cost saving ideas

5 Great Cost-Saving Ideas for Your Retail Business

cost saving ideasWith the average small business set to spend over $75,000 on digital marketing this year, retail businesses need to find ways to cut costs to compete. Between the demands of even the tiniest businesses to have brick and mortar locations and the pressures of competing online, retail is feeling the squeezed.

You need to engage with some cost-saving ideas if you want to stay afloat in the current climate.

Follow these 5 tips to ensure you can run with the herd.

1. Do Your Own Marketing

Using social media and search engine optimization tactics, you can do a lot of marketing on your own.

When people use search engines, they’re either looking for the answer to a question or for a specific product. By creating a blog to answer frequently asked questions about your products and services, you can address both needs. Use local terms and the most important keywords to ensure you capture lots of traffic.

Share these posts along with great looking photos of your products on social media. Follow people in related industries and respond to comments to increase engagement.

2. Combine Scheduling With Payroll

There are lots of different software solutions available for payroll and for scheduling. The most common mistake small businesses make is to have separate services. Save costs for your business by finding a solution that can do both.

When you have a combined payroll and scheduling service, you can keep track of your labor costs. This data allows you to get to know when things are picking up and where they’re slowing down.

3. Keep A Tight Watch On Inventory

Having inventory that sits around on your shelves is like having a depreciating currency. When you have inventory, you should be just a couple of days away from having it in customers’ hands.

Inventory that sits around and collects dust can fall out of trend, go bad, or begin to fall apart. If you feel like your retail execution plan is failing, take some time to reassess it.

4. Run Online Only Promotions

Online-only promotions can help you get a feel for how well new products will sell. If you’re thinking about branching out, it could be a big investment to buy a bunch of new product and try to get customers excited about it.

Instead, see if you can get a partial order from your distributor to test how well it does with your customer base. Check out this guide to selling online if you’re new to the concept.

5. Give Customers What They Want

Instead of tirelessly promoting one product when customers clearly prefer another, focus on perfecting that product they already enjoy. Listen to their feedback and try to give them more of what they want. Once you show that you’re listening to them, they’ll listen to you and trust your judgment.

Cost-Saving Ideas Need To Suit Your Style

If one of these cost-saving ideas starts to cost you more money to implement, it might not be ideal for your retail business. Your first few solutions should require no new investment before you start scaling back your spending.

If you’re in the middle of a growth spurt and find you need to bring on some new staff, check out our guide for running a good pre-employment screening.

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