Busy March for us - was yours good or bad after feb? [Archive]

movietub

25th March 2009, 23:09

Ok March isn't quite over yet but my god we have been busy with the online shop aide of the business.

We are not seasonal and have been getting busier month on month but this month has been staggering. I'm talking an average of 25 orders per day up from about 15!

Plus the phone hasn't stopped ringing and the retail (physical) shop has been much busier.

Weirdly Mothers day was the 2nd busiest day this month. This all seems a bit ilogical. I'm not complaining but I hate not understanding why something has happened - even if its a good thing!

How was everyone elses March? Need to here the bad as well as the good of course...

lesliedocherty

25th March 2009, 23:26

March has taken a dip for us, Jan & Feb were good, March is 20% less than feb, still up on last year though

Bri

25th March 2009, 23:27

Glad to hear that, lets have more success stories. Touch us all so it rubs off

movietub

25th March 2009, 23:44

Got to be careful spreading success stories - sometimes such threads end up full of the 10% of members doing well and the 90% not doing so well shy away from posting!

It would be good to get a more general insight into March. People have recovered from Xmas now so spending should be back up to normal levels. For most March should be better than Jan/Feb.

There have also been a couple of news stories this week that have beaten of talk og the economy - I suspect this has helped relax spenders a small amount.

But maybe I'm wrong and everyone had a rubbish March?

Debate!

Bri

25th March 2009, 23:48

movietub

25th March 2009, 23:56

heard a rumour about JJB today. Any mileage in that from anyone.

Doesnt matter, if anybodies success rubs off on those who are not having a good run, should inspire all to go yeah!! and work harder. I for one dont get upset by good or bad, both need to be recognised. We're all members of this forum for one common goal.

Quite right.

As for JJB their was a little news about them a while ago. Nothing specific, but genarally not doing great I think. A lot of people buy sports gear online these days, more so than other clothes I should think. Also sports gear was its own fashion a few years ago and now not so much - they seemed to pop up eveywhere when sports gear was the streetwise young persons dress code.

In those respects their future was probably limited before the recession. On the high street at least. Same as Zavvi and Woolworths. Somethings you just don't need to go into town for anymore!

cycloneuk

26th March 2009, 12:46

I saw large peaks in both February and March due to Valentines and Mother's day, gone quiet now.

deniser

26th March 2009, 12:53

richardjeaton

26th March 2009, 12:58

My ecommerce clients saw the following trends...

Dec - Pretty good, obviously Christmas presents
Jan - Very busy, mainly down to January sales promotions and Christmas spending money
Feb - Alot quieter as expected, post-Christmas recovery!
March - Excellent! One client turned over double what they did in the same period last year - though I do put alot of this down to the e-marketing plan I'm executing for them :D ;)

Let's just hope this trend continues in the right direction!

Thanks

Richard

movietub

26th March 2009, 15:28

March was better than February until last Friday when things dropped off substantially - so we had 5 very poor days - the period around Mother's Day is always bad for us as we derive no benefit from it and people are shopping elsewhere - but things have picked up again dramatically yesterday.

Well historically Sun through Tues/Weds have always been busier for us but this week its just not slowing. We already took 22 orders today, so its likely this will be our 5th day of 30 sales! Thats unheard of, hitting 30 used to be quite rare.

We sell auarium/pond goods so Mothers day and valentines should take money away from our industry if anything. This is the weirdest rush I ever had...

We have done a lot of work on the site recently - just possibly it's been more effective than I estimated and this will last :)

Its hard working becasue I want to deliver the best service when we are busy to encourage as much repeat business as possible. If I'm honest though, its just pretty hectic here at the moment...

Eagle

26th March 2009, 15:29

I've never been busier!

KreativeJuice

26th March 2009, 15:41

^^^ what he said, we need a break!!!

Mattonella Tile Studio

26th March 2009, 16:33

Very strange March. It's averaged out to be alright. But it's been very much all or nothing about doing it.

movietub

26th March 2009, 16:41

Overall the UKBF opinion (not just on this thread) seems to be that online shopping is picking up at a faster rate than the economy overall slows.

I've always believed that the crunch will, if anything, push people to shop online faster than they were converting naturally anyway.

Apart from the sites that are clearly hopeless I havn't seen any posts recently from owners complaining about lack of custom on here.

Have to feel sorry for those relient on solely the high street, times are changing very fast for so many reasons in traditional retail.

Mister B

26th March 2009, 18:06

Well, we're looking at about a 30% increase on last year, albeit from a low base.

February was most certainly a lot tougher, only about 5% up on last year.

Very optimistic about the next 12 months.

Mister B

movietub

26th March 2009, 19:03

February was poor in the shop but stable online. Same as Jan although we are normally better month on month.

My personal finances in February... well thats a different story :(

JGSG

26th March 2009, 19:27

We've been almost as busy as Christmas throughout March... it's slowed in the last few days though... I guess because its the end of the month and everyone has run out of money.

conquer

26th March 2009, 21:05

We have had a good Feb & March. This week has been a fair bit slower which is interesting to see others saying similar things. Just rolled out a new design too so being careful about drawing any quick conclusions.

downsouth

26th March 2009, 21:20

well been busy building up the beach tent side of things and i'm glad I did kick this off in jan this year, new site being implemented over coming weeks but if sales anything to go by i'll be really really happy come late summer.

actually been totally suprised on volume of sales, didnt set stupid goals for this first year of this site, but already 25% towards target for whole year and its still early in the year with no sunshine.

go on grab yourself a bargain at protectbeach.co.uk :D

Ok shameless plug but i'm happy

Burden

26th March 2009, 22:04

Jan-March has been up here from last year..
At the peak about 40%. -- Offline, still need to get online!

Glad others are more than happy to share here, shouldnt all be secrets!! Community & Help. :)

movietub

31st March 2009, 23:16

I'll wrap up March since I started the thread...

Today busiest day ever, this month busiest ever, most sales, most visitors. Wow.

Glad so many others had a good March. Hopefully this will continue and not be a freak occurence for online sellers!

Mister B

1st April 2009, 07:37

We ended up 30% up on last year but I think that the next twelve will be tougher.

For what it's worth though, without wanting to paint a picture of doom and gloom, a friend of mine is a plumber who is currently kicking his heels...and there was me thinking that there was a shortage of good plumbers.

Mister B

deniser

1st April 2009, 12:40

Now we need to start the April thread.....

Had a great day online so far - about 20 orders - but not a single person has come into the shop apart from a desperate toy salesman who has been sent to this town to find business as his boss doesn't believe there are no toy or gift shops here.

I told him there really aren't - they have all closed down apart from Fenwicks toy department because of the huge Toys R Us that opened on the Industrial Estate.

movietub

1st April 2009, 15:07

toys r us really are all the toy shop any town needs. I feel sorry for that man, I think he's trying to sell to shops which mostly don't exist anymore...

How do I start a poll for April? Can't find the option when I go to pot new thread

PaddyPawsPetServices

1st April 2009, 15:25

movietub

1st April 2009, 15:49

:(:(:(March was dire for us, we lost a few really good regulars ( due to recession / job cuts ) and others cutting back to 1-2 walks a week or just booking for a "10minute let out into garden" rather than a full hours exercise:(:(:(

Why don't you get into selling pet foods etc online as an extra income stream? You could also deliver food when you walk the dogs and add value to your service that way.

PaddyPawsPetServices

1st April 2009, 15:59

that is our next plan of action MT ( think it was mentioned on my thread ) I have just taken on a FT job so, I can use any cash that we have in the business towards rejuvenation

directmarketingadvice

1st April 2009, 16:02

March has taken a dip for us, Jan & Feb were good, March is 20% less than feb, still up on last year though

Similar for me.

Down about 15% on a very good Feb, but up compared to March 2008.

However, just a temporary dip and April will be up again.

Steve

movietub

1st April 2009, 16:12

that is our next plan of action MT ( think it was mentioned on my thread ) I have just taken on a FT job so, I can use any cash that we have in the business towards rejuvenation

Do you know of ALF? Very big pet/aquatics distributor. I spend around quarte mil with them a year and have great terms. We only sell the aquatic stuff though. Been meaning to get something setup on the pets side. If you have 'spare time' all of a sudden maybe you could help?

You should pm me if your interested - not sure how it might work but always a mutually beneficial way somehow! I'm thinking buy the stuff through us to get the best rates on the market and you guys look after managment and distribution through the site - split rewards after costs etc. Just vague ideas!

Emcar Vending

1st April 2009, 16:17

I've had the busiest 3 months I've had for at least a year, maybe 18 months.

I'm putting it down to the recession. I mainly sell refurbished machines and parts and I must be getting buyers who would previously bought new.

I'm not complaining though.

movietub

1st April 2009, 16:31

I think online sales have had a big boost in general from people finding cheaper ways of buying what they used to be able to afford on the high street/new.

Now is an excellent time to compete on price - the added turnover should enable most long term players to negotiate better discounts to maintain a decent markup too.

quikshop

1st April 2009, 17:02

I think online sales have had a big boost in general from people finding cheaper ways of buying what they used to be able to afford on the high street/new.

Agreed. March was our best month ever, we're falling over ourselves trying to get all of the new shops ready for their owners.

If there are any real World retailers still shunning T'interweb other than stuffy fashion brands then they're missing the boat big time :D

PaddyPawsPetServices

1st April 2009, 17:08

Do you know of ALF? Very big pet/aquatics distributor. I spend around quarte mil with them a year and have great terms. We only sell the aquatic stuff though. Been meaning to get something setup on the pets side. If you have 'spare time' all of a sudden maybe you could help?

You should pm me if your interested - not sure how it might work but always a mutually beneficial way somehow! I'm thinking buy the stuff through us to get the best rates on the market and you guys look after managment and distribution through the site - split rewards after costs etc. Just vague ideas!

never heard of them, but im definetly all ears!

PM on its way!

Poppy Design

1st April 2009, 17:37

1st quarter this year - very good for the web/ecommerce design!

Just started an add on service offering bespoke wedding stationery and have taken initial sales of what I thought I would make in year 1 so well pleased! According to the latest FSB reports the Wedding industry is bucking the recession trend and is actually growing .. so long may it continue!

Joanne

willitbe

1st April 2009, 18:04

movietub

1st April 2009, 18:15

Movietub. Do you not think that at this time of year people start thinking about their aquatic needs though?.

I would imagine if someone here had an online garden centre or the like, they would be saying exactly the same with regards their turnover.

This is the start of the pond season - normally big in garden centres. But also the low season for aquarium dry goods sales!

Basically when its cold and wet people sit indoors and play with the fish tank, when the sun comes out the tank gets forgotten and they play pond.

Worked in a few aquatic centres - this is normally a slighty busier time of the year but throughout the year there really isn't much change!

Plus the fact that our shop sales levelled off for first time in March but online shot up faster than normal trend hints that this is not industry specific.

The idea of buying anything pond or aquarium related from a garden centre is also crazy these days! Most products are arked up between 100-200% Thats not a good way to compete with online retailers...

Christiane

1st April 2009, 18:26

I am a bit flabbergasted by the sales so far this year, March is up nearly 80% on last year. I am also awaiting my biggest order since I started the business, been waiting 4 weeks, but the cheque is on its way (payment before I send the goods). I am scanning that cheque for posterity when I get it ;-) This will inflate April figures though.

The good thing is I have recruited 2 people instead of one and will need another one or two soon if things carry on that way.

glamgoodies

1st April 2009, 18:30

It's very interesting reading how well or badly people are doing but what businesses are you all in???

movietub

1st April 2009, 18:37

It's very interesting reading how well or badly people are doing but what businesses are you all in???

Most have said what they do in this thread!

I think online its more about how you do it though. Our strategy is to sell branded products cheaply without letting quality of service suffer. Which is probably the best combo for most online shoppers! - especially those new to it.

You could sell pretty much anything online and do well if you are the cheapest and one of the best to deal with.

Walters

3rd April 2009, 11:57

March was our best ever month for sales at Ca. 3X target. Wayhay!

However, that said, managing the work-flow and cash-flow is more difficult for manufacturers because of ongoing design & build costs for WIP.

we are also trying to recruit at the moment, which the surge in orders ironically makes more difficult. We are talking to two banks, (Our own & a suitor) about borrowing under the new EFG (Which is the SFLGS renamed), but they still seem to want your balls on the table and the keys to your family home before they will give you a penny. We've won DTI R&D Awards and patented inventions, but that doesn't seem to carry any weight at all.

We fill a niche in the market for specialist Reel Handling (some say Roll Handling) equipment and we have a range of products that we manufacture, which gives us an edge over most of our competitors who are sales agents. Our market is going global, (better payment terms with exports), with sales in Canada, USA, Columbia, Europe, etc. but trying to get the banks to buy-in is proving difficult.

UKTI "Passport to Export" was good though, to a point!

However, it seems the only way to succeed is to get your head down & drive forward yourselves. What are your thoughts?

Steve W.

Hot Shot

4th April 2009, 08:02

We sell a small inexpensive but instantly effective product that makes shotgun users shoot straight.

As a gamble we attended a new indoor shooting show, The British Shooting Show, at Newark Nottingham. The marketing and management of the show had been very well done over the preceeding 4 - 5 months and the show days were 28th Feb and 1st March.

Some big shooting scene names did not take the plunge and regretted it.

The show was a complete success - all traders that I spoke to reported that they, like me, did not have time to take a coffee or even go for a leak! We took twice as much money on the first day as we had projected.

We were astonished by the cheerful attitude and enthusiasm of the customers and thier willingness to spend money.

The only difference we noticed was the proportion of cash sales to credit cards. The proportion of creidt / debit card sales was down to a third against 50% normally.

Our web and direct sales were a little sporadic but upto normal levels.

naturalbeautyscotland

6th April 2009, 11:26

movietub

6th April 2009, 12:32

I only started trading 6 weeks ago and have had 12 orders so far! - even one from the USA - so I feel pleased, but SEO takes time (and is the key, I know) and traffic is everything for me being so new - I am a bit anxious now as I haven't had an order for a week - can anyone reassure me!? (I sell natural skin care products made exclusively by small producers in Scotland)

Traffic and SEO are great if you are selling something unique that appeals to impulsive shoppers. However if you are selling something thats available on the high street (or an equivilant product) then most people online are looking for a bargain and will head for the lowest price shops. Generally I find the lowest priced shop that gets decent reviews is always the busiest.

Great SEO, high traffic and page views and low prices and good service are clearly the best combination possible. Although the lowest of the low prices are hard to maintain when you are competing on SEO with bigger players that employ people full time to write SEO friendly content for their product pages.

What is your strategy? Why is the main appeal to visit/buy from your shop?

naturalbeautyscotland

6th April 2009, 12:51

The main appeal in buying from me is that my online shop has brought together niche Scottish skin care products in one place for the 1st time - products not available in the high street. Handmade organic and /or natural products, unique and many made with Scottish ingredients such as whisky, honey, etc..and great for gift ideas. Also we ship worldwide - to capitalise on the Scottish diaspora who would like to buy something from Scotland. That's the proposition. Plus all UK orders cost only £2.00 P&P and we offer free UK postage on orders over £25, free gift wrapping and free samples.

Strategy = PR (I have a PR background), viral marketing, social networking, SEO, reciprocial links.
Johanna

:)

seasonsonline

6th April 2009, 13:01

We launched our site last November and I've been totally shocked by the response!- I never expected the sales to be as high as what they are and March was fantastic for both retail sales and trade.

However, we are trying to beat all our competitiors on both price and quality so I guess now is a good time to be doing this with people trying to save every last penny. I just hope when the economic climate improves that people still want to save money and don't flee to the more expensive sites! Fingers crossed.

naturalbeautyscotland

6th April 2009, 13:07

Love your site - great to hear your story - it keeps me encouraged. Whats your main marketing activity?

seasonsonline

6th April 2009, 13:25

Love your site - great to hear your story - it keeps me encouraged. Whats your main marketing activity?

Think this question was directed at me...forgive me if I'm wrong!

Our main marketing strategy at the moment is to not get sucked into all the hype surrounding "SEO"! Don't worry about page ranking too much. Yes by all means keep a side ways eye on it but don't let it get you down because it takes time and the patience of an angel. Just keep putting yourself in the customers shoes and think about the kind of words they'll be using to search for your products.

Try and include a vast array of useful words on all your pages, but make sure they're relevant and that they're written in a way that will make people want to read it.- Check spelling & grammar every time you publish anything and just simply keep things nice and simple with good honest content.

There are certainly lots of free marketing tools out there that wont cost a penny and actually there's a fantastic list on this very forum. Here it is, http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=32162

Finally, if you haven't already got it then "Google Analytics" is a fantastic and VITAL tool to have at your disposal. Along with Google's webmaster tools it can tell you a great deal about which direction to point your business in.

EliteIntegrity

6th April 2009, 13:54

Hi,

I have a few small online shops.

One was slightly busier than the same time last year. Another was more than 50% down.

Just in case you were hoping for some kind of pattern to emerge. Sorry. Both shops sell an almost identical range at a similar price. I think the difference is down to how each site fared with changes to Google rankings.

Just guessing though.

Good luck to all in April.

John