With Black Friday barely in our rearview we thought it might be timely to talk about cost reduction strategies related to the retail industry. Most people understand Black Friday as being the day of the year that retailers try to “get back in the black” if they are having a hard year turning a profit. However, we know that there are other ways retailers can increase their bottom line and it has nothing to do with this national pastime of deep discounts and early bird specials.
One of a retailer’s largest expenses is their actual brick and mortar store. One way to save money is to consider sharing your space with another vendor. More and more digital vendors are looking to partner with physical locations to get in front of consumers where they are already shopping. These partnerships can prove to be lucrative for both parties.
Inventory can also be a huge expense for certain retailers and having a smooth system in place to manage it is key. There are many cloud-based solutions for tracking, selling, and even reordering inventory in a precise way. It’s been reported that some retailers have been able to cut their costs of goods by up to 30% by using this strategy.
Cloud-based solutions have been important for another reason: reducing unnecessary equipment. For example, some large retailers have started using mobile iPad minis to process sales from anywhere throughout the store. This has led to a 15% increase in sales, not to mention the reduced cost of big, clunky cash registers that are expensive to service and maintain.
Though Black Friday can be a nice boost to many retailers bottom line before year end, these solutions are applicable any time of year and for most any time of retailer.
Are you a retailer looking for cost reduction solutions? Give us a call at 317-580-8440 or visit our Contact Us page and send us a message. We look forward to working with you!
