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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Troll-Hunter" data-source="post: 635228" data-attributes="member: 7156">A bit of adviceI have been out of retail for almost 6 years, but before I switched careers I was in retail management for 12 years, so here goes a bit of what I learned.  I will try not to cover some of the advice posted above, though perhaps there may be a bit of overlap.Cash Flow and Inventory Control- While having a selection of high price items might be good and flashy, where you can really make money is in the small - med priced items that sell quickly.  Items that make your investment/inventory dollars work for you (by turnover) and thus make you more money.-  If you have a gaming area with 4 gaming tables with space for 6 people per gaming table, that gives you 24 potential customers for continuous impulse sales – i.e. snack foods (chips, cookies, sodas, bottle water, candy bars etc).  Yes the margin is low (about 20%), but the turnover is high, especially on weekends.-  Near the register should only be low priced items, cheap/loose dice, booster packs of the newest expansion, cheap game aids (pen, pencils, markers), etc.  Items that give the customer the impulse to say, “hey, I need that”.-  A Point of Sale (POS) is great, but you really have to learn how to use it.  Find a good one that provides stale/dated inventory and turnover information. - Turnover, is how many times you have to order something to keep the shelf full.  Several factors affect this - one is the packing size of the item (1 - 24 per pack), delivery time (1 day or 4 weeks), seasonal items (summer, Christmas items), inventory time-frame (once a 1 week, once a 1 month, daily auto-replenishment).In an ideal POS system, you keep 3 Player’s Handbook on the shelf, every time you sell 2 the POS program automatically generates a order to your wholesalers to send you 2 more.  After the 1 is sold and until the 2 on order arrive you are losing money – empty rented space, interest on inventory loans, potential cash flow, etc…Some POS systems can tell how many days an item was out-of-stock during a month, a year, basically you are pay rent for air!  A good POS will generate weekly reports of your “outs” study it and adjust your inventory as necessary.- Stale inventory, is how long an item sits on the shelf, but does depend on the type of business.  For a restaurant business it probably is only a matter of days.  If I were you I would set for 30-60 days top, run a POS report telling you what items have been on the shelf longer than 60 days.  These items are costly you money!  Such as rented space, interest on loans, and potential cash flow on an item that could sell faster.  Pull it off the shelf and in a prominent area of the store, front impact display near the front … so that customers walking in will see it right away.  Mark it down 1 increment per week - 20%, then 30%, then 50%, then 75%, and yes then 90% until it is gone.  Then never-never order that item again for your inventory.  If some customer requests it later, special order, but ask for 10% down – and no-refunds.  Be upfront if customers why this item or that is never stock – it does not sell for you.Store Presentation1 Clean and clean - vacuum, dust, polish, and clean the windows – daily, if not weekly.2 Brightly lit store, extra lighting in the game area.3 Wide and open store, easy to access, please no clutter4 Every six months adjust the layout of the store, freshen it up.  Move the WOTC D&D D20 from the left side to the right side of store.  Move the dice packs from the endcap display to right above the D&D hardback books.  This gives you a chance to clean bookcases and displays under the books and boxes.  It gives everything a new look and motivates you to assess your inventory.AdvertisementYellow pages works best for that is how I found my local gaming stores.  After that word of mouth is probably the best - which needs good customer relations.Hope that helps</blockquote>

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