Stock Management. Stock is the largest
expenditure in my business. I have reduced stock costs by 17% through
ordering fewer products more frequently and more accurately. I print a
re-order report which I simply fax directly to my supplier.
Improved Customer Experience.
Customers are the lifeblood of our business and we always aim to give
them a positive and memorable experience. With the Giftware Connect
till, the whole transaction process is so efficient. Queues are
reduced, we can easily place a customer on hold and deal with another.
Returns couldn’t be simpler, scan the receipt and it instantly tells us
when the purchase was made and for how much. We then put the returned
product straight back into stock. Customers leave the shop having had a
really good experience, and come back more often.
Product Lines.
I get reports on fastest selling lines plus best and worst suppliers. I
used to apply similar margins to everything. Now, because tracking
product sales is so easy, I adjust them for maximum return. Average
mark-up has increased from 1.8 to 2.2. I also track how much up-selling
staff are doing and we have recently introduced a bonus scheme to
increase average customer spend.
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Internet.
The internet is here to stay, you cannot ignore it. Giftware Connect
creates and manages our internet site for us. When products are
purchased, the details are sent directly to the till. In a quiet time
they are picked, packed and sent to the customer. We launched in late
October with almost immediate results. Incredibly, in November and
December internet sales counted for 10% of our revenue. It’s simply
amazing!
Save Time.
We save a lot of time on the everyday jobs like replenishment, managing
returns and bookkeeping. The computer takes much of the workload. We
spend the time doing more productive activities to increase revenue
like alternating displays, promotions, new product lines and business
development. We also have lower staff costs.
Promotions.
Giftware Connect identifies the fast and slow moving lines so I can
quickly identify changing trends. I sell slower movers by running
promotions. It’s now so easy, I click a button and I have ‘buy one get
one free‘ or ‘15% off’ a certain range. Importantly, each promotion is
fully tracked and measured. We compare what works best for our shop at
different times.
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