Not Yet A Member?

How To Increase Your Sales And Profits by Bundling Products: While, as an independent retailer, you should aim to offer your customers merchandise that they can't buy elsewhere in town, it's likely that you stock some of the same or similar items as your competitors.
In this article, find out how bundling products can help you increase your sales and profits.

How to Increase Christmas Sales Using Email Marketing: For many retailers the Christmas season is their busiest time of year. A great way to give Christmas sales a boost is by using email marketing during the festive season.

In this article, find out how to run a successful Christmas email marketing campaign and a few suggestions for what you can include in your festive promotions.

How to Boost Sales Through Impulse Buys: Despite many shoppers being more discerning over what they buy, it seems that impulse purchases continue to boost retail sales, especially for speciality retailers.
So let’s take a look at how to increase impulse sales in your shop - what makes a good impulse buy item, and how to stimulate additional sales.

Glossary: Key Retail Measures & Calculations: Regular assessment of your shop's performance is vital to the success of your retail business.
Here's a list of the key measures and calculations to help you manage your retail shop's performance.

How To Add Sales and Profits to Your Retail Business By Counting Customers: In this article, discover how and why successful retailers count customers who enter their shops, and learn how you too can add sales & profits to your retail business.

How to Increase Sales, Profits & Your Customer Base with Workshops & Seminars: As all successful independent retailers know, maintaining your marketing effort through thick and thin is vital to running a sustainable retail business. And the more engaging your marketing activity is the more successful it's likely to be.

How a Competitive Advantage Helps You Attract Repeat Customers and Sell at Higher Margins: How can independent retailers survive against the big retailers' deeply discounted prices? This article explains what you can do to attract and retain customers and increase your margins in the face of fierce competition.

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY ‘BRAND'?: There are often misconceptions about what the word "Brand" actually means. So here's a brief definition which it is hoped you'll find useful.

How to Increase Your Repeat Customer Levels - Practical Strategies That Work!: For a retail business owner, repeat customers are the most profitable customers you can have. In fact, for many retailers, repeat customers are up to 5 times more profitable than first-time customers.

How to Partner With Other Businesses to Increase Your Sales: Customers are the lifeblood of every business. A primary goal for every retailer is to grow their customer base, and for you as an independent shop owner to do so at a low cost. The more targeted your marketing is, the more profitable it will be.

7 Reasons Why You Should Run a Sale: In the current climate, some retailers seem to be running a sale every week. in doing so they could be doing irreparable damage to their brand. In this article we explain the 7 reasons to run a sale in your shop, and how to make sure you get the most out of them without harming your reputation.

How to Cash In On Referrals from Your Regular Customers: Are you missing out on this lucrative yet 'easy to do' aproach to getting more customers into your shop? This article explains why you should set up a referral system, and how to do it.

Setting Up & Running a Christmas Savings Club: Setting up a Christmas Savings Club for your customers not only helps them spread the cost Christmas but could also help you beat the competition during this important trading period

Here's how to set up a Christmas Savings Club in 4 simple steps.

How to Set Up Successful Sales Promotions & Retail Events: Are your sales promotions and special events really delivering the results they should? Are they well organised in advance or a last minute thought? Which promotions work best for you and why? Do you want to be more successful with your sales promotions?
This action list will help you prepare and implement sales promotions and in-store events that will drive footfall, increase sales, shift stock and improve cashflow.

Build Your Customer List: How can a small, independent retailer, with a limited marketing budget, keep in touch with customers when they're not coming into the shop?

The Sale of Goods Act - Summary: The Sale of Goods Act was introduced in 1979 to protect consumers in the purchases they made. It was updated and amended in 1994 (Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994) and again in 2002 (Sale and Supply of Goods Act to Consumer Regulations 2002) to take into account consumers purchasing goods in other European countries.
The main aim of the latest amendment was to encourage people to shop across borders and know that there is some legal recourse if they are problems with faulty goods.

4 Key Steps to Effectively Managing your Shop's Sales and Stock Levels: Are you holding higher levels of stock than you need? Is your markdown percentage increasing? Are your profit margins being further eroded? Are weaker sales impacting upon your cashflow?

Learn how to take (back) control of your largest asset - your merchandise stock.

Creating a WOW factor in your Shop: Does your shop have the WOW factor? Are you giving your customers a great shopping experience or are your competitors doing better than you?
In this article discover what the WOW factor means and how to create it in your retail shop.

5 Top Tips for Easier Staff Recruitment: For many customers, the right shop staff is a a key factor which influences their decision on whether to visit and buy from your shop.
Here's 5 tips to make recruiting the right staff easier for you.

Retailing - Key Drivers: Like all businesses, retailers operate in an ever changing environment. These changes may present new opportunities or, equally, they may pose threats to the viability of the business.

The 12 P's of Retailing: Whether a multi-national retail chain or a small, independent shop, creating a compelling and credible retail proposition in today's marketplace demands thorough management planning, implementation, monitoring and review.

The Value of Knowing How Much Your Retail Customers are Worth: Understanding the lifetime value of your customers will help you make more informed decisions about the operation of your retail business. Learn more.....

Top Tips for Creating Great Christmas Window Displays: Are your Christmas window displays working hard enough to draw in customers who might otherwise pass you by? Learn top tips for creating great windows display this Christmas and see your footfall increase.

Improve your Buying - Ask the Right Questions: Asking the right questions of your suppliers' sales representatives or agents is key to getting the best prices and terms for your merchandise orders. Here we list the questions you should be asking your suppliers.

Know Who Your Customers Are: Target your marketing at specific customer segments and you're more likely to have a profitable retail business. Learn why marketing to the masses is largely a waste of money and how to determine who your target customers are.

How to Reduce Your Shop's Overhead Costs: It's easy for business expenses to creep up over time but if they go unchecked for a long period these inflated costs can often bring a business down. Learn how to make your retail business more profitable with these practical ways of reducing your overhead costs.

How to Light Your Shop To Influence Customer Behaviour: Major retailers understand how to influence customer behaviour by using different types of lighting. You too will learn how best to use this effective technique in your shop.

How and Where to Source Merchandise For Your Shop: Knowing where to buy from and how to get the best prices and terms is an absolute must in order for your shop to be competitive. In this article, you'll find out what sourcing options are available and how to get the best deal for your shop.

More Reasons Why Potential Customers Don't Buy: If most people entering your shop leave without making a purchase, don't just assume that they had no intention of buying anything in the first place. Discover more reasons why potential customers don't buy and learn how to make sure your shop isn't making the same mistakes.

Why Potential Customers Don’t Buy: If most people entering your shop leave without making a purchase, don't just assume that they had no intention of buying anything in the first place. Discover the key reasons why potential customers don't buy and learn how to make sure your shop isn't making the same mistakes.

6 Key Attributes of Successful Retail Promotions: Why do some sales promotions work better than others? What needs to be done differently? In this article, we explain the six key attributes that feature in all successful retail sales promotions.

7 Steps to Making A Successful Sale: As a potential customer leaves without making a purchase, how often do you ask yourself "Why did he/she come into the shop? He/She clearly didn't want to buy anything"?
In this article, you will learn the 7 key essential steps to accomplishing a sale, helping you to turn more potential customers into actual customers.

20 Ways to Market your Retail Shop: Marketing is vital for the survival and growth of any retail business, particularly independent ones like yours. How will consumers know what you have to offer, or that your shop even exists, if you don't tell them?