Categories: David Brown

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.

David Brown

David Brown is the president of Edge Retail Academy, a leading jewelry business consulting and data aggregation firm that provides expert business improvement plans to help with all facets of your business, including improved financials, healthier inventory, sales growth, increased staff performance, recruiting and retirement/succession planning, all custom-tailored to your store’s needs. They offer Edge Pulse to better understand critical sales and inventory data, to improve business profitability, benchmark your store against 1,200-plus other Edge Users, and ensure you stay on top of market trends with their $3 billion-plus of industry sales data. Contact (877) 569.8657, ext. 001, Inquiries@EdgeRetailAcademy.com or EdgeRetailAcademy.com.