No reason for you to be put off, do your Market Research. It's a marathon, not a sprint. I have every faith that next week will be better but if it isn't - there is another week coming right behind the next one. If you take it too seriously you will end up in the nut house. Protect yourself from the worst and then just enjoy the mad ride !
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emmylou74
- Original Poster
- #6
oh don't be put off by this thread. Like mhall says do your research. I am totally dead this week but have made my break even point, its just that its so quiet it means I have to do the important stuff like paperwork and re-doing my website and I would rather not and have a busy shop as an excuse not to do it
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Same for us too. Last week was brilliant, the last 48 hours we've wondered where our customers have gone!
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Don't you think there is a bit of "goldfish syndrome" in there where the fish keeps going back to the other side of the bowl because they have forgotten what it was like just a moment ago ?
Was it really that bad, for someone with 20 plus years experience to say it was the worst month ever ? If only in business 6 months then quite possible.
I see it as treading water, which for April was quite apt !
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emmylou74
- Original Poster
- #15
well i know most of the shops in my area have struggled in april just because footfall is down dramatically. But you have to pay nearly £2 to park for 2 hours and also the bus fares went up by a ridiculous amount - so people are choosing just not to travel into town. If they have a car they will just take it to the free parking at the retail park.
I'm in a bid zone as well, and emailed them last week saying I don't want to be part of it any more because its money for nothing LOL. They said I had to there was a vote last year and its to remain until 2016. All I have had from it is a flower basket. Let me tell you its the most expensive flower basket ever - and it doesn't seem to attract more people in I have to be honest with you
I'm in a bid zone as well, and emailed them last week saying I don't want to be part of it any more because its money for nothing LOL. They said I had to there was a vote last year and its to remain until 2016. All I have had from it is a flower basket. Let me tell you its the most expensive flower basket ever - and it doesn't seem to attract more people in I have to be honest with you
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Banned
- Original Poster
- #16
well i know most of the shops in my area have struggled in april just because footfall is down dramatically. But you have to pay nearly £2 to park for 2 hours and also the bus fares went up by a ridiculous amount - so people are choosing just not to travel into town. If they have a car they will just take it to the free parking at the retail park.
I'm in a bid zone as well, and emailed them last week saying I don't want to be part of it any more because its money for nothing LOL. They said I had to there was a vote last year and its to remain until 2016. All I have had from it is a flower basket. Let me tell you its the most expensive flower basket ever - and it doesn't seem to attract more people in I have to be honest with you
BID, luckily we don't have that here! Frustrating isn't it how in a recession the parasites come out of the woodwork asking businesses for even more money with the empty promises of bringing more trade to town - which they never do. Mary Portas - another one riding off the back of recession with her pseudo expertise. Feel a rant coming on so I'll stop now
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Banned
- Original Poster
- #17
Not really, if we as retailers come on here and say how quiet it is we get accused of being negative and told we should try harder - whereas we are being realistic and telling you how it actually is.
Anyone that claims the High Street is busier, or they are selling more than they did three years ago is almost certainly a liar.
Then of course we get told it's because the internet is taking all our sales - that's tripe as well. A shop closes and it's obvious - big empty space in the High Street, a chain of shops collapses and it's there for everyone to see in every town. 20,000 online shops close and no one even notices, point being sales are down for pretty much all independent retailers be they B&M on internet. We have the choice to adapt and weather the storm (which I think all the regular B&M members on here have done) or get out.
So maybe either listen to what retailers on here are saying, or bury you head in the sand and dismiss us in favour of imaginary businesses that suite your current way of thinking better
Sorry, put a smiley there as that last bit wasn't personally aimed at you, just general!
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Most of the week was very poor indeed, but we rallied on Friday. Footfall is terrible at the moment, but then again, if just one customer spends a decent amount, then it's better than dozens of customers spending just £1. Therefore, footfall can perhaps sometimes be a bit of a misnomer.
Trisha & Chris Plant
Trisha & Chris Plant
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Perhaps looking at a rolling month, year on year, would be a useful tool to compare instances where external factors, such as weather, have resulted in either absolute lost sales or simply sales shifted from one period to another.
My experience shows that when other avenues are open for business and are less affected by the factors which have depressed your sales, then revenue is permanently lost but when all others are equally affected, the result is largely recoverable through a shift in sales from one period to another.
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Banned
- Original Poster
- #24
Exactly, and the sooner people realise this and deal with it, rather than looking for any and every excuse, the better they will be able to survive. Anyone that has been in retail for any amount of time will know we are now in un-chartered waters and the only way forward is to change and adapt on a weekly, if not daily, basis.
There is no point in comparing April 2012 with even 2011 let alone 2010 and further back. None at all - unless you feel like a good cry! And as I've said before, that's where the large chains go wrong, chasing targets that are no longer attainable rather than working within the current climate.
Rant over - I'm in a ranting mood today
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So what suggestions does everyone have to get the customers through the door? Today we're having a 10%-off sale which is going reasonably well. We're thinking maybe some sort of competition might be worthwhile - but yet to formulate exactly how to go about it. We'd be interested to hear of any other ingenius suggestions from other members
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Banned
- Original Poster
- #27
That's the whole trouble though isn't it - the people are just not out there at the moment to get through the door. If the High Street was teeming with people then sales and promo's might help, at the moment though you are probably just discounting sales you would have made anyway.
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Yes, I can see where you're coming from. But, having our 'A' board outside with '10% sale' has brought more people in today, whereas perhaps they would otherwise just walk past. I take your point, though, that the people just aren't around these days - certainly compared with three or four years ago. Just as a case in point, we've cut back drastically on our own spending over the past 18 months, as our disposable income has reduced - due to the lack of sales in the shop - a vicious circle which seems difficult to break.
Trisha & Chris
Trisha & Chris
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emmylou74
- Original Poster
- #29
I don't know what the answer is - in my town nobody seems to care too much that the high street is about to go. Speaking to more and more people and they just are not coming in here any more if they do come into town they are going to the retail park.
It really does seem very weird times. But I do know one thing I am not hanging around - my lease is up soon and I won't be renewing. I am now looking to travel the country to some of the bigger shows and concentrate on internet.
My biggest problem is having people compare my items and prices to Wilkinsons, the pound shop and charity shops - thats the kinda people that are walking the high street at the moment. I mean its 3pm on a Saturday and there is no hustle and bustle of people - no sounds at all - and I won't pay the license folks so no music to listen to either. One small mercy the bagpiper is not playing today - the sound of the bagpipes makes me want to jump off a very tall building
It really does seem very weird times. But I do know one thing I am not hanging around - my lease is up soon and I won't be renewing. I am now looking to travel the country to some of the bigger shows and concentrate on internet.
My biggest problem is having people compare my items and prices to Wilkinsons, the pound shop and charity shops - thats the kinda people that are walking the high street at the moment. I mean its 3pm on a Saturday and there is no hustle and bustle of people - no sounds at all - and I won't pay the license folks so no music to listen to either. One small mercy the bagpiper is not playing today - the sound of the bagpipes makes me want to jump off a very tall building
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Banned
- Original Poster
- #30
One small mercy the bagpiper is not playing today - the sound of the bagpipes makes me want to jump off a very tall building
Ha, you have my sympathies! Every friggin Christmas the town "band" turn up on Saturdays, plant themselves outside the shop and proceed to play carols. Trouble is they are not that good and have only ever managed 30seconds of a "tune" before they stop for five minutes, shuffle their sheets and then do another 30 seconds. It drives me up the wall and I would happily shove their trombones so far out of sight even House wouldn't be able to diagnose why they were producing musical farts.
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Banned
- Original Poster
- #32
Well I'm not in the centre of Birmingham that's for sure, and I wouldn't want their rent & rates either! My position is the best in our town, from experience I know that footfall is down by around 60%. City centres will always appear busy and can't be compared to Market towns, and 20,000 or so people milling around a City Centre will still look busy.
Less people are spending their leisure time out shopping, it's as simple as that - they don't have disposable income they used to, that is fact. Doodle Noodle and I are in the South of England, emmylou in the freezing North, mhall & josor roundabouts the middle of the UK (I believe, could be wrong), and we are all saying footfall is down, so it's not just a myth.
Believe me Massey I have tried everything over the past 18 months, which proved to me that the only way to ride out the downturn is to stop chasing sales and reduce cost. This has worked, I could sit out this downturn, I would go bleedin' insane though. You can't sell to people that are no longer there, that is the long and short of it - just took me three paragraphs to say it
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fairdealworld
- Original Poster
- #34
Things were ultra quiet last week so I held a flash sale.
For a variety of reasons we didn't have a January Sale. I'd hoarded various end of range oddments, some seconds, ex-display and shop soiled items against a rainy day and it was very rainy indeed last week both literally and financially! It was more successful than I'd hoped, customers enjoyed it, it helped my cash flow and created some storage space. Sales do seem to bring new people in but I don't think you see most of them again until the next time you have a Sale though there's always one or two who become regular customers. Also some of our really good customers got some bargains and it is nice when people who support you all year round go off with something nice from the Sale.
As the area is ultra quiet the last few days, and more so today because of the EDL march in Luton, I've been holding a 'tasting' of a food line, did it yesterday, today and probably Tuesday and Wednesday next week. I've certainly seen a few new faces and intriguingly some regulars have said how nice the product tastes which they'd never imagined it would. When I asked why they'd thought that they seemed to focus on the packaging though I haven't been able to establish what about it gives that impression but I'll pass the information onto the supplier.
I think these 'events' do have an effect but I find it difficult to keep thinking up ideas and difficult to do all the preparation such as poster making which is necessary.
For a variety of reasons we didn't have a January Sale. I'd hoarded various end of range oddments, some seconds, ex-display and shop soiled items against a rainy day and it was very rainy indeed last week both literally and financially! It was more successful than I'd hoped, customers enjoyed it, it helped my cash flow and created some storage space. Sales do seem to bring new people in but I don't think you see most of them again until the next time you have a Sale though there's always one or two who become regular customers. Also some of our really good customers got some bargains and it is nice when people who support you all year round go off with something nice from the Sale.
As the area is ultra quiet the last few days, and more so today because of the EDL march in Luton, I've been holding a 'tasting' of a food line, did it yesterday, today and probably Tuesday and Wednesday next week. I've certainly seen a few new faces and intriguingly some regulars have said how nice the product tastes which they'd never imagined it would. When I asked why they'd thought that they seemed to focus on the packaging though I haven't been able to establish what about it gives that impression but I'll pass the information onto the supplier.
I think these 'events' do have an effect but I find it difficult to keep thinking up ideas and difficult to do all the preparation such as poster making which is necessary.
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Well I guess the large cities will be busy, I am guessing Oxford Street was also ultra busy today. However, as already mentioned by others, we're not all in large cities. We are located in Framlingham, a small market town in Suffolk www.framlingham.com and footfall is definitely much, much less than it was, say three or four years ago.
Trisha & Chris
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The impact of who was playing in the FA Cup final and the timing of the event (17:30 or so) and the backdrop of the World Snooker Championship semi finals cannot be discounted.
Were Millwall playing Stoke at Wembley then aside from their respective supporters, no-one else would give a fig and would possibly go out shopping.
Were Millwall playing Stoke at Wembley then aside from their respective supporters, no-one else would give a fig and would possibly go out shopping.
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Esk247
- Original Poster
- #39
and there's you lot telling me i should personally guarantee a 3 year lease
I may as well file for bankruptcy on Monday
The high street is dead. People don't give a damn about it but even online sales are being affected.
Like i say, this isn't online vs offline, we're seeing the same trends on both platforms. Up and down like a yo yo with the sales.
When it was pay day we always used to see a massive surge in sales, those days are gone, people are over drawn or have bills to pay on pay day. The Christmas pick up didn't come until the end of November for us, normally it starts at the end of September!
I may as well file for bankruptcy on Monday
The high street is dead. People don't give a damn about it but even online sales are being affected.
Like i say, this isn't online vs offline, we're seeing the same trends on both platforms. Up and down like a yo yo with the sales.
When it was pay day we always used to see a massive surge in sales, those days are gone, people are over drawn or have bills to pay on pay day. The Christmas pick up didn't come until the end of November for us, normally it starts at the end of September!
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