increase its profitability and bottom line margin. Barcode scanning provides crucial inputs in the form of buyer shopping pattern information that helps to better know the customers and their buying habits. This information can help retail outlets to quickly change pricing models to appropriately price products and ensure a healthy profit margin that covers the entire cost.

Provides Quick Information
Scanning barcodes ensure quick information gathering in real time that helps to increase the efficiency of business processes. As quick information is received, it facilitates timely and informed decision-making by the management. Retail outlets can ensure faster customer checkout time and better customer service as information is quickly processed at point-of-sale. Quick and accurate information about the products is received each time barcodes are scanned electronically.

Timely and Cost-Effective
Barcode scanning ensures retail outlets receive crucial information in a timely manner, which in turn facilitates faster decision-making by the staff at the counter itself. Also, the staff can provide better service to the customer. The management can make timely and informed decisions as crucial data is received at the end of the day. Barcode scanning is also a cost effective way to increases workforce productivity, efficiently manage data, and reduce labor and operational costs. Barcode scanning provides immediate access to inventory information that can be used to reduce excessive inventory levels and save costs.

Reduces Labor Costs
Barcode scanning ensures efficient data collection that reduces labor costs as barcodes eliminate the need for manual entry of data and automate the routine manual tasks. Barcode scanning can help save checker time that further reduces the need to have more employees. Thus labor cost is reduced as less time will be spent on miscellaneous activities. Barcode scanning provides many benefits like faster data capture, more accurate data, automatic product identification, reduced error rates, and elimination of manual entry of data.

The operations in the front-store, back-office, and warehouse sections of retail outlets can be significantly improved through barcode scanning processes. Barcode scanning can help retail outlets operate with better efficiency and reduce costs by ensuring better inventory control, better decision-making, faster customer check out time, automated reordering, and more.

Big-box stores are huge structures with equally-sized maintenance challenges. Each Wal-Mart or Target store that operates in nearly every town in the country has a team of maintenance crew with their hands full of maintenance challenges. With floor-to-ceiling merchandise and a mecca of shoppers filling up the facility every day, the difficulties mount up. A subset of maintenance issues that the crew has to tackle pertains to the facility’s commercial painting system.

Waterproofing the Retail Store

Perhaps the single most important issue that big-box stores have to deal with is water intrusion. The commercial painting system provides a line of waterproofing defense. If water enters the facility but not addressed and managed in time, waterproofing failure is inevitable with costly consequences.

Commercial painting contractors cannot ignore the potent power of water to bring damage to the facility. They understand how it travels outside and within the building and asses its diffusion and reaction to surrounding conditions. Since vapor always moves from humid inner areas to lower- humidity exteriors, they install commercial painting solutions that provide appropriate insulation and prevent condensation. When condensation occurs and wets surfaces over improperly coated or non-coated surfaces it can cause rust, corrosion, and contamination to the facility.,.

Waterproofing solutions for the superstore are often laid out early in construction. The commercial painting system installed at this time is very carefully designed to factor in the amount of water that will be present in freshly-poured and hardened concrete blocks. Cement slabs must be totally water-free prior to waterproofing installation.

Aesthetics for the Big-Box Store

Big box retail stores need commercial painting systems to provide the much-needed aesthetics and improve the look of the building. Time-driven deterioration can erode the building’s coating systems, making it lose its clean and beautiful appearance.

The coatings maintenance team often evaluates coatings products as to their performance when exposed to store-specific damage agents. They rely on the MSDS which is a product of laboratory testing done for the formulation. The tests expose the product to weather, UV, condensation, fog, corrosion and other elements, and assess the changes in paint texture, color, and glossiness.

Contractors are better informed in their coatings selection, accurately zeroing in on the best replacement for damaged coating systems. The new commercial painting system removes the peeled, chalked or blistered look of facility substrates, restoring appearance.

Retail Store Corrosion Problems

Retail stores are not spared corrosion-wrought damages and require corrosion protection like any regular building. Corrosion-resistant commercial painting systems should be installed and inspected regularly. The steel foundations are particularly vulnerable to corrosion. They can oxidize and deteriorate when unchecked. The progressing corrosion can undermine the structural integrity of the building and also make the building look unsightly.