Well it seems that not a lot of resale shopkeepers were thrilled with their business balance sheets in 2016.
Posts Tagged ‘success’
Make 2017 leave 2016 in the dust!
Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Shopkeeping talk, tagged resale shopkeeping, success on January 12, 2017|
I just adore it when I’m proven right.
Posted in Kudos: Ideas to inspire!, Shopkeeping talk, tagged advertising, holidays, resale shopkeeping, small business, success on December 29, 2016| 1 Comment »
I just got off the phone with a consultee whose December business was up 30% over last year. Why? Maybe because …
she FINALLY took my suggestion of hand-written thank-you notes
She’d had this suggestion on her to-do list for literally years. When she finally sat down to do it, she took a whole year’s worth of contacts and hand-wrote Christmas cards to each.
Think that there was any correlation between customers feeling cosseted, and customers coming in to the shop in December?
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If you’re in a similar fix and need to thank dozens of great customers from the last 12 months,
New Year’s cards work too!
Go buy some, pull out your best customers’ report or email list, and go for it!
Can’t find New Year’s cards? Try a blank card that says Thank You on its front, and inside write
We want to take the time to thank you for a wonderful 2016 at [Myshop] and to wish you all the best for 2017.
Yours,
(signed with your full name, and shop name if you wish)
(Be sure to tuck your business card in, so there’s no doubt in her mind who you are!)
Now, doing thank-you’s all at once can be daunting (ask any bride.) But for a shopkeeper who’s fallen behind in her daily/ weekly sessions, a holiday’s the perfect “excuse” for sending them long after the customer’s visit, isn’t it?
Extra-credit Reading
Find this idea useful? Learn more:
The Importance of “Thank You” to your wallet.
Want to write notes, but don’t know what to say? Read You Can Do It.
The Bag Sale That Isn’t.
Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged customers, markdowns, Products for the Professional Resaler, resale shopkeeping, success on November 29, 2016| 5 Comments »
A while back, I got an email from a resale shop that intrigued me. It read:
Stuff a Bag!
10 for $25
Bring a bag,
choose 10 select items and pay only
$25
that’s $2.50 an item
blouses, tops, sweaters, cardigans, pants, shoes
(must choose at least 5 items to receive this price)
(anything less will be at regular sale price)
Notice what she’s doing? Making a “bag sale”… that type of sale that really pulls in the bargain-hunters… but actually limiting the deal to 10 items at $2.50 each. That’s better, for your bottom line, than 14 or 18 or 22 items for $25, isn’t it? But it sounds just as tempting to your audience.
With this structure, there’s no deciding what size of bag to give them. They bring their own (which is actually the only part of this “bag” sale that has anything to do with “bag sale”.) And no “your bag is too stuffed” or “It is not!” discussions. Or “roll it up tighter, honey” or “I only want these 3 items, not a whole bagful.”
I think this is a brilliant way to have a clearance of “10 items for $25”, or having a $2.50 rack. Much more eye-catching and fun-sounding. Heck, you don’t even have to pay for bags!
Could 
you use some fresh clearance/ sale ideas in your shop? Check out Bag Sale$, Dollar Rack$ & BOGO Deal$, a Too Good to be Threw Product for the Professional Resaler.
Thanks to Full Figure Fashions for this idea.
PS The reason I’m posting this idea today? I browsed through a sidewalk rack at a consignment shop this afternoon, where the tags had ALL the prices completely blacked out. When I went inside, I had to ask whether the stuff on that rack was free. She snorted and said “there’s a sign on either end of the rack”… but she didn’t get up off her stool to see what my problem was. As I left, I saw that yes, indeed there were 2 3-inch-by-3-inch signs taped on the rack… facing the wall, not the customers.
Gifting Local: Buy your Shop a Gift or 2…
Posted in My Favorite Things, Really good ideas, Shopkeeping talk, tagged christmas, holidays, resale shopkeeping, success on November 22, 2016|
Are you like me? Whenever I go out gift shopping, I’m like
“One for you, one for me…”
Well, I’m here to tell you that’s okay. IF the “one for me” is actually “one for my shop.”
In fact, it’s SO okay by me, that i have a gift suggestion list just for professional resalers. I think any… or all… of these gifts will make for a much happier and more effective shop, so go ahead, stuff Santa’s sack! (more…)
Cheapest Black Friday Promo EVER
Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged advertising, christmas, holidays, resale shopkeeping, success on November 17, 2016| 2 Comments »
Okay, so you’re up against the Big Guys. Everyone’s out to grab shoppers on the Black Friday, Shop Small Saturday, Cyber Monday (why doesn’t that Sunday gets its own moniker? Dunno.)
So what can your little shop do to get shoppers into YOUR place?
How about something that’s readily available (it’s always a challenge (more…)
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