How to streamline your store and fully maximise your potential

With costs rising and margins squeezed, it’s even more important to make sure your store is working hard for you and that there are no areas or products that aren’t driving sales.

Retailers need to know what is selling well and make sure they are giving them every opportunity – from placement to PoS – to build sales further. Analysing sales data is critical to keeping on top of what’s selling.

“Shopkeepers are generally in a mindset of ‘we know better’, but EPoS is a good way of checking that and it’s a bitter pill to swallow when you look at the data because you actually realise what you think you’re selling lots of, you haven’t bought or sold for a long time,” says Sasi Patel, of Go Local Extra Oldham Road in Rochdale.

How to pick the right EPoS system for your store

Retailers need to quickly identify lines that have failed to catch the attention of customers. These products don’t just have the potential to increase a store’s overall wastage, but can actively hinder the sales of a more popular product.

“I’ve got two fridges and I could have 100 different lines in there if I wanted, but there’s no point if they’re not selling,” says Gerald Thomas, from Arcade News in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire. “You’re better off doubling up on the bestselling products.”

As well as identifying what is selling well, retailers should also look at what is bringing in the best margins. Products associated with his post office – such as padded envelopes and stationery – bring in 100% margins for Tariq Chishti, from Netherlee Post & News in Glasgow, so he has put them near the post office and increased stock of the ones that sell.

“This way, although the turnover isn’t as a great as a big shop, our margins are bang on,” he says. “We’ve got high-margin, fast-selling products and we look at what we can do to make them faster sellers.”