we have a small business with our best selling items being yankee candles and boyds bears. i want to bring more customers into the shop. i also want to keep my stock looking fresh. i would really appreciate any advice or ideas ayone has
2006-07-20 06:56:55 · 4 answers · asked by claregraham101 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Small Business
Try keeping Branded stuff. Interact personally with each of the customers, give them advice for products. give away some souvenirs to your customers such as key chains, pen, etc with your shops name printed on it.
This one has always worked and has resulted in great customer Loyalty.
Note down your customers Date of Birth and send them a Greeting card on their birth day. They will be really impressed and believe me they will always come to your shop.
2006-07-20 07:06:36 · answer #1 · answered by DON 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You want your shop to be a one stop shop for present buyers. Have a good selection of cards and wrap to complement the gifts they are buying. If your budget allows it, offer a gift wrapping service. ( you can buy reams of tissue paper quite cheaply ).
Try and change your display regularly so that even if you don t have new stock in the shop looks fresh.
If your customers are affluent, make sure you have design led products and try and keep up with trends etc by going to the main trade shows of the year. There are about 6/7 worthwhile ones a year. Have a look at clarion events and the spring/autumn fair websites to get dates and venues.
I wouldn't bother about web sales until you are happy with your shop as you may lose sight of what you are tying to do at the moment.
One last thing is to always get rid of end of line stock and slow movers asap as they just take up shelf space. Don't bother with 10 or 20% off, if you want to clear it, you want to clear it. Its better off offering 50% and getting back the money you paid, so you can then order new, quicker moving lines!
Hope this is of some help!
2006-07-22 01:23:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Associations may be a good avenue to explore as well. These organizations will address many of the thoughts, questions and concerns you'll inevitably have as well as many you haven't anticipated yet. See the source box for some relevant links.
Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!
2006-07-20 08:14:51 · answer #3 · answered by TM Express™ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1) Build an ebay shop
2) Build an on-line shop
3) Load your online shop into Froogle
We use Actinic catalogue, which is nice and easy to use, does everything but a bit basic.
Check out http://www.whitewinds.co.uk to see how it works
2006-07-20 07:03:14 · answer #4 · answered by The Lone Gunman 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋