What is your outlook for 2010? What are the generators of growth that you are pursuing in your business?
What is your outlook for 2010?
-- Kids Today, 11/1/2009 12:00:00 AM
Phil Wrzesinski, Toy House and Baby Too
Traditionally, we don’t make any decisions on our outlook for the next year until after Christmas. (But) here are some of the key indicators we are following ...
Birth Rates: Birth rates in our area have stayed consistent over the past few years. This helps us understand trends and whether to beef up inventories or slim them down.
Population: Our population base is shrinking. Student counts for our county dropped dramatically this past year. We are curious what the new census will say. This also helps us adjust inventory, especially in the toy departments.
Customer Counts: Are they rising, shrinking or staying flat? Fortunately for us, they are staying flat this year, which is good for a declining population. This helps us evaluate our marketing performance.
Average Ticket: This has gone down slightly. Primarily, we attribute this to lower case good sales. Our crib sales are equal to last year, but case goods are not. We are looking at different ways to raise case good sales back up. This number also helps us evaluate our sales staff performance. Are they maximizing the sales with each and every customer?
Departmental Sales: While furniture and gear are slightly down, soft goods and plush are up. Toys, books and hobbies are also up. We will evaluate the year-end numbers and make the necessary inventory adjustments to match the needs of the customers.
Too many stores measure their success on just one number — sales. Either sales are up and life is good, or sales are down and life is bad. But if you look at the above list, there are many factors that can affect sales, some of which are out of your control. Declining population and declining birth rates can lower your sales no matter how well you advertise and sell. The economy can take a chunk out of your sales, too. We believe much of the decline in case goods sales is economy-driven and have adjusted our approach as necessary.
Sales are only a small part of the equation. The true growth we hope to generate is in profit.
Knowing what is happening within the community (birth rates and population), knowing what is happening with our marketing and in the store (customer counts and average ticket) and knowing all the other financial numbers, helps us prepare for the future. On the financial side we also track expenses (down), inventory levels (down), profit margins (up), cash flow (up), and profit (up). So far, those other numbers are strong and we are having one heck of a year.
We expect more of the same for 2010.
Ann Adrian, Goodnight Room
In 2010, more than ever our goal is to remain close to the customer. Listen, react and deliver what they are asking for. Remain cautiously conservative in our inventory levels so we can react when we need to. Continue to look for products and services that set us apart. We realize that we are serving a new customer base where less is more. Products must perform to new standards and it is our job to find them: Eco-friendly, green, made in America and value-driven without compromising on quality and style.
Mark Lazar, Lazar’s Juvenile Furniture
Looking out is right! We all better look out for 2010. It’s not shaping up to be a banner year unless you are a bankruptcy attorney or selling close-outs.
The American public is gun shy, especially when it comes to watching the Dow Jones, or rather the media watching it for you and telling you how it’s going up, while you’re (worrying) about your job or your business. It seems to be going up while unemployment goes up right along with it. When the Dow starts to tumble jobs may tumble as well.
Sometimes growth can lead you down the wrong path. Maintaining where you are is call for enough creativity, without looking for growing your business. But if it’s growth that you want, just load up on the ice cream and fries … it’s a guarantee!
Be creative and never say no to a customer. Offer something and start the conversation. What you offer may not be what they are asking for, but you have a better chance making the deal. “No” just leads your customer to the door, and if you’re going to lead them somewhere, head them over in my direction.
Like Jim Carrey in his film Yes Man, I’m the “Yes Man” at Lazar’s. Hey, I just sent four kids to college in August, I want the sale!
Krista Cathey, GreenPea Nursery
We are optimistic about 2010. We feel like the customer today is a lot more cautious in their purchases and they need more guidance helping them choose products that are best suited to their family’s needs. They want products of higher quality that are going to last and things that they truly need. They want staff that can direct them in understanding what to look for in products rather than overwhelming them with choices. As a specialty store, we work hard to train our staff so that they are equipped to spend individual time with customers matching their needs with products. Just putting products on the shelf is not going to make you a success. You have to know your products inside in out, have friendly trained staff and impeccable customer service.
Karen Scott, Chelsea & Scott, Ltd.
We are anticipating a modest gain in sales vs. 2009, and initial holiday sales support this projection. Our growth strategies focus on opening up new sales channels beyond our catalog and Internet; partnering with non-competitive companies that share our demographics; and increasing the number of One Step Ahead branded and exclusive products in our product portfolio.
We would love your feedback!
