Hope is not a Strategy
Change is not easy especially when it is forced on you. Every retailer now has a new story to tell and a new set of beliefs based on the past six months. This retail shakeup can be the best thing that ever happened if you develop the right strategy, make decisions based on the right data and go forward with confidence. Retailers can benefit from the advice of one of the best businessmen alive, Warren Buffet. His sage advice, when converted to retail, makes a lot of sense in these difficult times. Lesson 1: Now is the time to act! "Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy only when others are fearful."-- Warren Buffet
Fear is rampant because many retailers are confused about what actions are the right ones to take. There is less room for error now which means that being right is more critical than ever. When business is great and markets are growing, it is easy to get your store to grow with the others. Now is not the time to retrench or fail to act. Lesson 2: Correct your weakness. "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked." -- Warren Buffet Even if you were swimming naked before, you will survive if you correct your weaknesses, focus forward and take advantage of the new situation. Retailers cannot survive by not buying! You must buy the right goods and the right amounts. Our clients must increase margins and develop new strategies to keep the mix interesting and fresh. Retailers must change their cost structure and get creative with expenses and finances. While others are working harder at outmoded strategies, we are devising new ones based on the new shopper and the new retail world.
For example, a year ago the mantra in advertising was "You are worth it!" so customers over spent their budgets and conspicuous consumption fueled the retail world. Today the mantra is "It is worth it". The shift to thrift has many ramifications on the strategy of your business and your merchandise mix. Management One® affiliates focus on delivering value, added in new creative ways to drive business and sales. There is business to be done if you are the one willing to make the changes that make it happen.
Retailers must have the right inventory plan to survive since the largest expense in your business is your inventory. The first good decision you must make is to determine the right balance among the classifications in the store based on accurate projections of FUTURE customer demand. Our Winning@Retail™ process looks at a wide range of variables from your store’s performance in each classification, to the economy, current fashion trends, performance of bellwether stores, store location and a discussion with the store personnel to arrive at an accurate (>90% with Management One® plans) sales forecast for each classification for each month in the future. The biggest mistake retailers can make is to base the OTB on LY which comes from a different retail world!
The next important decision is how to flow the goods based on your cash situation, selling cycle and lead times. It is impossible to survive and thrive in this new environment without a robust approach that gives you the right budget every month. The Management One® Plan-on-Demand allows a client to get instantaneous status against the plan. Retailers are doomed if they are basing these critical decisions on last year’s performance. Lesson 3: Get the best data and analysis possible to predict the future. "If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians." -- Warren Buffet
Turning an accurate OTB and inventory plan into a good buy is more important than ever. The process of assortment planning to have the right merchandise flows from the right strategy. The decision whether to go narrow and deep or get a broad selection is also based on making good decisions based on good market information. Lesson 4: Don’t overbuy to cover a lack of data, analysis and information. "Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing." -- Warren Buffet
There are many other retail decisions and actions that must be coordinated and well conceived to be successful in this challenging environment. Our affiliates bring a new perspective, strategy and most important, an action plan to retailers willing to take advantage of the current situation. Marketing, training, leadership, management, financing and listening are all important to a successful relationship. Warren Buffet also covered the reason retail consultants exist. Lesson 5: A good consultant helps clients achieve success in any economic climate. "Profit from folly rather than participate in it." -- Warren Buffet
Evan Wise is a managing director for Management One Ltd. Management One is focused on the success of retailers covering all aspects of Management, Merchandise planning, Marketing and Financial guidance. With 49 affiliates located in the U.S., Ireland and the U.K. they cover a broad spectrum of retail trends and issues. They can be reached at www.management-one.com or 866-802-7689.
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IIAS The Easy Way
CAM Pharmacy Point of Sale software automates the store operations of the independent pharmacy. Through its integration with many leading pharmacy dispensing systems, the CAMPOS software offers pharmacies a complete solution when automating a store. With the addition of IIAS support and SIGIS certification, the CAMPOS Pharmacy software allows pharmacies to accept FSA (Flexible Spending Account) cards. Recent IRS regulations require pharmacies to employ point of sale systems that comply with IIAS (Inventory Information Approval System) if they wish to continue accepting FSA cards as forms of payment.
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New Reporting Options and enhanced report features in Retail STAR 8.0!
- Monthly Activity Report Grid
- Case Report
- Daily Summary Report
- Tender Report
- Inventory Activity Matrix
- Improved the Speed
- Decreased font size and compressed format to allow up to 30 sizes on a page
- Transaction History Report
- Added ability to report on not only the "from store" for transfer reporting but added the option to filter on the "to store" as well.
- Added Department to all Report Types.
- Includes freight, duty and other with the Receiving reports.
- Added packing slip to the receiving report.
- Added Retail to the receiving report.
Register Summary Report
In previous versions, a gift certificate was entered as a sale, and redeeming it was considered a negative balance. The gift certificate is now considered an escheatment item and is its own separate entity. You can run the Register Summary, Credit Memo/Gift Certificate, and Sales Audit reports to get your gift certificate information.
Also, the Register Balance Report has a new field named Liabilities Issued. This field accounts for gift certificate units sold as well as the amounts sold for. Along with this is a column for Remaining Deposits for Store, which includes totals of all active receipts (layaways, special orders, gift certificates, etc.) attached to your customers.
Coming soon to an area near you...CAM Training! See the latest features and enhancements to Retail STAR and learn about items you may not be using. To attend one of our future sessions, please email Dianne.mcgee@camcommerce.com.
Check out our latest customers to add an eCommerce site – gain new customers from an eCommerce site and offer your current customers another unique shopping experience!
