New shop, Advice wanted on a daily sales percentage

[Nicky_Fsd]

We've just opened our very first shop 2 days ago selling handmade costume jewellery and accessories.
We've been selling online for the past 2 years and have been doing quite well we we're looking to get a workshop but instead we've found a great little listed shop and the rent comes in a lot less than a unit so there would be a possibilty of pulling in enough sales to cover the rent which would be a bonus.
But... Today being our second day our takings have pretty much covered the rent for the month which is fabulous but not expected at all and now i'm a bit worried and looking for advice so i can make sure i have help on hand.
If anybody could give me an estimated guess on how sales breakdown over a week for a city centre shop for example 20% thursday 30% Friday 50% Saturday it would be a great help as the only experience i have to drawn on is Pub sales and ecommerce and this is all a bit new to me.

 

[JRT]

It varies massively depending on where you are, what you sell, who your customers are.

But when I used to work for a high street store in a small town, we used to take about 50% on a Sat and 25% on a Sun, then the rest split across the week with Wed being a very quiet day.

 

[BusinessChump]

I used to work in retail sales for one of the big Mobile Phone companies a couple of years back now.

We used to find it was probably about 40% on a sat 25% on a sun with the rest spread across the week. Monday and Thursday where probably on a par and Tues and Wed were always quietest.

Dont forget that many towns do late nights on a Thursday towards XMas and this can have a bearing when this time of the year approaches however as mentioned above the whole things depends who you are, where you are and what you sell.

Tread the water carefully and learn quickly as it evolves.

 

[Nicky_Fsd]

Thanks guys that's really helpfull, I know it won't be an exact science and we're winging it at the moment and it's a new shop it gives me a clearer indication on what help we may need.
Thanks,
Nicky

 

[deniser]

We used to find that Mondays and Fridays were our quietest days. Mondays because people had already shopped at the weekend and Friday because people tended to do their food shopping.

I don't want to be pessimistic but do remember that there are always higher sales when you first open because of the novelty factor.

 

[oldeagleeye]

Deniser.

I used to own a security company that serviced the Hatton Garden community in London. That maybe a bit high end for you but were 100's of guys in HG dealing in cheap gold and siver jewellry. Mostly in back street workshops and alleys. Then one guy working on his own renting just window space set up shop inthe window itself showing how the jewelly was crafted.

The result people were queuing up outside all day long. If your in the high street or shopping centre then mate - stick youtr workshop in the window. You won't have to worry about orders.

Rob

 

[LicensedToTrade]

Congrats on setting up shop. It is great that you are pleasantly surprised about your takings for the first few days, but don't assume that this will always be the case. You need to review average daily sales over a greater timeframe to get a realistic picture.

Can I just ask, prior to opening up the shop had you calculation any projections for your takings as part of your business plan?

 

[Nicky_Fsd]

deniser
Thanks i am really trying to ground myself as i know the first few days definately wont give us a clear indication on sales at all i won't be running out employing people for at least a month or 2 i'll be harrassing friends and family for help.
I'd already factored this in to our opening and due to this we didn't do any marketing prior to opening we litterally just opened the doors, I know this isn't the way to do it but as it was an unknown to us the last thing i wanted was to be bombarded on our first few days (we called it a soft start in the pub trade it's probably the same in retail but as i say it's all new to me) but we have quite a big marketing plan in place once we're ready to push it forward.

oldeagleeye
Thanks for that i was acutally considering putting a small workbench in the front of the shop as it adds a certain charm to it. So glad to hear that this has worked to great effect it's somthing i'm definatly going to try!!

LicensedToTrade
Thanks, As i said before i know this isn't a true indcation of how our sales will continue but 90% of the people who have been in have said i didn't know this was even and i've got a marketing plan in place for the future once all the bugs are worked out.
In our buisness plan i had projections for sales but as i say it was a complete unknown as it's something that i've never really seen before and had estimated sales at £200-£300 a week which i thought we're over optomistic but hopefull But once we'd finished decorating and laying the shop as it's unconventional as it's a mixture of art and installations to show the jewellery at it's best and fun to walk around i knew it would take more than i'd estimated (we took £500 on Friday and £1100 on sat) as the shop was purely meant to be a workspace and a showcase for our items as our online sales average 2k a week during quiet weeks and would more than cover the rent and costs on the shop should it take nothing so anything we take in the shop is really a bonus.

Thanks again for replying and i've taken it all on board and kudos to anybody running a shop i've ran bars and clubs in the past and and i've never felt so mentally drained and shattered as i have the past few days.

 

[deniser]

In our buisness plan i had projections for sales but as i say it was a complete unknown as it's something that i've never really seen before and had estimated sales at £200-£300 a week which i thought we're over optomistic but hopefull But once we'd finished decorating and laying the shop as it's unconventional as it's a mixture of art and installations to show the jewellery at it's best and fun to walk around i knew it would take more than i'd estimated (we took £500 on Friday and £1100 on sat) as the shop was purely meant to be a workspace and a showcase for our items as our online sales average 2k a week during quiet weeks and would more than cover the rent and costs on the shop should it take nothing so anything we take in the shop is really a bonus.

It sounds wonderful. Well done, it sounds like a fantastic start. Good luck!