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One of the great surprises everyone opening a dollar store soon discovers is the huge quantity of merchandise that comes and goes through the store on a routine basis. With the low price and the high sales, there is a need to continuously order, receive, price and display dollar store merchandise. Many store owners get into the habit of stocking shelves every day of the week in an attempt to keep inventory replenished. They forget about the impact some stocking practices can have on store sales. They forget their stock work and the equipment used in that effort can interfere with shoppers. The result is lower levels of customer satisfaction and ultimately lower sales. Don’t let that happen to you. Read on as I present 4 valuable tips about stock work. Tip #1) Don’t load stocking carts to the top. This should be a rule in your store. Loading stock carts too high means those moving the merchandise through the store can’t really see who or what they can run into. This is an especially risky practice on the busy days of the weekend and during the holidays. With so many shoppers moving about, you and your employees need to have a clear view as you move dollar store merchandise onto the sales floor for stocking. Tip #2) Don’t leave stocking carts on the sales floor. It’s so easy to get pulled away from stock work to handle other tasks. Sure it only takes a few minutes to make change for a cashier, or to cover a break. By leaving a partially filled stock cart on the floor you are blocking shoppers from moving easily about the store. You are also blocking them from reaching dollar store merchandise they may wish to purchase. When you are opening a dollar store make it your policy that carts be removed from the sales floor whenever the assigned employee needs to tend to other duties. Tip #3) Maintain customer service as the number one responsibility of every employee; even those who are stocking shelves. When you are stocking dollar store merchandise it’s easy to get totally focused on what you are doing. The last thing you want to do is to be constantly interrupted by shoppers. Yet serving your customers is the very reason you are in business. When opening a dollar store make sure you set and reinforce the expectation that every employee prioritizes customers first. Always stop whatever you are doing to answer questions and to escort shoppers to the items they seek. 4) Never leave boxes of merchandise sitting around. When first opening a dollar store it may seem to be much quicker to simply empty box after box of dollar store merchandise. Then when everything is where it belongs, you can focus on breaking down and disposing of the empty boxes. Yet empty boxes block shopper access to the items they want to purchase. Empty boxes also create a tripping hazard for shoppers and others. Don’t risk lower sales or worse yet an accident in your store. Always break down and store empty cartons on your stock cart. To your dollar store success! Find out how you can open your own dollar store business.
Bob Hamilton is an entrepreneur, author, writer, business consultant and trainer.
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