Take advantage of Easter’s late arrival by scheduling special training, team meetings and/ or product demonstrations ahead of the spring and summer holidays.
Categories: Buying, Display & Merchandising, Inventory, Store Management & Operations
As we wrap up the year I want to share three tips to help finish the year moving forward. 1. Celebrate your successes This year has been a mixed bag for many stores. Church stores have definitely been impacted, however, we can find something to celebrate. Whether it’s our volunteers (who deserve to be celebrated), [ Read More ]
There is an errant thought process that is far to prevalent in church stores and coffee shops. It’s the thinking that says “we already have a built-in customer base in our membership…so we don’t need to do all of that!” This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Capturing basic customer information (name, address, phone number, e-mail, birth date) should be common practice in your store or shop. This is primarily because this very basic information will help you to build two key databases; direct mail and e-mail.
Inventory levels can be a tricky proposition especially during the holidays. On one side you want to avoid having too much and consequently being forced to heavily discount to move items and on the other you don’t want to run out of an item. So what do you do?
When it get’s busy one of the first things that is sacrificed is the cleanliness of the store, restocking displays and general maintenance.
In the Christian products marketplace, stores often struggle with when to start merchandising for the Christmas season. Some feel that following the general market, many of whom are already in Christmas mode, is too early; while other Christmas purests will not merchandise until after Thanksgiving.
Categories: Christian Retailing, Display & Merchandising, General Interest
Over the years there have been a few books that have really shaped and impacted the way I see things. One of those books is “Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service” by Ken Blanchard. In his well known parable like form, Blanchard identifies three keys to creating a raving fans culture around what [ Read More ]
In today’s Impulse Video we talk about how Williams-Sonoma and Michael’s Craft stores have generated quarterly profits through cost cutting measures. David McIntyre shares how you can apply these principles to your church bookstore. [youtube qLksuZX21kg]
Categories: General Interest, Inventory, Store Management & Operations
The Fall and Christmas season are my favorites and they provide so may opportunities to use warm colors (oranges, burgundy’s and browns) and deep, rich hues like greens, reeds and blues. No other seasons in retail are so marked by colors, smells and the feel of warmth. You should take advantage of a ll of these in your stores.