nursery matters JOHN BARKER
Barking
Mad
Pramland’s John Barker this month gives his advice on why it is so important to assess your business as an independent nursery retailer.
I
magine a world where you can predict how business will be for the next two or three months. A world where we still see ups and downs, but the peaks aren’t the size of mount Everest and the troughs aren’t the depth of the Mariana Trench, simply gentle fluctuations in business. Snap out of it you fool - we don’t live in this world instead we live in one that is as unpredictable as Manchester Utd’s defence. I’m writing this article at the very start of September and the delightful children have all returned to school, ok so there’s still a few stragglers here and there but mainly they’re back. I can tell as it no longer takes me 10 minutes to get to the store in the morning! As you have probably guessed trade here in Hull has continued to be a little volatile. Of the six weeks that make up the school holidays I’m pleased to report five have been very good for business. Far better than expected in fact, but the sixth and final week was terrible. Not just a few bad days, oh no, from start to finish terrible. There’re a few reasons this may have been the case, chief of which has to be the fact that not every week can be good. Oddly the preceding week was our best week 36
since February – this only compounds my misery if I’m completely truthful. Why am I telling you this, and why is it relevant to you? Well, it comes down to understanding your business and how you are performing. I don’t claim to be running the most successful nursery store in the country, far from it if truth be told, but I do understand the business. Both where it has been and where we are going are constantly on my radar. When we are busy, I assess what we are doing that has brought us to this point. Sometimes that assessment simply points to improved market conditions, sometimes it may be the introduction of a new brand or product. It could have been more activity on our socials or even a focused promotion in store. Analysing every decision made and the outcome is a vital part of ensuring you are giving your team the best opportunity to make a sale. When times haven’t been as good it is even more important to analysis what you’ve done. Far too often do I see online in groups stores saying things are hard but only looking at outside factors that could lead to a reduction in business. Believe it or not sometimes it’s the things we do, or more importantly don’t do that can
john@pramland.co.uk As independent reta iler s we can bea t the online compet ition han ds dow n on so many counts . There are three factors tha t the con sumer will choose to pur cha se online instead of in store wit h you . Pric e, Ava ilab ility and Exp erience . cause a negative affect or our businesses. I’m not saying price matching and online pricing isn’t a huge problem in our industry, it is. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that it’s probably the biggest issue many of us face but this shouldn’t mean that it’s a done deal. As independent retailers we can beat the online competition hands down on so many counts. There are three factors that the consumer will choose to purchase online instead of in store with you. Price, Availability and Experience. The consumer will automatically
assume that online pricing will be cheaper. If they didn’t they wouldn’t constantly ask “do you price match?” before they know how much the item is online. Countless times over the past couple of weeks have I been asked this question only to find them unable to find it cheaper elsewhere. Yes, there has been multiple times where they have found it cheaper, on a couple by a fairly sizeable amount too. Understanding your business and having a good grip on its figures will soon tell you if you are able to match this price or it’s a simple case of saying “sorry I can’t afford to
nursery today
Barking Mad.indd 1
10/09/2024 17:18