David Brown

By The Numbers: December Not Quite as Bad

Published

13 years ago

March 1, 2009

David Brown Instore March 2009 Issue

By The Numbers: December Not Quite as Bad

THE BAD NEWS: December’s numbers were dismal. The good news? The percentage drop was less than in November. Interestingly, the average store sold 48 more items in December compared with the same month in 2007. However they reduced their average retail value by such a degree ($99, or 28 percent) that gross profit was slammed. Such a strategy is not sustainable. You have to get back to selling at full price. That could mean eliminating some vendors and focusing on serving your best customers by doing things such as throwing invitation-only private events. Cutting costs will also boost your margin.

This story is from the March 2009 edition of INSTORE.

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David Brown

David Brown is the President of The Edge Retail Academy (sister company of The Edge), who provide expert consulting services to help with all facets of your business including inventory management, staffing, sales techniques, financial growth and retirement planning...All custom-tailored to your store’s needs. By utilizing the power of The Edge, we analyze major Key Performance Indicators that point to your store’s current challenges and future opportunities. Edge Pulse is the ideal add-on to the Edge, to better understand critical sales and inventory data to improve business profitability. It benchmarks your store against 1100+ other Edge Users and ensures you stay on top of market trends. 877-569-8657, Ext. 001 or [email protected] or www.EdgeRetailAcademy.com

When Sales Beat Projections, You Know Wilkerson Did Its Job

There are no crystal balls when it comes to sales projections. But when Thomasville, Georgia jeweler Fran Lewis chose Wilkerson to run the retirement/going-out-of-business sale for Lewis Jewelers and More, she was pleasantly surprised to learn that even Wilkerson could one-up its own sales numbers. “Not only did we meet our goal, but we exceeded the goal that Wilkerson had given us by about 134%,” she says. After more than 40 years in the business, Lewis says she decided a few years ago to “move towards retirement.” And she was impressed by Wilkerson’s tenure in the industry. Overall, she’d recommend the company to anyone else who may be thinking it’s time to hang up their loupe. “As a full package, they’ve done a very good job and I’d definitely recommend Wilkerson.”