Quiet months in retail high streets
- Thread starter Purple-Vintage
- Start date
T
TreatGarden
Hi
Yes - January and February are generally very slow, which is why turnover (but not margin / profit obviously!) is bumped up by sales.
Where I live, August is also very slow as everyone leaves to go to their summer houses in France for the summer holidays (nice if you can get it!), but obviously August can be a great month if you're somewhere touristy.
All depends on what you're selling though.
Hope that helps!
Yes - January and February are generally very slow, which is why turnover (but not margin / profit obviously!) is bumped up by sales.
Where I live, August is also very slow as everyone leaves to go to their summer houses in France for the summer holidays (nice if you can get it!), but obviously August can be a great month if you're somewhere touristy.
All depends on what you're selling though.
Hope that helps!
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It depends what you sell and where you are. Typically Jan through March are slow for everyone, but some can pick up good sales for Valentines day and others for easter.
It does however beg the question regarding what research you did for your business plan. Slow months should not come as a surprise.
It does however beg the question regarding what research you did for your business plan. Slow months should not come as a surprise.
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- Original Poster
- #5
Treat and Deniser thanks for your input. I sell vintage clothing.
Kulture, when I did my research there seemed to be a mixed response on here, Most people said January , november and august are slow.
We have budgeted on our business plan for the unexpected but when i did my research it was 8 months ago so thought id ask again based on peoples last year up to date figures.
Not taking a wage and just keeping all the turnover we get in our business account to allow for slow months so we are being sensible.
Kulture, when I did my research there seemed to be a mixed response on here, Most people said January , november and august are slow.
We have budgeted on our business plan for the unexpected but when i did my research it was 8 months ago so thought id ask again based on peoples last year up to date figures.
Not taking a wage and just keeping all the turnover we get in our business account to allow for slow months so we are being sensible.
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Thats fair enough. Each market has its own up and down months and it was impossible to accurately answer your initial post without knowing what you were selling. I will bow out as I know nothing about the seasonal nature of vintage clothing. I do not even know if it mirrors standard clothing shops, which have seasons ending in sales.
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unfortunatly, i think shops on the high street is a dieing trade.
its all about internet shopping - its cheaper its easier, its quicker - internet shopping percentage has seriously increased over the past 5 years - do you have an online shop?
if not its well worth investing in one and SEO.
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January is always pants for us too .... we've tried all sorts to get customers -Chinese New Year (we sold a few sky lanterns, money wallets etc); tartan thngs for Burns night, hand painted plaques with New Year Resolution type wording on and little blackboards where people can write whether they've achieved/failed to stick to it - we go big on our art & craft workshops in January as people often resolve to "learn something new" in a new year, but we haven't found the secret to success yet though!
Valentines will result in good card sales, we'v e got chocolates, teddies and lots of heart shaped things in stock and some schmultzy stuff on the make which we have yet to finish (no idea if they're going to sell of course!). It's a leap year this year of course so ladies could propose to their men if they want to .... haven't really worked out a brilliant plan to tap into this though.
Vintage fashion ..... love vintage stuff; you have an advantage over other clothes suppliers in some respects as people will have to act on impulse if they really like something as you probably won't have more than one, so you ought to make sure they realise that when they're browsing.
And vintage is big news at the moment, we are doing some vintage crockery and selling it on the "Tea with Grandma" idea ... people are loving that, I suppose when times are tough we tend to look at the past with our rose tinted specs and it makes us feel cosy; have you got any gorgeous friends who could model for you? Do a photo-shoot extoling the virtues of recycling/vintage chic, point out how unique your clothing is and that wearers will never find themselves at a party where someone else is wearing the same thing? Use old newspapers from the era of key pieces of clothing to add authenticity to what you are selling ... it is hard work trying to come up with ideas. Do you have good accessories? There's lots of vintage style jewellery available that might help bolster your profits
But, if it's any consolation, you are not alone (although I do realise that having company in your misery is not going to help pay the rent!) ....
Valentines will result in good card sales, we'v e got chocolates, teddies and lots of heart shaped things in stock and some schmultzy stuff on the make which we have yet to finish (no idea if they're going to sell of course!). It's a leap year this year of course so ladies could propose to their men if they want to .... haven't really worked out a brilliant plan to tap into this though.
Vintage fashion ..... love vintage stuff; you have an advantage over other clothes suppliers in some respects as people will have to act on impulse if they really like something as you probably won't have more than one, so you ought to make sure they realise that when they're browsing.
And vintage is big news at the moment, we are doing some vintage crockery and selling it on the "Tea with Grandma" idea ... people are loving that, I suppose when times are tough we tend to look at the past with our rose tinted specs and it makes us feel cosy; have you got any gorgeous friends who could model for you? Do a photo-shoot extoling the virtues of recycling/vintage chic, point out how unique your clothing is and that wearers will never find themselves at a party where someone else is wearing the same thing? Use old newspapers from the era of key pieces of clothing to add authenticity to what you are selling ... it is hard work trying to come up with ideas. Do you have good accessories? There's lots of vintage style jewellery available that might help bolster your profits
But, if it's any consolation, you are not alone (although I do realise that having company in your misery is not going to help pay the rent!) ....
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Well done Banned (still no gritted teeth smilie?) - it's been rubbish here today in Doodle land.
Had a good few days from Saturday to Tuesday tho, and January this year was better than January last year (no snow though, which helped!)
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Banned
Well done Banned (still no gritted teeth smilie?) - it's been rubbish here today in Doodle land.
Read it again and you will realise the gritted teeth are not required
It's been dog poo day today.
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:redface:Just like business, I am a bit slow today ..... 2nd best day of the month sounded really impressive, wouldn't have twigged if you hadn't pointed it out! Now that I HAVE got it though ..........We've had the second worst day of the month today. Ho bloody hum..:redface:Read it again and you will realise the gritted teeth are not required
It's been dog poo day today.
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Banned
Isn't the 2nd best and 2nd worst the same on the 2nd? It's getting confusing now
I didn't want to really upset you and tell you we had the best January of the year as well
Positive thinking, aka denial
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Um, yes, it is. We are having the best February of the year so far though .......... is it getting silly now?:|Isn't the 2nd best and 2nd worst the same on the 2nd? It's getting confusing now
I didn't want to really upset you and tell you we had the best January of the year as well
Positive thinking, aka denial
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unfortunatly, i think shops on the high street is a dieing trade.
its all about internet shopping - its cheaper its easier, its quicker - internet shopping percentage has seriously increased over the past 5 years - do you have an online shop?
if not its well worth investing in one and SEO.
Here we go again..... it's cheaper, easier quicker, more prone to fraud, less condusive for building relationships, harder to find new customers who have no product knowledge, less personal. and on and on and on...
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I didn't say that, we do have an online presence but do not have a transactional website - been there, tried it, pulled it because it was only about competing on price, something we have never done, and don't need to do.
We use the internet a hell of a lot for targetting our customers and keeping them informed, but we do not go anywhere near selling on line, quite the reverse in fact as we activly encourage people to NOT shop on line.
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I'm curious, the products that are sold in your shop, are they available anywhere else, in a competitors retail shop or online ?
If you do not have to compete on price with any competition, as you state, you must have a very exclusive range of products.
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No, you can get our products on line, in some cases 30% or more cheaper than us. Almost every Retailer sells them at around the same price.
But what you can't get on line is our people, our knowledge and our ability to listen.
Are our customers stupid for paying that little extra for that? - they don't seem to mind, in fact they seem more than happy to pay for the service and advice we give.
Do we lose a few customers who tell us they can get it cheaper on line? - very few, and those that we do lose tend to be the rude ones that we can do without upsetting our staff. We find good customers are everywhere, but good staff are like gold dust.
Do I find it amusing when someone who has bought on line then comes to us for advice? - very much so, although it used to annoy me.
Do I hate the internet? - not one bit, it is useful and we use it a lot. I just believe, as do our customers, that we get paid for the value we give our customers, and it's not just about price.
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are you sure? I've just spent half an hour with a customer who would like to hand paint some glass panels but doesn't know where to start and has never done anything like that before.I bet you can.
Earl
Yes, he could buy the same glass paints and brushes online (probably cheaper) than he has just done from me: bet the online shop wouldn't have let him have a try with the contour paste, try the colours out on a couple of empty jam-jars, shown him how to marble or sponge the colours for a different effect, photocopied out half a dozen hand drawn designs (mine, not printed off a site) to give him some inspiration, talked him through how some of the handpainted glassware on sale here was actually done, or told him if he wanted any more help to phone or pop in any time ....... he has gone away with a complete set of paints, brushes, thinners, pastes and a smile, I have more money in my till than I would have done without giving any of the above advice.
He'll be back too ..... I'll put money on it. And I enjoyed sharing what I can do with someone who was really interested
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are you sure? I've just spent half an hour with a customer who would like to hand paint some glass panels but doesn't know where to start and has never done anything like that before.
Yes, he could buy the same glass paints and brushes online (probably cheaper) than he has just done from me: bet the online shop wouldn't have let him have a try with the contour paste, try the colours out on a couple of empty jam-jars, shown him how to marble or sponge the colours for a different effect, photocopied out half a dozen hand drawn designs (mine, not printed off a site) to give him some inspiration, talked him through how some of the handpainted glassware on sale here was actually done, or told him if he wanted any more help to phone or pop in any time ....... he has gone away with a complete set of paints, brushes, thinners, pastes and a smile, I have more money in my till than I would have done without giving any of the above advice.
He'll be back too ..... I'll put money on it. And I enjoyed sharing what I can do with someone who was really interested
yerse so why bring up a maybe unique situation.
when my comment was directed at someone selling a common product?
Half an hour we sent a guy for a whole day when we flogged a vehicle to Wayne Rooney and he travelled 250 miles.
Earl
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You state that you "don't need to" compete on price?
Do you not have any competitors on all your products in a B&M retail shop?
Do you not have to make sure you're prices are competitive against them?
Does it not help your business to get a bigger market share?
I am not referring to online competition.
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Banned
The sooner more retailers get over the whole price issue the better. Price is NOT the be all and end all. In fact in many cases in my shop the opposite is true.
As an example take a box of chocolates, customer comes in and wants, nay has, to spend £50 on a box of chocolates. They don't want to spend £40, they don't want value at £35 they WANT to spend £50. So now we carry a range that would normally be £40 but sell them at £50. Customer happy, margins & profit up.
Same thing goes for other gift items, flowers, holiday presents etc. You don't sell at the lowest price, you sell at the highest price possible for the market.
Hence we don't compete with the internet, I don't want a POR of 10% because you can get something similar on ebay cheaper. My customer DON'T want to buy my products on the internet (I know, comes as a shock to some people). Makes more sense to lose turnover, lose staff costs, lose stock holding, lose admin but make a far bigger bottom line for less work/risk.
I bet my bottom line % per sale and man hours required is far more than many internet boys chasing the odd few pounds per item.
And no Earl, I'm not interested in playing at dropshipping. That is only something retailers do to add lines that are uneconomical to stock & ship (large, heavy items that are costly to ship). The idea is a shop are loaned samples to sell by delivery only, been going on for donkeys years, so the concept isn't new to the internet, and never was intended to be a full time business. Rather add-on sales. It's only thanks to the internet that people try to make a full time business (not hobby, that probably is achievable) out of drop shipping. Obviously the companies providing the drop shipping are laughing all the way to the bank though.
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I think you will find that it is likely that independant shops are the hobbyists.
We sell world wide.
Earl
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Banned
I think you will find that it is likely that independant shops are the hobbyists.
We sell world wide.
Earl
Knew you would say that
You are also competing world wide
Not getting into it all but, a fellow retailer once said, sell online just so you can brag how busy your internet sales are when the shop is obviously dead
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I wasn't referring to internet sellers!
I was referring to B&M retailers, which I am sure you have to be competitive with each other to make sales.
Whilst I would agree with you that there are a FEW that do not compare prices when they are shopping, for gifts or otherwise, the vast majority of people do.
For a retailer to suggest that he doesn't need to compete on price, is not giving the consumer the respect they deserve.
If the prices are more expensive in a particular shop, the shopkeeper will not even know that this customer existed as the customer would bypass this shop.
If the retailer does not want the customers (who are comparing prices), then that's a different matter.
Please get over the 'internet' thing.
We have been down that route and agree that it's a waste of time to entertain it, if people do not want to.
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Just out of interest SirEarl - why are you so anti B&M shops? I know you obviously are a supporter of online shopping, but do you never get the urge to go visit a retail environment, perhaps for inspiration? Just to see what the colours really look like in the flesh? Smell it, touch it, feel it, try it on etc?
I do realise that if you are selling for example Heinz Baked Beans the only difference between shops/sites (web or otherwise) will be price - a tin of beans is, after all, only ever going to be a tin of beans, so there's no need to see it before you buy it and you will only ever want it best price.
I do shop online sometimes (though mostly I have to say because I spend so much time in my own shop and can't get out!) - things like books, a Kindle, a couple of XBx games were all bought online for Christmas presents, but when it came to choosing perfume, clothing and little stocking fillers I really needed to be able to choose in a real shop environment not a virtual one.
I like shopping with the girls and just mooching as well as buying - stopping for coffee, making a social occasion of it etc. You can't get that same experience online.
For what it's worth, I really do think that B&M retail WILL continue to co-exist with online retail, although I think the high street will continue to see a decline of the major chains, whilst independents offering more exclusive (not necessarily expensive) services and products are the future of the High Street.
I do realise that if you are selling for example Heinz Baked Beans the only difference between shops/sites (web or otherwise) will be price - a tin of beans is, after all, only ever going to be a tin of beans, so there's no need to see it before you buy it and you will only ever want it best price.
I do shop online sometimes (though mostly I have to say because I spend so much time in my own shop and can't get out!) - things like books, a Kindle, a couple of XBx games were all bought online for Christmas presents, but when it came to choosing perfume, clothing and little stocking fillers I really needed to be able to choose in a real shop environment not a virtual one.
I like shopping with the girls and just mooching as well as buying - stopping for coffee, making a social occasion of it etc. You can't get that same experience online.
For what it's worth, I really do think that B&M retail WILL continue to co-exist with online retail, although I think the high street will continue to see a decline of the major chains, whilst independents offering more exclusive (not necessarily expensive) services and products are the future of the High Street.
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Banned
Sorry China, you either didn't read my post properly or didn't understand. I wasn't referring to internet sellers either (hence the mention of "my shop"). However I did mention the internet before you or Earl (bless him he came up trumps!) started ranting on that an internet shop will always be cheaper than B&M shop.
I'm not going over it again as apparently you will never accept that very many goods are simply not sold on price alone.
I'm not going over it again as apparently you will never accept that very many goods are simply not sold on price alone.
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If that's not referring to internet sellers, what is it?
For the record, most of my retailng life has been in B&M.
You seem obsessed with people arguing the case for internet selling, I'm sure they are not saying this to annoy or upset B&M retailers.
They are just speaking what the GENERAL trend is nationally and globally, nothing more.
Lets agree to disagree!
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I am no way anti B&M as I am involved with 4 business's that have B&M premises .
Its Just that because of rising costs and lack of footfall ,my experience tells me that the internet provides a much larger customer base with much lower overheads.
some business's sell 50 times online more than the B&M with in general far less work or trouble.
A B&M is in most cases going to be limited by its catchment area whereas the internet reaches all parts of the globe.
I would love to see all the little towns full of shops,but in the main its not going to happen without some serious changes in the cost of running a shop.
Earl
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Banned
OK, that was referring to internet sellers
But supplementary to the B&M point. The only reason I feel the need to put something on the end like that is otherwise you or Earl go "yea but you need internet........".And it does get tiresome with everybody and their dog that has an ebay account constantly banning on nonsense about the death of B&M
So agree to disagree on everything regarding UK retail, probably best seeing as I'm in the UK B&M retailing and your in China not. And by your admission things have greatly changed since you left the uk retail business
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Couldn't agree more!
Window on the high street, or window on the globe.
The retail businesses that do not have an internet presence, will end up losing business to their competitors, whether B&M, or online. (listening to some posters, they seem content with this).
I do understand the need for service and some items are sold specifically through explanation and advice.
But what some retailers forget is that usually in such cases, there are consumables, which do not need any service, explanation or advice, and the vast majority of people will go for the cheapest price and convenience, retail or online to buy these consumables.
Some people are just "Anti-internet selling" and that's how they choose to run their business.
Will they increase their shop awareness, footflow, enquiries and sales through having their business online, in any shape or form?
I think so.
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OK, that was referring to internet sellers
And it does get tiresome with everybody and their dog that has an ebay account constantly banning on nonsense about the death of B&M
So agree to disagree on everything regarding UK retail, probably best seeing as I'm in the UK B&M retailing and your in China not. And by your admission things have greatly changed since you left the uk retail business
I haven't left the UK retail business.
I am involved in several businesses as well as supplying many independents and multinationals in the UK.
I don't have an Ebay account.
My comments on the merits of being on the internet, are purely from a business point of view and if you are able to both afford and understand what it can do to help and enhance your business.
I accept that some people are not interested in it.
Lets not get heated over it.
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Our surveys tell us that just over 20% of customers buy on price alone, I am more than happy to lose those customers and spend my time with the people who consider everything when they buy a product - they still get a great deal, but it is not about price, before and after service and advice, a friendly face, nice environment, somewhere to have a chat and a mooch, I could go on.
We have three other shops in the town selling our product, at the same "RRP". Two of those are national chains who's staff couldn't give a monkeys, the other independent started cheaper in an effort to "beat" us, but soon gave up when he finally realised that our customers support us. He then greatly reduced his range and now sells to, what I presume are customers that are loyal to him. I have no interest in "stealing" those customers off him as they obviously prefer his business model to ours, just as our customers like our model over his.
We have three other shops in the town selling our product, at the same "RRP". Two of those are national chains who's staff couldn't give a monkeys, the other independent started cheaper in an effort to "beat" us, but soon gave up when he finally realised that our customers support us. He then greatly reduced his range and now sells to, what I presume are customers that are loyal to him. I have no interest in "stealing" those customers off him as they obviously prefer his business model to ours, just as our customers like our model over his.
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