Post on 29-Nov-2014
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So, you want to run a convenience store
Peter Lamb
Copyright 2012 by Peter Lamb
Smashwords Edition
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Introduction
We run a successful Convenience Store and Farm Shop in a small village in East Sussex, United Kingdom.
Although the village boasts a population of just 300, we have been able to build a business from scratch and generate gross profits in excess of 35% in under 2 years.
When starting out, I wished I had a “how to” guide to ensure success. Nothing was around so we dived in and made our share of mistakes along with many successes and it is these successful elements that this book will address.
Not everything in this book will be relevant to your business but if you follow our advice for what is, the contents of these pages will turn into retail gold for you.
We wish you every success in growing your business.
Table of Contents
* Our Shop Details
* Do’s
* Don’ts
* Differentiation to ensure success
* Services
* Marketing
* Work/Life Balance
Chapter 1
Our Shop Details
36 Broomfield Road, Bells Yew Green, East Sussex, TN3 9AF, United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 1892 752 093
Email: lambslarder@hotmail.com
Web: http://lambslarder.co.uk
Twitter: @lambslarder
Facebook: Search Lambslarder
Chapter 2
Do’s
Procedures
If you want to run a true business rather than just have a job, you MUST have procedures to ensure that your business runs the same way every time regardless of whether you are in attendance or not. Your business cannot survive if it is reliant on you as an individual.
Although writing procedures is tedious, it was one of the first things I did even before opening for business. It ensures that all aspects of the business are taken care of in an ordered and routine fashion. It also ensures that all staff members do what is required regardless of who is working.
A side benefit of writing procedures is that it makes you think about every aspect of your business and how it must work.
We have procedures for most things from opening the shop in the morning to closing the shop at night. Ordering stock, cleaning, health and safety, you name it. All of us must tick off the daily tasks and sign the sheet each day to prove we have done what is required.
Do’s
Procedures
This also makes each individual responsible and accountable for their job.
By having simple procedures for all aspects of the business, we ensure that staff training is fast and efficient and nothing is left to interpretation.
Procedures provide consistency of experience for the customer also and I will touch on the importance of that in a later section.
On the following page is an example of our shop closing procedure which will give you some insight into how we utilize this most important of business tools.
Do’s
Procedures
Shop Closing Procedure (Must be Signed by Staff Member)
* Check Coffee Machine water level
* Check Coffee Machine ingredients levels
* Clean Coffee Machine – including Drip Tray
* Empty bins and replace liners
* Sweep Floor
* Empty Vacuum Cleaner
* Vacuum Carpet (Or Sweep)
* Clean Food Warmer
* Discard out of date Muffins and Pastries
* Clean containers & tongs
* Newspaper and Magazine returns
* Clean Kitchen and Toilet
* Mop Floor
* Put Fruit & Vegetables in fridges
* Discard Bakery bread that is more than 1 day old
* Check confectionary levels
* Order fresh fruit and vegetables
* Set AC Timers if required
* Turn off illuminated Open Sign
* Turn Off all Fridge Lights including Beer Fridge
* Close all Blinds
* Turn door Open Sign to Closed
* Place forecourt display produce inside Shop
* Place Tables, Chairs and Umbrellas in Shed
* Bring in A Boards
* Run Sales Summary report and Close off Till
* Put Till Drawer and Cash in Safe
* Shut Down Computer
* Close down Cash Machine for the day
* Put printouts in safe
* Put Phone on Charger
* Refill Cash Machine and set for new day
* Shut Cigarette display
* Turn off Advertising Screen
* Call Megan/Peter with Days Take
* Set Alarm & Lock Shop
___________________________________________
Signed Date
Do’s
Uniforms
We choose to wear uniforms in our shop for a number of reasons including:
* It enables the customer to identify shop staff
* It gives the customer a consistent visitor experience
* It ensures all staff are dressed appropriately for work
Uniforms in the form of summer polo shirts and winter fleeces are provided to the staff free of charge. It is their responsibility to keep them clean and maintained.
Do’s
Shop Appearance
By this we mean the type of image you are trying to project, this can be a modern, clean, well lit shop floor like ours or it could be an older quirky style that has just as much merit. Whatever the style you set for your shop, make sure it is consistent. People like to know what to expect when they visit you.
Another point of note is to make the exterior cleanliness of your shop a top priority, nothing says the owner has lost his enthusiasm for his business like dirty windows and pavements with cigarette butts all over them.
Our Shop Interior with Coffee Machine Front and Centre
Do’s
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
This could have gone in as a shop differentiator.
It is vitally important that fresh fruit and vegetables become one of your mainstays.
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables have the following benefits:
* They add colour to your store
* They are cheap to stock
* They make your store look clean and fresh
* They give people a reason to shop with you
It is vitally important to ensure that your Fruit and Vegetables are always fresh, check them twice a day and do not be afraid to throw away anything you would not buy yourself. If you would not be prepared to buy it, why expect someone else to.
It may seem like a lot of wastage initially but as your reputation for fresh produce grows, your sales will also grow and less wastage will follow.
Do’s
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
Keeping Fruit and Vegetables fresh as long as possible is a challenge, particularly in warmer climates. We dedicate an entire display fridge to the task.
Done properly, Fruit and Vegetable displays can be one of the most attractive elements of your store and a real customer acquisition and retention tool.
Fruit and Vegetables add colour to a store
Do’s
Community Involvement
Your local community is your lifeblood and as such you need to treat it with the respect it deserves and get involved with it. Custom will increase dramatically if you are an active member of your community.
Join community groups, participate in local activities, donate your time and experience where appropriate and generally become an integral part of your local community.
Your shop needs to be the focal point for your community and you need to be seen to be contributing.
Our Village
Do’s
Local Produce and Products
People love locally produced produce and products and they are prepared to pay a premium for them. We have 24 local suppliers at our shop from within a radius of 12 miles and this number is growing.
Local products produce goodwill in 4 ways:
It shows the locals you are prepared to invest with the people they care about
The people you buy from in the local community will talk about your shop
Suppliers will recommend you to others
Word of mouth is still the best form of marketing ever invented
Sales margins on local products are usually higher than commercial goods and the sale price of local products is usually higher so the margin applied produces more profit for your store.
Do’s
Local Produce and Products
Local products can be almost anything, some of what we stock are:
* Toffee Vodka
* Greeting Cards
* Firewood
* Beers and Ales
* Wine
* Ice Cream
* Storage Boxes
* Cakes
* Honey
* Free Range Eggs
* Bakery Bread
* Local Dairy Milk
Do’s
Long Opening Hours
This could be considered one of the few downsides to running a successful Convenience Store but to be successful, you must open 7 days a week and remain open for at least 12 hours a day.
The whole idea of a Convenience Store is one of convenience, in other words, easily accessible with a wide range of goods your customers expect and open when they need you. To be convenient and to capitalize on your investment, you need to be open when the supermarkets are not.
In our case we open from 6am to 8pm weekdays and 8am to 8pm weekends. The only day we do not open is Christmas day.
Even though sales patterns form within your business over time, you never know when a large group of sales may occur. You may be having an ordinary day by 6pm and then double or triple your day’s turnover by 8pm, it is simply a matter of being open when people need you.
Do’s
Long Opening Hours
To open long hours obviously requires additional staff and the cost of this needs to be factored into your plans.
The other important thing to note here is:
“If you advertise your opening hours, ensure you are always open during those hours, your customers will come to rely on it”
Do’s
Customer Interaction
Make friends with your customers and once you know them, always ask them how they are, what is happening with their lives and families etc.
Even complete strangers will be more than happy to interact with you if you strike up a conversation. The weather (particularly in the UK) is always a good starting point, it is the one thing we all share and all have an opinion on.
NEVER ignore your customer for a phone call, it sends a terrible message that whoever is on the phone is more important than the person your serving. The customer must be of paramount importance, not to mention speaking on the phone whilst serving is simply rude.
The better you get to know your customers and the better they get to know you will pay dividends time and again in customer loyalty and make your working day a much more pleasant experience.
A good relation with your customers is also very good for security.
Do’s
Customer Experience
Along with providing a friendly face and happy environment for your customer, ensure that the basics like Newspapers, Milk, Bread etc are always in the same part of the store.
People like to know what to expect when they visit you, it gives them comfort and studies show this drives sales. I call this the McDonalds effect, no matter where you go in the world, McDonalds is the same, it sells the same food, it is always clean, they always has a clean useable toilet and it is good value for money. It is a key point of their success, sameness.
Why do you think millions of tourists choose McDonalds over other establishments, it’s not the price or the food, it is the comfort factor of knowing what to expect.
Do’s
Customer Experience
You can mimic McDonald’s success by providing your customers an experience they can expect every time they visit you. Some of the things that help do this are:
* Always be cheerful
* Wear uniforms
* Keep the store clean and uncluttered
* Keep the basics in the same part of the store
* Keep the outside of your store clean and tidy
* Give the customer the same experience each time
Customers will always choose you over a competitor if they feel comfortable and appreciated.
Where possible refer to people by their first name, it shows you pay attention and that they are important to you. I would certainly prefer to walk into a shop with the greeting “Good Morning Peter” as opposed to just “Good Morning”.
Do’s
Offers
Offers or Specials are a great way to attract new customers and keep existing customers coming back. The easiest way to create a great offer is to look at what stock is nearing its best before date and mark it down to cost. You will be amazed how stock that did not move all of a sudden walks out the door.
Of course you do not make any profit on those items but it is better than tossing the lot in the bin when they expire and it creates a great deal of good will. You will soon have people visiting you in expectation that a great offer may be available.
Most people will also purchase other items along with your offer item so increased sales are also a good by product.
Another way to create unique offers is to look on Ebay for cheap bulk lots and if appropriate purchase them and offer them for a small margin. Always choose non-perishable items like light bulbs, buckets, mops, toys etc. That way you can store what is not sold and offer it again at a later date.
Do’s
Cigarettes
Tobacco is an interesting subject given the force of opinion forming against smoking. The fact remains however that a huge portion of the population smoke and are not about to give it up so if you do not sell cigarettes and other tobacco products you are losing thousands of pounds/dollars each year.
Selling cigarettes is a very low margin game and the industry thinking is that you need to make as little as 4% on smokes to attract people to your store. These people in theory will then purchase other items to enhance the sale. Our experience is that this is not necessarily the case, many people purchase cigarettes and nothing else so a sale with just 4% margin hardly justifies the cost of stocking the cigarettes in the first place. And, if they pay with a card, you can actually lose money.
Not everyone who smokes only buys cigarettes however, so you must stock them or risk losing a valuable customer.
Do’s
Cigarettes
So, what is the answer?
In our case, we mark tobacco products up by 10% so even though our cigarettes are slightly more expensive than other stores, we still provide the service without as big a cost overhead.
When it comes to cigarettes, it is also important to stock as many brands as possible so that a first time customer gets what they want from your store and does not feel they need to go elsewhere next time. This can be hugely expensive in that carrying large amounts of the less popular brands is dead money. The answer is simple, just have 1 or 2 packets on the shelf of the less popular brands and replace them as and when needed. That way, you appear to have all of the choice but your cash flow is protected.
Do’s
Cigarettes
An up and coming alternative to Cigarettes is the Electronic Cigarette and I recommend stocking them. They offer the retailer 30% margin as opposed to the industry standard 4 or 5%. They are also a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes so you make more profit whilst helping your customers back to good health. A classic Win/Win situation.
We stock Intellicig Electric Cigarettes
Do’s
Bakery Bread and Dairy Milk
If you try to compete with the major supermarkets for the basics, you will lose. When it comes to bread and milk, we choose to stock local bakery products and local dairy milk. This does 3 things:
* It differentiates us from the big players
* It enables us to supply a higher quality product
* It supports the local community
Bakery Bread in particular is much sought after as it is fresh daily and a huge variety of breads are available. We even take orders for old fashioned breads like Spelt Bread.
We have built a reputation for quality bread and people travel here just to buy it. Whilst in the store they usually purchase other items as well, so bread can become a great sales tool.
Do’s
Bakery Bread and Dairy Milk
You will never compete on the price of milk with the supermarkets so having local dairy milk again provides a point of differentiation and the customers can see it delivered fresh daily so they know where it comes from and are prepared to pay a little extra to support their local community.
Spelt Bread
Do’s
Unique Lines
Another way to increase your loyal customer base is to offer unique product lines that cater to a small but growing part of the population.
These include things like:
* Gluten Free Pasta
* Other gluten and Wheat Free products
* Soya Milk
* Oat Milk
* Diabetic Ice Cream
* Sugar Free Products (Soft Drinks etc)
* Caffeine Free products (Coffee, Tea, Soft Drinks)
It is surprising just how many people use these products and if you stock them regularly, you will have repeat customers for life.
Do’s
Unique Lines
A short tale that is interesting in that we gained a loyal customer in a very simple way. A customer was lamenting the fact that the big stores no longer stocked small jars of Boveril and he was forced to buy more than he needed.
We promised to stock the small jars even though no-one had ever asked for them before and since doing so, he returns week on week not just for Boveril but other lines as well. It is a good example of providing what the customer wants and treating them as a special case.
Don’t be afraid to ask people what they want you to stock, it is amazing the good will you get by listening to their wants and needs and then following through on provision of those items.
Doves Farm Gluten Free Pasta
Do’s
Well Stocked Shelves
This sounds like a bit of a no-brainer but a shop bursting with stock is far more appealing than one where the shelves are half empty. Sparsely stocked shelves send a message that the shop is not doing well and that tends to be self-fulfilling.
Shops full of stock encourage the customer to browse and investigate and possibly purchase more than they intended. It also says, “We probably have what you want so there is no need to go elsewhere”
Keeping your shelves full can be expensive so one way to create an appearance of large stock levels is to fill some shelves with non-perishable items like toys and stationary. Although these are slow moving items, it is better to have a full shelf of slow movers than an empty shelf.
This is again where fruit and vegetables came in, they are cheap to stock, take up space and look fantastic. They create freshness for your store that will stay in the customers mind. (As long as you ensure it is always fresh)
Do’s
Well Stocked Shelves
Another way to create an appearance of high stock levels is to move items that you have a lot of to the edge of the shelves and items you have few of to the middle so that when a customer looks down a line of shelves they see full rows.
If you stock alcohol, take the beer out of the boxes and set up shelf displays, it is colourful and attractive.
Well Stocked Shelves help sell more products
Do’s
High Margin Items
It is always good if you can find a product that is both popular and high margin, in our case it is Coffee and Hot Food in the form of Pies, Pasties and Sausage Rolls.
I cannot recommend highly enough offering quality bean to cup coffee in your store. We have a Tchibo machine that makes as good a coffee as you will find anywhere and we sell approximately 50 cups a day. Our machine is fully automated and the customers serve themselves, which they all like. Coffee can offer you margins in excess of 300% so it does not take too long for it to start paying for itself.
We also offer local residents and regulars coffee for 50% less than other customers and this creates much goodwill. In addition to the 50% discount, we often give regulars free coffee which has a high perceived value but is not too costly for us. So it is a great low cost way to generate mountains of good will.
Do’s
High Margin Items
Coffee also smells great and many people comment on the lovely smell as they enter the store.
If you ever wondered whether coffee loyalty cards work, they do. We offer a card with every 7th cup free and almost everyone uses it.
In the colder months we have a food warmer to provide hot Pies, Pasties, Slices and Sausage Rolls. This is incredibly popular amongst builders and the like and also provides high margins. Sometimes in the order of 100% plus.
Our Coffee Loyalty Card
Do’s
Sale or Return
Cash Flow is the killer of most businesses, not just convenience stores so if you can source goods on a sale or return basis, it both protects your vital cash flow and enables you to stock your shop more effectively.
Sale or return simply means the supplier provides you with stock and you only pay for what you sell. The risk is carried by the supplier, not you.
In our case we have secured sale or return arrangements for:
* Fresh Sandwiches Daily
* Deli Items including hams, salamis, cheeses etc
* Greeting Cards
* Storage Boxes
My advice is to source as many sale or return suppliers as you can but be careful to check their invoice each week as some try to sneak through extras.
Do’s
Clean Often
I may sound obsessed with this but I cannot stress enough the importance of how your shop looks. Dusty shelves with dusty stock send the message that your stock is old and not selling. As a customer, why would I buy something that has obviously been sitting there for weeks or even months?
If floors become marked, mop them; keep your shop floor looking the best it can. Our customers constantly comment on how clean and modern our shop looks. This has obviously had a positive impact on them.
Chapter 3
Don’ts
Over Stocking
Keeping a stock room full of stock is costing you money. Stock rooms are full of stock the suppliers convince you to buy so it is not on their shelves.
We have a motto, “the shop is the stock”. We only keep fast moving products like soft drinks and crisps in the stock room, other than that, all of our stock is on display.
It may be more time consuming to be constantly restocking the shop floor shelves but it protects your cash flow and ensures you do not over stock.
A side benefit of only stocking to the shops capacity is that there is little or no wastage and less opportunity for products to go out of date before being sold.
Don’ts
Challenge Returns
If a customer returns a product for any reason whatsoever, take it back and refund their money with a smile. A courteous approach to returns will generate good will and give the customer a reason to shop with you again.
Arguing with the customer will have the opposite effect, they will bad mouth you to everyone they know and that can have a snowball effect that could dramatically affect your business.
The cost of the refund has to weighed up against the greater cost of not refunding. If the message is not clear yet, running a convenience store is all about good will. You must do everything in your power to generate it and then keep it.
Don’ts
Don’t only buy from a limited supplier group
Most suppliers (Cash and Carry in particular) will woo you to try and get you to buy exclusively from them. (We were given a 42” Plasma for instance). This is a mistake a lot of shops make.
Although the easy option is to shop with a limited group of suppliers who deliver, it is not the most cost effective. I am not advocating dumping any supplier; I am simply saying that you need to constantly keep an eye out for deals.
Often it is cheaper to purchase some products directly from the major supermarkets when they are running promotions. There are plenty of instances where the price they sell a product for is less than you can buy it wholesale. In these circumstances, buy from them, sell at your normal retail price and increase your margin.
The customer is not disadvantaged in any way and although it is time consuming, it will save you thousands over a year.
Don’ts
Don’t only buy from a limited supplier group
Another place to look for deals is Ebay, particularly for non-perishable items. Again, it is often cheaper to shop on Ebay than the Cash and Carry even after shipping is included.
The rule of thumb here is, look for deals, and don’t take the lazy option when it comes to stocking your store.
Be on constant lookout for the best deals
Chapter 4
Differentiators
Fresh Meat and Seafood
Two things people are shocked to find in our store are fresh meat and seafood and these two product lines sell really well. Our goal was to give people an option away from the major chains and as such we had to stock what people want to buy.
Our seafood is all frozen so has a 9 month shelf life which gives us the luxury of being able to stock a good selection including:
* Tiger Shrimp & Prawns
* Barramundi
* Tuna Steaks
* Swordfish Steaks
* Smoked Salmon
Differentiators
Fresh Meat and Seafood
We source fresh meat from a local butcher weekly and ensure that there is always a fresh meat option in the refrigerator. As the use by date nears, we freeze any unsold stock so people can still purchase it for a further 9 months.
Our fresh meats include:
* Lamb Chops
* Pork Chops
* Steaks
* Joints
* Chicken Breast
* Whole Chickens
* Minced Beef
We also take special orders and deliver within 24 hours. All in all, we are offering a service the supermarkets cannot compete with.
Differentiators
Ready Meals
Supply of frozen ready meals may not be for everyone but in today’s fast paced world, there is an increasing demand for quality prepared meals. We started with one freezer dedicated to ready meals and this has now grown to 3.
Evidence enough in my opinion of the acceptance of this form of eating.
The trick with ready meals is “quality”, source a supplier that provides a diverse range of meals that are of the highest quality. I am afraid the mass produced Name Brand meals will not cut it.
Quality Ready Meals are expensive but good and it proves that when it comes to food, people are prepared to pay for quality.
The popularity of these meals has come as a bit of a surprise to us and coupled with the additional wine and vegetable sales the meals generate, it is now a focus for our shop.
Differentiators
Bike Rack
If you have a space at the front of your shop, provide a bike rack for cyclists. We recently installed one and it is regularly used. Most cyclists are aware of it through word of mouth.
Dog Tie Up Area and Water Bowl
Provide a ring attached to an exterior wall where owners can tether their dogs whilst they shop. Provide a clean water bowl for the dog and the good will generated will be bankable.
Differentiators
Seating Area
We are fortunate in that we have space at the front of our shop for tables and chairs. This is heavily used during the spring and summer by people drinking our coffee and eating our selection of pastries, cakes and sandwiches.
If you have the space, provide seating, often people will return several times for additional purchases. This would not occur without the seating.
Internally we have little free space so to capture this traffic in the colder months we installed a bench across the window with bar stools. Whilst not as popular as the outside seating, it gets used regularly and also results in additional sales usually of high margin items.
Differentiators
Fresh Coffee
Offer Fresh Coffee!
Fresh coffee drives customers to your door, the smell accompanied by good pricing and loyalty cards makes it hard to ignore from a customer’s point of view.
Make the coffee a focus point of your shop, do not hide it around the back. Coffee is an impulse buy and it also generates additional sales in the form of Donuts, Cakes and Pastries (All high margin items).
Our coffee machine is at the entrance, the aroma wafts from our door onto the sidewalk enticing people in.
A selling point for our coffee given that it is a machine made is that as a great cup, it is identical every time. Human made coffee is reliant upon the skill of the Barista so when you get a coffee from us, not only is it great, it will be great every time.
Differentiators
Free Notice Board
Many shops either do not have a community notice board or charge people to place messages on it. We believe this is counter-productive to customer acquisition. By offering a community notice board for free, we generate the following benefits:
* It’s always full which looks great
* Because its full, it get read
* People are grateful for the service
* They often purchase something in return
* It generates good word of mouth
* It is a community service
Everyone has spare wall space, install a Free Notice Board and reap the benefits of further good will.
Differentiators
Free Cash Machine
Most cash machines charge a transaction fee to the user which is then split between the cash machine provider and the store owner. If you ask, you can get a cash machine that is fee-free to the user. Why would you do this I hear you ask? Reasons are:
* A free service encourages new people into the shop
* A machine with a fee creates bad will
* Cash through the machine is not subject to bank fees
* It also reduces the amount bank visits required
Whilst you do not make any money on the transaction itself, you get more customers and save on bank fees which is reason enough to go fee-free
Differentiators
Wine and Ales
Differentiate your shop through your selection of wines and Ales. We have made wine a focus of our store and we source our premium wine range directly from the vineyard in France. This enabled us to be the only retail outlet for La Tour De Chollet in Southeast England.
This wine is particularly good and as a result, those that like it must buy it from us. We sell large quantities of wine and La Tour De Chollet in particular.
We have a policy in the shop that wherever possible, we source goods from within a 12 mile radius and although La Tour De Chollet is produced in Bordeaux France, the family that runs the vineyard were born and bred 10 miles from our shop. This is a good talking point when first introducing customers to the wine.
By stocking wines that the supermarkets do not, we further differentiate ourselves and we carry wine to suit every taste and budget.
Differentiators
Wine and Ales
With Ales, in the UK we are blessed with numerous quality Micro-Breweries so selecting one or more quality local Ales and Beers is not difficult. Make your selection and market the fact that you are supporting local brewers to your customers. Watch your beer sales grow as people love to try new flavours. This is also a great way to differentiate your shop from the supermarkets that tend to only carry the big commercial brands.
Differentiators
Free Internet Terminal
You most likely already have wireless internet at your shop. If so, why not set up a cheap laptop as a free internet terminal. It encourages people to spend time in your store and almost without fail, they will purchase coffee and a snack to eat whilst they surf. You can even stipulate “Free Internet Usage with any hot drink”
Differentiators
Gift Certificates
Offer gift certificates for sale.
The benefits are:
* Cash Flow, you get the money up front
* New customers and greater awareness of your store
* Increased sales
* Most certificate presenters over spend
* Free Money (30% of gift certificates are never presented)
For gift certificates to work, you need to have a wide range of goods and services on offer. It is better to have a large and diverse range with only a few of each item than a small range that is over stocked.
Chapter 5
Services
Dry Cleaning
If you do not do it already, get yourself a Dry Cleaning Agency, it is a great way to generate more profits without any outlay on your part. You simply get paid to collect and distribute dry cleaning. We have an dry cleaner and shoe repairer that collects and delivers from us every Tuesday and Friday and we do a roaring trade. We charge the customer on collection and make a margin each time.
This is a great community service and one of the easiest ways we know to make additional profit.
Services
Home Delivery
Offer a home delivery service. This may sound like a lot of work and difficult to manage in a busy day but it needn’t be. We offer home delivery on the basis that we only deliver in the evening on our way home. This has 2 advantages:
* You are on your way home anyway
* Your customers are guaranteed to be home
We get a surprising amount of home deliveries, particularly to elderly people and the orders can be quite substantial so ignoring this income stream is not advised.
Services
Drop Shop
Offer a FREE service for parcel collection and see sales grow. We offer a free Drop Shop service whereby local residents can put the shop down as the delivery address for online orders etc.
In this way, we take delivery of their goods whilst they are at work and they collect them in the evening on the way home.
This saves them a trip to the mail collection centre. This is a hugely popular service for us and almost everyone that uses it, purchases something upon collection.
More good will is generated for the shop.
Chapter 6
Marketing
Web Site (See ours Here)
On-going marketing is the lifeblood of your shop and having a quality web site is an essential part of that marketing. Use your web site to show your customers around the store, present them with special offers, give them some insight into yourselves and more.
If you have the resources, why not set up on-line shopping. It’s not as hard as you think and at the very least it makes you look like a serious business.
Make sure you publish your opening times, contact details and a Google Map to show where you are.
Your web site is your opportunity to show everyone what differentiates you from the competition. Feature your local produce on your pages; make sure people are aware of your community involvement and support for your local community.
Your web site can connect you with customers you have not got yet so make sure you are happy with the message it is putting across. Try to view your site as a customer would, does it work as it should?
Marketing
Facebook (See our page Here)
Social media is all about exposure to as many people as possible and Facebook cannot be ignored if you want to grow and retain customers. Set up a Facebook page for your shop and encourage your customers to visit it.
Make sure all of you Facebook friends are aware of your shop page. The goal here is to get as many followers as possible.
We use Facebook almost every day to inform customers of happenings at our shop from stock deliveries to special offers and it works. The nice thing about Facebook is that when someone follows you, they want to be kept informed about your shop. So while you have far less followers on Facebook than Twitter for instance, they are more likely to buy from you.
Marketing
Twitter (See our page Here)
Like Facebook, Twitter should not be ignored. Unlike Facebook however, you cannot simply advertise what is happening in the shop, no one will follow you.
You need to be more subtle, the way Twitter works is to tweet your thoughts on almost anything (not shop related) throughout the day and hope that one of your many followers pays attention enough to look at your profile.
When they do, they will see that you run a shop and they may even visit you or your web site. It if far more hit and miss but it is also very easy to gain hundreds if not thousands of followers.
The easiest way to do this is start following as many people as you can within proximity of your shop, lots of them will follow you back and you are away.
I find Twitter to be a necessary but frustrating way to market.
Marketing
YouTube (See our video Here)
YouTube is another form of viral marketing you may wish to take advantage of. If you know anything about video production, you may be able to produce a video about your shop that grabs people’s attention and goes viral.
Video is fast becoming the medium of choice on the web and it is important that you take part.
I would class YouTube as less important than either Facebook or Twitter for your marketing, but important nonetheless.
Marketing
QR Code
If you don’t know what a QR code is, you are not alone. You have probably seen them in adverts in magazines. They are square black and white patterns that are used for mobile phones and pad computers. When you point your phone camera at them, they do whatever they are programmed to do, usually take you to a web site.
Why are they important?
QR Codes are important because they can offer your shop the potential to be seen by unlimited amounts of mobile phone users.
They are free to generate, just search Google for QR Code generator. Generate one with a link to your web site and then make sure it is printed on everything you send out, invoices, flyers, packing slips, the lot. Some people even have them on the side of delivery vans.
Marketing
QR Code
Like all digital marketing tools QR Codes are just one tool in the mix, the key is to use all available sources of marketing. Even if you gain just one good customer from it, it will have been worth the effort. It also tells your customers that you are up with the times and not prepared to just sit back, you are pro-active and when people are pro-active, things happen.
Marketing
A Boards and Sidewalk Signage
You probably already have these and if you don’t you should.
Traditional A Boards are a great way to advertise your shop to pedestrians and motorists alike.
A well designed A board can act like a customer magnet. Use other peoples brands to get customers. If you sell a sought after brand, put that brand on your A board, people will come in on brand recognition alone.
We have 3 A boards for:
1. Advertising our shop and what we sell
2. Ready Meals (Acts like a customer magnet)
3. Advertising Fresh Meat Available
Electronic Ticker
Place an electronic LED scroller in your window, they cost next to nothing and you can program them with any message you like. We have a constant scroll of what we sell and it continues through the night. Not only is it eye catching, it acts as a 24 a day sales person.
Marketing
Digital Picture Frame
Get yourself a digital picture frame to use as a point of sale advertising device.
Using a computer, you can prepare eye catching ads that revolve on the screen to alert your customers to whatever you want. We advertise local produce on ours and it is located right by the till so you cannot avoid seeing it.
For such a cheap piece of technology, it has generated many additional sales for us.
Marketing
Newsletter
We produce a newsletter each month detailing current offers and other news from the local community.
In addition to an electronic copy you can read here, we also do a print run of 300 copies and have it distributed around the local area.
One of the tricks we use to gauge whether it is being read is to have a free coffee coupon on the back which the customers can redeem in the shop. We give away several coffees a month but we know our marketing message is being seen.
We print our QR Code on the back of course.
Marketing
Loyalty Cards
Our quiet period is between is between 2pm and 4pm each day so we came up with a loyalty card that offers customers a 5% discount if they shop between those hours Monday to Friday. The offer excludes tobacco products as the margins on those products are too low.
Even though we lose 5% of our margin in those hours for those with a card, it creates a steady flow of customers when we need them. Customers are also like magnets, if your shop has them, others are attracted. It’s a bit like the empty restaurant situation, one restaurant can be full and bustling whilst the one next door is empty. Which one would you enter for dinner?
Marketing
Bumper Stickers
Obviously, this is not a high priority but any method of getting the message out about your shop is worth investigating. These are cheap to produce and if you have a good design, people will happily take them from you. Start by talking all your friends into putting them on their cars, you never know who may see your message.
Marketing
Flyers
When first opening, we produced an A5 flyer which we distributed to 3,000 homes within a 10 mile radius of the shop. We saw immediate business as a result of that campaign and we continue to re-distribute annually. This does 2 things:
1. It reminds people that you are still in business
2. It encourages new people to visit you
Again, flyers in themselves are not the answer to marketing your store but they are an important element in your overall marketing mix.
Marketing
Word of Mouth
By far the best form of marketing of them all. Nothing generates sales better than a personal recommendation from someone your customers trust.
Everything you do in your store should have the goal of getting positive word of mouth advertising. Word of mouth in the technology age is now also electronic, comments on Twitter and Facebook reach thousands of people with the press of a key so if people are discussing your shop on these mediums, there is a good chance, it will turn into sales. Conversely, if you provide bad customer service or a negative customer experience, these very same technologies can be your downfall.
Word of Mouth will impact your business whether you like it or not, it is the ultimate outcome of how you conduct business. Everything in this book hopefully will help you to generate positive rather than negative Word of Mouth and if that happens, your sales will increase and your customer base will also.
Marketing
Awards
Last but not least, if you can get someone to nominate you for an award or 2, the publicity gained can be bankable. People like the fact that their local store is award winning. We experienced this first hand and when we won, our customers lit up the Twittersphere with positive comments.
The local paper also published the winners and as a result our store was seen by tens of thousands of people we could never have reach under normal circumstances.
Accepting Our Award
Chapter 7
Work/Life Balance
As with everything in life, you need balance. You need to separate your working life from your family life. There is a tendency in convenience store owners to work every hour God gives them in pursuit of profits. This is unhealthy and will not give you the quality of life you deserve.
In our case we do not work weekends, we have staff for that. Weekends are for family, time with the children and time to relax. That way the shop becomes a Monday to Friday job (albeit with longer working hours than most).
If you have children, they are only children once, don’t miss your opportunity to share their childhood with them.
Whether you take weekends off or schedule your free time for during the week, to be happy you MUST not work 7 days a week. If nothing else, you need the spare time to work ON your business rather than IN it.