Symbol Groups

[harvsuper123]

Hi all,

I would like to find out information from any one that owns a shop with a symbol group, e.g. Nisa, Londis, Premier and Costcutter. How does the system work and what kind of contract do I sign up with them? For example do they get a cut from my sales.

I own a independent convenience store and even though business is going well I want to increase the footfall into my store even more.

If anyone moved from own store to a symbol group what have their experiences been like? Sales increase? Profit increase?.


Thank you.

 

[harvsuper123]

I see that no one is part of a symbol group. Just to bump this up and make sure someone see's it. Thank you very much.

 

[TotallySport]

Personally i think you need to do some market research, and go out and about, asking people what they want or prefer.

I don't perceive Nisa, Spar or any local chain as well priced or high quality.

We have moved to try and shop at ore independent shops, but very few really understand how to put their shop over to the public which is a shame.

 

[harvsuper123]

İ have researched and spoken to a few reps from different symbol groups. The most that İ have liked the sound of is Nisa as they dont require you to change the fascia, something that İ dont want to rush into due to the lack of savings. Also it may not drive up my profits due to some of the low POR on offers. However İ would love to be able to do offers especially on grocery and household goods as my shop is in an estate and İ dont want my customers going to Morrisons and İceland that is a 5-10 min walk away when they can get good offers from my shop.

 

[Mayor]

I was approached by a "symbol group" (completely different industry though), it was basically a buying group that offered better discounts on their range of products, a monthly service charge, centralised invoicing, and branded POS. There was no bottom buy limit, but service charges reduced, and discounts increased with higher volume purchasing, and more visible branding. Things like the invoicing and discounts were appealing, but I did not regard the branding to be an incentive to customers in itself, and although the "corporate" feel seemed to raise our bar as far as appearance was concerned, I felt that a lot of control over day to day purchasing was being relinquished. I did not proceed.