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Retail Is Detail: Things To Consider When Opening A New Store

Retail Is Detail: Things To Consider When Opening A New Store

As the saying goes; ‘retail is detail.’ If you want to be successful within your retail business; you are going to have to be on top of every aspect of trade. You will need to consider everything from day one. Not planning for every eventuality means that you won’t be prepared. And a lack of preparation can be costly!

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So, if you are considering setting up shop for the first time; here are a few examples of the types of things you need to consider from day one.


The Cost Of The Shop Fit

You’ve got a great concept. You have the stock range, and know you are going to display it- perhaps you’ve looked into digital window displays from Display-Screens.com. You know the type of people that you want to work in your store in order to get the brand image you want. You know where you want the store to be, and you even have a picture in your mind of the types of customer that you want to attract.

Now you need to find the right unit and get it set up.

You might have set aside a figure for the fit. If you have budgeted it properly, you will have also included a contingency for when the work inevitably goes over the estimated price. But there are a lot of things to consider with a store fit. The lighting, the cost of painting, you may need heavy contract carpet as regular carpets are not designed for the kind of footfall you need. You will need signage making, a wiring install test as well as sprinklers and fire alarms fitting or servicing.

Before you sign off on your shop fit budget, make sure that you have listed every little thing you will need, and have a clear idea of the costings for each item.

A Strategy for Bringing in Your First Customers

Of course, with a retail store, you expect passing trade to generate your first visitors and customers. But it can sometimes take more than that. A strong social media strategy and an engaged online audience can generate visits and purchases from your store. Create a following organically and show off your store on image-centric platforms such as Instagram. You can then complement this with a strategy from Facebook Ads agency and start making people aware of your store’s existence.

The Layout

How will your customers browse your store?  You might understand that they will be drawn in by one product but leave with an entirely different one. How you lay your store out will determine what drags a passer-by inside your shop. But fundamentally, you need to ensure that you are directing them to the products that you have committed heavily to and which have the most robust margins. Understand which products are beneficial to you.  It is all well and good selling expensive items that don’t make you much, but sometimes far better to sell lots of smaller things that are predominantly profit.

Stock Loss

You have bought your stock. It’s impressive, and you have everything that you wanted. But you know that it will sell well. Don’t forget, when it comes to setting prices to factor stock loss into your costs. You may get items stolen or damaged by customers. Occasionally things get damaged in transit or are faulty when they arrive to you. If you have bought your stock from an overseas supplier, you may not have a returns agreement as it would not be cost effective for you to send it back to them. You may need to use a certain amount of your stock for merchandising or demonstration purposes. You may also end up giving stock away as prizes or freebies for marketing purposes. If it is slow moving, you may decide to reduce the remaining stock. Again, this affects your bottom line. Be sure and allow for these things and work out your profits accordingly.

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