Retail Merchandise Management Tip
Tip #394 - Your Store Depends on It
(1/22/10)
Dear Tip of the Weeker,
It's that time of year! Time to think about how you will manage your expenses for the next 12 months.
Not thinking about it? You should be! Because if you're like most retailers, you can't afford to ignore it.
If you have a concrete plan in place, you'll sail through 2010 with less surprises and more money in the bank come 2011.
This week's Tip, about open to buy planning, is based on one of our greatest hits from last year, read on!
Managing expenses in the upcoming year is going to be a make-it-or-break-it activity for most retailers. But managing doesn't mean slash and burn, it means making careful and thoughtful decisions about when and where to spend your hard-earned cash.
Running an "Open to Buy Plan" for your store is the most important expense management tool any retailer can have in their arsenal.
Why? Because your inventory is your biggest expense (and probably your biggest asset). You have to manage your inventory like your store depends on it - because it does.
Too much inventory means either high markdowns and low/no profits or you don't have money to pay your vendors. In a recession with flat or decreasing sales, this is a short path to going out of business.
Too little inventory means you won't have the merchandise that your customers want. And in these tough economic times you can't afford to send even a single customer to the competition for merchandise you should have in stock, but don't. This is a longer path to going out of business, but the destination is the same...
To be successful, you need the right amount of the right stuff at the right time. And that's what an open to buy plan helps you achieve.
Getting an open to buy plan going is a New Year's resolution worth making!
Those of you with the Retail Mastery System already have a leg up on open to buy planning because you have nearly a hundred pages and 3 discs giving you a complete step-by-step guide to understanding, creating, and then USING your open to buy plan. If you haven't done it yet, it's time to crack that kit open and get started!
No doubt about it, successful retailers who come out of 2010 smelling like a rose will be the ones using an Open to Buy Plan. We want that retailer to be YOU!
Want some help? Here's a link to an article,"What Is Open To Buy Planning, Anyway?" that explains the basics.
Whether or not you own the Inventory Management kit from the Retail Mastery System, you can still get a simple, effective, open to buy plan up and running for 2010 in only 2 days. How?
Register now for an upcoming Inventory Mastery Program LIVE 2-day workshop - the workshop will more than pay for itself in the first year you use it and you'll gain lifelong control over your inventory and expenses.
Want to know more about the Inventory Mastery Program? Just click here.
Take action now and do some preparation for 2010 and see how good it feels to have a plan in place to manage your expenses this year, and every year.
