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We apologise for the short notice, and if you think that it would have been good to have been given more warning, yeah, we do too.

Overall, women in Australia spend a whopping $15 billion each year on grooming products, while men spend a still-impressive $7 billion.

In other words men grooming products are a third of the grooming market, hold that thought.

While walking around as a magpie at the recent Melbourne Giftware show, I started talking to a sales manager exhibiting on a stand promoting male grooming products. We began to talk about this market which he told me was booming. Being interested as I am always looking for something good for my clients, he told me he would send me some information which he did. 

Many of you will find his notes and comments interesting for your shop.

Firstly I cannot verify his figures. I tried, but I could not find information on the net, and paywalls protected some information quoted. So although I can't verify the market data he provided, it comes up well with the growth trends I'm seeing. 

Here is a summary of what I got.

Australia's men's grooming market is growing steadily. With changing attitudes, Australian men are investing more time and money into looking their best.

Key Men's Grooming Categories

There are several main categories within men's grooming products. Here is a breakdown of the major segments and their current market value:

Men's Shaving

This includes shaving creams, gels, foams, soaps, lotions, balms and aftershaves.

• Market value in 2023: $AUD 257.2 million
• Expected CAGR from 2023-2028: 3.8%

Growth drivers:

• Increasing demand for premium and natural shaving products

Men's Post-Shave

This covers products used after shaving, like lotions, balms, gels, sprays and oils.

• Market value in 2023: $AUD 58 million
• Expected CAGR from 2023-2028: 4.2%

Growth drivers:

• Increased awareness of post-shave product benefits
• Availability of products for different skin types

Men's Pre-Shave

Pre-shave products include oils, scrubs, washes and exfoliators used before shaving.

• Market value in 2023: $AUD 19.5 million
• Expected CAGR from 2023-2028: 4.5%

Growth drivers:

• Demand for products that prepare skin for a smooth, irritation-free shave
• Reducing ingrown hairs

Men's Razors and Blades

Covers disposable razors, cartridge razors, safety razors, straight razors, electric shavers, trimmers, clippers and replacement blades.

• Market value in 2023: $AUD 179.6 million
• Expected CAGR from 2023-2028: 3.6%

Growth drivers:

• Preference for high-quality, precision razors and shavers

A note here as I get older, I find that electric shavers are not giving me a good shave and I need to use a razor, as Australians are aging, this would be true of many more Australian now. 

Men's Toiletries

There are a range of products in this category for example deodorants, antiperspirants, body washes, shampoos, conditioners, styling products, oral care and more.

• The market value in 2023: $AUD 1.6 billion
• Expected CAGR from 2023-2028: 4.1%

Growth drivers:

• Demand for natural and organic toiletries
• Increasing awareness of oral hygiene

Men's Bath and Shower

Covers body washes, soaps, scrubs, gels, foams, oils, bath salts and bath bombs.

• Market value in 2023: $AUD 238.2 million
• Expected CAGR from 2023-2028: 4.3%

Growth drivers:

• Demand for premium, natural bath products
• Products to suit different skin types and moods

Premium vs Mass Products

Within categories like bath products, deodorants and hair care, there is a split between premium and mass-market products.

Premium products are higher priced due to superior quality, performance, innovation or exclusivity. Consumers pay more for a luxurious, sophisticated experience.

Mass-market products are more affordable and accessible, catering to many consumers.

Here's the market value in 2023 for premium vs mass sub-categories:

Premium products are expected to achieve higher growth rates than mass products.

Notable Categories to Watch

Here are a few men's grooming categories to keep an eye on over the next five years:

Men's Deodorants

• Market value in 2023: $AUD 333.9 million
• Expected CAGR from 2023-2028: 3.9%

Men's Hair Care

• Market value in 2023: $AUD 356.7 million
• Expected CAGR from 2023-2028: 4.5%

Men's Skin Care

• Market value in 2023: $AUD 669.1 million

Conclusion

The men's grooming market is booming in Australia in segments like shaving, skincare, hair care and bath products. I highly recommend thinking about moving into this growth category. Focus on products that deliver functional benefits like anti-aging and odour protection. You could profit from the surging demand with the right product mix and targeted marketing.

This morning, the popular communication system XchangeIt experienced an outage that left users unable to access the platform. Understandably, this caused frustration and confusion among users who rely on XchangeIt to get invoices.

One of the more concerning aspects of this outage was the lack of communication from the XchangeIt team. Besides a brief recorded message acknowledging an issue, no status updates or explanations were provided when we checked. This left users in the dark about what was going on and how long the problems might persist.

More transparency would have helped.

Now the problems are fixed. 

If you still have problems, please let us know.

Recently, we negotiated excellent rates for Visa and EFTPOS transactions for our customers. Details are here.

Unfortunately, one of our competitors made some misleading comments in response to me on the time it takes for funds to be cleared into a merchant's account after a customer transaction. As this is an important issue, I will explain the process so you understand the problems, the big problem, and where people are being misled. I will use EFTPOS, but the situation is similar to MasterCard and VISA, although rarely as much of a problem.

As a rule, the people you deal with are often the agents for large financial companies who do the actual EFTPOS.  These can be eftpos Payments Australia or huge multinational companies. For example, Fiserv, which I will discuss below, had approximately 44,000 employees worldwide on December 31, 2021, and works in 100 countries.

Now this image below will explain how it works generally. 

In a typical EFTPOS transaction in Australia, the money flows through three main organisations:

- The customer's issuing bank
- The EFTPOS network's custodial settlement account 
- The merchant's acquiring bank

There may also be other intermediaries involved.

The process happens in several steps:

1. The customer taps their card at the merchant's terminal, which is virtually instant.

2. The terminal requests authorisation from the acquiring bank, taking just seconds.

3. The acquiring bank authorises the transaction in seconds by checking with the issuing bank. 

4. Authorisation is returned to the merchant terminal within seconds.

5. The transaction completes instantly from the merchant's perspective.

6. Funds are transferred into the EFTPOS network's custodial account, either same-day or next-day depending on cutoff times. 

7. The EFTPOS network reconciles and okays the funds the next business day.

8. Finally, the funds are transferred from the custodial account to the merchant's bank account. This often takes 1-3 business days.

The delay in step 8 is a big problem, so I highlighted it and marked it with a red arrow above. It may take three days if the custodial and merchant accounts are with different banks. 

Some people, as here, emphasise the fastest scenario as usual, e.g., quoting as if your bank account is the same as their custodial account, but I think this is often misleading. 

Conclusion

You need to research and understand this settlement timeline when evaluating EFTPOS providers. Ask a detailed question to get the total elapsed time from the point of transaction to the money in your account to manage your cash flow appropriately. This can save you considerable frustration down the road.

"The customer taps and dashes, but your money may move at a snail's pace through the system."

90th-anniversary magazine issue

This September marks a significant milestone for one of Australia's most iconic magazines. The Australian Women's Weekly is turning 90! As trusted sellers of this historic Aussie publication for nearly a century. 

As many newsagents and magazine sellers are my clients, the sales and reception of these anniversary issues are of great interest. Celebrating this heritage and leveraging this magazine's enduring popularity is a unique opportunity. I hope this helps them fully capitalise on this milestone moment for one of Australia's most celebrated publications.

Iconic Australian women's magazine Provides a Special Opportunity.

With The Australian Women's Weekly's 90th-anniversary commemorative issues hitting stands soon, newsagents can leverage their customers' interest to glimpse into nine decades of groundbreaking Australian women's stories.

These collectible editions are a chance to:

• Highlight The Woman's Weekly's impressive reputation
• Create captivating magazine displays and promotions to attract buyer attention
• Why not leverage Maggie Tabberer's lasting star power? This legendary model-turned-TV star graces the retro-inspired September issue cover

Emphasise these issues' exclusive interviews and stories chronicling iconic Australian women throughout history.

Australian Women's Weekly special issue series

Most importantly, it highlights The Weekly's significance as a cultural touchstone which has been resonating with Aussie women since 1933 as its emphasis on thoughtful storytelling has built trust and authority for generations. Newsagents can capitalize on this by positioning the 90th-anniversary issues as a celebration of both:

• The Weekly's heritage
• Its ongoing importance as a voice for Australian women

For over 90 years, newsagencies have brought the pages of The Australian Women's Weekly to communities nationwide. This issue will be a piece of history that many customers want to get and even collect. I am sure many will come to the newsagency to get it.

A Milestone for Newsagents and Their Customers

Don't miss out on celebrating this cultural icon's significant birthday! With compelling content and commemorative appeal, The Australian Women's Weekly's 90th-anniversary issues offer newsagents an excellent opportunity to engage buyers.

I was struck by this article here that showed how A/B testing can dramatically improve sales in a shop. Now with POS Solutions Software, such In-Store Tests are simple and quick to do. We did notably a set of tests with Mars Bars a while ago, but this will do as an excellent example of how it works. 

The Problem

When sales of chilled coffee slowed at Savita's convenience store in Manchester, the UK, she wanted to re-energize its sales without a major expense. With limited space and budget, she adopted this low-risk, high-impact solution.

The Approach

Savita decided to allow A/B to test two different layouts for her chilled coffee section:

This is how it works. 

First what you do is establish what we call a baseline, the A case.  So over a week, you measure how your sales are going. Often all we have to do is use your existing information as it is already in place, so we save a week.

Secondly, we make the changes to the shop and let it run for a week.

Now we measure the difference. If it does not work for some reason, we try something different.

In her case, what she had was 

Layout A (Original)

• Chilled coffee split across two fridges
• 6 facings
• Arranged randomly

She then made the changes and now had her B case

Layout B (Test Layout)

• The entire range consolidated into one fridge
• Organized thoughtfully by flavour profile
• 12 facings

She tracked sales under each layout for two weeks.

The Results

The test yielded the following results:

• Chilled coffee sales increased 200% with Layout B
• Customers appreciated the easier shopping
• Higher purchase frequency despite no traffic increase

The Learning

With a simple in-store experiment, Savita unlocked major growth. She learned:

• Consolidate products together
• Arrange thoughtfully by type
• Allocate enough space

The Takeaway

A/B testing can help retailers optimize merchandising and increase sales. But running in-store tests can seem daunting without the right tools.

That's where POS Solutions Software comes in. Our system makes it simple for retailers like yours to set up, run, and analyse A/B tests quickly. So you can try bold ideas risk-free and scale up what works.

Facts do not lie - minor tweaks can have a significant financial impact.

Let's discuss how your POS system can build your business with easy A/B testing.

Results for a US survey, source here.

Have you ever walked into a retail store in Australia and received poor customer service? Maybe the sales assistant ignored you or seemed uninterested. Perhaps the checkout line was painfully slow. Or the store ran out of the item you wanted. Unfortunately, we all have experiences like this.

Good Customer Service is Absolutely Vital for Retail Success in Australia

With rising customer expectations and fierce competition, retailers must focus on delivering exceptional service.

Luckily, our POS software provides powerful tools to help retailers boost their customer experience.

Why Good Customer Service is Key for Australian Retailers

There are several reasons why customer service excellence is critical in Australian retail today:

• Competitive Landscape - With major international brands and ecommerce players entering the market, competition is fiercer than ever. Great service sets you apart.

• Rising Expectations - Customers today expect more personalized and seamless experiences. Your service needs to keep up.

• Social Media - A lousy customer experience can spread like wildfire on social media. Angry customers won't stay silent. It does not take much for them nowadays to go on the internet and start writing some bad reviews.

Delivering mediocre customer service is no longer an option for Australian retailers who want to survive and thrive, as poor customer service can seriously damage your retail business:

• Lost Sales - Frustrated customers who don't get the desired service will shop elsewhere.

• Negative Reviews - Disappointed customers will tell their friends, post bad reviews and complain on social media.

Here is what greets an Australian Consumer when he goes online for Australia Posts

1.7 does not look much good.  Australia Post is a monopoly, so it probably can afford these bad reviews, but can your business? 

• Staff Turnover - There is plenty of work now for people in retail. If your business has many rude or unhappy customers, your staff will start to leave; now try and replace them.

POS Software Provides Tools to Enhance Customer Satisfaction

Luckily, POS software provides some very useful tools to help retailers improve customer satisfaction:

• Faster Transactions - Modern POS systems allow faster payments, so customers spend less time in line.

Consider this:
 80% of customers state they are unwilling to wait in line if it takes more than five minutes. So if your queue is six people, there is an 80% chance someone will walk out.

We took about 20,000 cash register transactions off one of our client's systems.  Here is what the graph above looks like for transaction speeds. As you can see, our average speed of transactions was 36 seconds a sale.  In a pinch, our client was doing much better.

• Centralized Data - Customers' purchase history and preferences are stored in one place for more personalized service.

• Free Customer Relation Management Integration - This can help you professionally organise your customer management.

• Inventory Management - Reduce stockouts and save customers' disappointment by tracking inventory.

• Reduce staff hours - Many time-consuming tasks like stock reordering can be speeded up as they can be automated.

• Reporting - Our analytics helps you identify problems like marketing trends and what is selling.

• Loyalty Programs - Features like loyalty programs encourage repeat business by rewarding customers.

Real-World Examples

With POS software, retailers can provide the quick, seamless and personalized service that customers love.

For example, an Australian newsagent used our POS system to track the magazine marketing trends in their shop. They could then maximise their shelves to sell more magazines with less space.

Greeting card sales almost all go up when our system is implemented. 

Adopting POS Software is a Must for Customer Service Excellence

Delivering exceptional customer experiences is crucial for retail success in today's Australian market. Luckily, our POS software provides powerful tools to boost satisfaction and keep shoppers returning.

By speeding up transactions, accessing customer data, integrating loyalty features and more, POS systems enable you to take your service to the next level.

Key Takeaway

If you want to improve customer experience, upgrading your POS capabilities is a smart first step. With the right technology, you can provide the standout service to set your business apart.

In California, United States, a masked man entered a 7-Eleven store, grabbed a trash can, and started taking tobacco products off the shelves in an attempted robbery. An employee tackled the man to the ground while another employee grabbed a wooden pole and repeatedly struck the suspected thief nearly two dozen times.

A video of the incident exists and has gone viral online, garnering millions of views, but it is age-restricted. Those interested in seeing the video can find it here.

The employees were initially seen as courageous for protecting their store against the robbery. However, it can be argued that the repeated beating they inflicted on the shoplifter was excessive but as the saying goes, it is better to beat the threat decisively in self-defense and deal with legal repercussions later, rather than end up dead.

Today, with rising electricity rates to disturbing points, many shop owners are looking for ways to reduce their power usage. Computers and other electronics can chew through a fair bit of energy, so optimising their use is a great way to cut electricity costs. Here are some tips for saving power with your shop's computers and devices. On current rates, I estimate it should save about $300 for each computer a year.

Modern computer

A modern ENERGY STAR computer uses 30-65% less energy than the older models. So use your modern computers rather than your older computers. 

Enable Power Management Features

Enabling power management on computers and monitors can reduce electricity. To do this requires some computer skill, as it can really muck up your system. What I suggest is do one change, check it and if it goes okay, do another change.  The most important item is as the monitor uses most of the power, setting the monitor to go off after 15 minutes of non-use will save quite a lot of power with little risk.

Turn Off Devices When Not in Use

If a device is unused, why not turn it off? Instruct your staff to turn off computers, monitors, printers, etc when not required. Generally, there is no reason at the end of the day to leave most of these on overnight.

Unplug chargers

Phones, laptops, and other power adapters continue to draw power even when not charging. Make sure to unplug these accessories when not in use.

Switch to Laptops

Rather than use desktop computers, consider switching to a laptop. Laptops use 90% less power than a typical desktop computer.

Print Less

Encourage employees to print when absolutely necessary. Consider using double-sided printing. This simple change can reduce paper usage by up to 50% while cutting toner and electricity costs.

Conclusion

With some diligence about powering down equipment and enabling power-saving settings, you can realise tangible electricity savings in your shop. Encourage staff to be mindful of their computer use habits.

We have received concerning reports from our customers about frustrating delays when scanning Tatts lottery barcodes in our POS system. We have rigorously performed exhaustive diagnostics on our Point of Sale system, and our internal barcode retrieval is operating quickly, smoothly, and reliably. So we believe these problems are not from our Point of Sale software and they do not cause these delays. Instead, our troubleshooting and log analysis shows that the slowdown occurs when retrieving the barcode data from Tatts through the XchangeIT gateway. There may be a capacity problem there, but now this is purely speculation.

Unfortunately, we don't have visibility into the inner workings of the Tatts and XchangeIT systems to continue our investigations. However, we have urgently contacted our trusted contacts at XChangeIT to thoroughly investigate whether issues on their end could result in slow responses. They assure us they are working on it now.

Resolving this issue is our utmost top priority now. As we deeply understand how critically important fast, reliable barcode scanning is to your business operations and customer satisfaction.

We are working to get this resolved for you.

Knowing how popular a product is now is hard and, ironically is often harder if you know the product.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to measure public interest.

Step 1: Go to Google Trends

Click here

Step 2: Enter Product Name

In the search bar, type in the name you want to analyse. Then to compare multiple products, click "Compare" under the search bar.

For example, if you sell dolls, you could enter "Barbie Dreamtopia Twinkle Lights Mermaid Doll", "Disney Princess Dolls", etc.

I used the quotation marks around multi-word search terms so that Google Trends analyses it as a phrase.

Step 3: Compare Products

Once you've entered the keywords, Google Trends will show a popularity graph over time.

You can enter up to 5 different terms and see how their trends compare on the same graph. This makes it easy to see which items have the highest search volume and interest over time.

Here is my graph

The one in green would definitely be the one I would look at in more detail. 

Step 4: Adjust the Date Range

By default, Google Trends shows the past 12 months of data. You can change the date range using the menu on the right, for example, selecting "Past five years" to see long-term trends.

I suggest avoiding short-term searches as these products often show fads which, if they sell less often, means you are stuck with products that are hard to sell. Of course, with new product launches, a shorter range is necessary.

Step 5: Filter Location

You can filter the search data geographically under the "GEO" menu. I suggest using your state to get more specific localised data. Unfortunately, for some products without much interest, you may need to switch back to "Australia" to get enough information.

Step 6: Analyse Related Queries

If you go down the page, you will find other related search terms eg "Top" and "Rising" related queries. This gives insight into different keyword variations and searches associated with that brand. High search volumes for related terms will also show that this brand has good awareness.

Conclusion

Google Trends is a free and easy way to get data-driven insights on brand popularity and interest over time. You can gauge public awareness by comparing keyword trends, adjusting date ranges, and analysing related queries.

This recent cold weather sweeping across parts of Australia is a perfect example of how the weather can impact retail sales. As someone who has analysed sales data for many retail clients, I've seen firsthand how changes in temperature and rain can affect product sales. It is not rocket science. Different weather conditions change what people buy.

Matching Products to the Weather

Savvy retailers can use weather fluctuations to boost sales by matching products to the weather.

Want a list? Our software can tell you what sold well on a hot, cold, wet, or whatever day in your shop. 

Go to Register Reports.

Now select "Top N Stock Sales for a Given Period."

Put in a date of a hot day and see what you get. Do a few. Now put in a cold day and so on.

Or you can use basic logic when a heat wave is predicted, you can:

> Create a prominent display of cold drinks, popsicles, summer clothes, hats, sunglasses, etc.

> Make sure drink refrigerators are fully stocked.

Likewise, when cold temperatures are coming, they can put in the front:

> Scarves

> Gloves

> Hot drinks

When it is raining

> Umbrellas

> Raincoats and ponchos

A Week-by-Week Strategy

Retailers can easily implement a weather-based sales strategy using these steps:

Categorize products based on weather conditions (hot, cold, rainy, etc.) using past sales data and experience. You can give in categories in your POS Software. 

Hot products might be 

> Water and beverages

> Sunscreen and skincare

> Frozen treats 

> Sun hats

Check the 7-day forecast each week in your area and note any abnormal hot, cold, or rainy days coming up.

Prepare for the forecast by displaying weather-appropriate products prominently. Stock up on hot or cold weather inventory as needed.

Move the appropriate products to the front as the weather conditions change.

Matching your product selection and inventory to upcoming weather gives you sales windows where you can boost conversions. With some preparation, weather fluctuations don't have to hurt your sales.

Let me know if you have any other questions! I'm always happy to help retailers strategise using weather and sales data.

According to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), overall retail sales increased by 2.3% in June 2023 compared to June 2022.  The main drivers were food and restaurant/takeaway spending. These categories saw strong growth, but most other sectors were in decline. If you follow this, and I will show you have to compare your shop to these figures in your POS Software, but let us do some background first.

The figures are to be expected I think as I stated "With higher prices lately, we've noticed customers buying less discretionary stuff and just sticking to the basics. People are being more careful with their money."

Many of our clients would be in the sector called Other retailing, this is how its graph looks.

Monthly Sales Dropped Slightly

• Retail sales in June decreased by 0.8% from May.

• But a small monthly drop in June can be expected; it also dropped in June last year.

The ABS data showed Victoria had the most significant year-on-year decline out of all states. This aligns with what was expected, considering its recent economic struggles.

Key Takeaway for Retailers

Consider adopting some of these resilient categories like food products in your shop. I have several clients that have added many food products to their shops.

The full sector breakdown of the latest figures for retail sales is here on the ABS website, so check your sector out, find and download the relevant table of your shop.

Find out how you went to compare 

Go to your reports> Sales> Dissection Monthly Sales Trend (Graph)

Generally, when I start, I pick a very long period. I like to look at the long-term trend, so I used seven years here. This gives me an overall feel that I can use to compare with the ABS figures although I think you should be careful as from March 2020 to June 2022 we had a lot of disruption caused by COVID.

Now I get this graph. 

Something to chew about!

Negative inventory is when the inventory level of a stock item in your system shows less than zero. What it shows is that your records are inaccurate. The computer tells you you have sold more of this item than you had in stock.

This can, if not addressed, seriously harm your retail business in a few key ways:

> Reduces faith by you and your staff in your inventory management system. At best, you will waste time second-guessing inventory counts. At worst, it is an advertisement to your staff that you do not know your stock figures.

> It distorts your reports system-wide. These negative stock figures often get included in your information.

> It means you have no stock control on many items.

Common Causes of Negative Inventory

Negative inventory typically arises from these problems:

> Inaccurate manual counts at stocktaking, there is a lot to count, and errors do happen.

> Data entry mistakes by your suppliers coming through their electronic invoices or by people in your shop inputting stock quantities.

> Failing to enter invoices before selling makes problems.

So it is best to correct any negative inventory situations. Here are some best practices for controlling negative inventory:

Finding the negative stock

Fortunately, we have a quick and easy way to check stock quantities for what you have on hand.
 
Go to reports. There is an option for Quantity On Hand and Price check; click on that.

We exclude those items that have zero stocks. 
 
I suggest doing it by department so in this example, I picked the dissection (department) tobacco. 
 

Now outcomes a report listing the details of your item, looking at the quantities on hand in the column QOH, you may see items in brackets, see green arrow below, these are the negative Stock Discrepancies.

At first, you will find it a lot of work to fix it, but once done, it's relatively quick.

You should frequently check this report for negative stock values, say monthly.

Now audit these negative items to determine what went wrong in your inventory management system.

Conclusion

With proactive prevention and early detection, negative inventory can be handled. Leverage tools like our reports to stay on top of your stock quantities.

Let us know if you have any other questions!

Here is a marketing tip some of you will find helpful.

I searched here for party supplies vs Mother's Day in Australia on Google Trends for the past five years. If you look at the Google Trends graph, demand for party supplies over the past five years is constant throughout the year. This makes sense as people celebrate birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and other events that require party supplies year-round. The demand does not significantly fluctuate seasonally.

Now look at the quantity. It dwarfs an important marketing season like Mother's Day. It is about six times as much.

Here is a report by IMARC Group, the global party supplies market size reached US$ 13.2 Billion in 2022 and is expected to reach US$ 21.1 Billion by 2028, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6% during 2023-2028.

This is good growth, and it is interesting that this report states that Australians will cut down spending soon, but not for their kids and probably not for this in general.

Why not handle this to increase party supplies sales in your shop?

Here are nine reasons to consider bringing more of such festive goods into your product mix:

1. Constant demand

As a retail store owner, you can capitalise on the constant demand for party supplies. Since it is consistent, it is much easier to service. Unlike many marketing holidays, these items do not rapidly lose value if you do not sell them immediately. You could sell a banner for a five-year-old birthday all year round.

2. High-Profit Margins

Products like balloons, streamers and paper banners have high markups. These high margins make party supplies a profitable department for shop owners to carry.

Simply put, party supplies offer significant profit potential.

3. Impulse Purchases

Impulse buying is a crucial driver of extra-party retail sales. When customers come in to pick up birthday cards or other such items, they will get inspired by these products in your store. This leads to unplanned purchases - grabbing armfuls of decorations, plates and party favours to build out the entire celebration.

4. Last-Minute Needs

Party supply buyers often purchase items right before an event occurs. Having an assortment of supplies readily in-store meets this demand for last-minute purchases - something online shops cannot do.

5. See and touch products

Customers like to see and touch such party products before buying. They want to assess party supplies up close. Often they need to feel the size and measure of a plastic tablecloth, see the metallic sheen on a banner, and see the difference in the balloons.

6. Diversify Offerings

Bringing in party supplies allows you to diversify your overall product mix. People who do not come will be attracted, expanding your customer reach. Party supply customers may discover your other offerings too.

7. Flexible Placement

Party supplies require minimal space and storage. You can creatively tuck select party items into previously dead areas of your shop.

Take advantage of these underutilised areas.

8. Upselling Opportunities

For party supplies, people like bundles. The cost of these items is rarely that high, so people tend to over-buy.

9. New Customer Growth

If your party supplies work for regular celebrations, you will find many niche party supplies that ethnic groups, e.g. Indian, Chinese, etc, need.

If your shop gets to be considered a destination for such goods, there is room to grow.

10. Your software does it now

Bonus point. 

Your POS Software is working now in shops that sell such items so you have the technology now free. 

Conclusion

The party supplies market provides compelling reasons for retailers to do more here. Demand is constant, margins are high, and impulse purchases are standard. Shoppers also like seeing and touching party supplies in-store, making them much more attractive than online stores.

Loyalty programs are on the rise in Australia. Most major retailers now offer a loyalty program, which most Australian consumers use. Most of our clients have some loyalty marketing.

However, loyalty programs are only a solution for some retailers. Besides requiring careful planning and investment, they may not make good business sense for some retail situations. Here we'll outline a few key reasons why in my experience people do not use them:

Financial

As a rule, loyalty programs give about 1% more sales. If a shop has a $500,000 turnover with a margin of 30%, then we are looking at a gross profit of 1% x $500,000 x 30% = $1,500. This may not justify the work of running such a program; even though the software is free with our POS Software, it still requires work to run it.

Low-Frequency Purchases

Loyalty programs work best when customers make frequent repeat purchases. For example, grocery stores, newsagencies and coffee shops see regular business. Frequent interactions give customers opportunities to earn and redeem rewards. 

But retailers like bedding shops only see customers occasionally. A typical consumer will buy maybe every ten years. With limited opportunities to earn rewards, loyalty programs are less enticing. These retailers may be better off using **referrals**, **reviews** and **social media** to maintain relationships between big purchases.

Tight Margins

Some retailers operate on very slim profit margins. For example, lotto shops can average a few percent profits on sales. For them, the discounts and rewards required to run a loyalty program would wipe out margins entirely.

> "We calculated the cost of rewards would eliminate our whole profit margin. Loyalty programs don't work with our tight margins and high costs." - a Lotto shop owner told me.

I have spoken a lot about it here under the heading price cannibalization.

Small Customer Base  

Loyalty programs require upfront and ongoing costs. To benefit, retailers need at least 150+ active members in their program. Without enough customers, costs outweigh rewards.  For example, say you get a 1% response rate, which is pretty standard nowadays in advertising. If you send out 150 newsletters that took you an hour to write, that is now 1 or 2 extra sales. Was your time worth it?

Lack of Interest

Some retailers are passionate about their niche, not just profit maximization. Loyalty marketing will backfire if the owner, even if interested, lacks the skill. Unless there's someone else enthusiastic to run it, retailers may be better off focusing on the in-store experience rather than loyalty programs. 

Conclusion

The bottom line is loyalty programs are only sometimes applicable to Australian retail. Carefully evaluating your situation first. 

What are your experiences with retail loyalty programs? Let me know your thoughts below!

For retail, inventory management is crucial; having too much inventory ties up cash while having too little risks stockouts and lost sales. One KPI gaining in popularity is Days Sales of Inventory (DSI). It is now often quoted for gauging inventory performance. Banks often use it today. I think readers here will find it helpful. 

From your accountant's figures which you are getting, it is easy to determine. So now is the time to look into it.

What is DSI?

DSI measures how many days a company's current inventory stock will last. It is calculated by dividing the average inventory by the cost of goods sold per day. The formula is:

DSI = (Average Inventory) / (Cost of Goods Sold) x (365 days)

when (Average Inventory) = ((Opening stock value in last Financial year)+(Closing stock value in last Financial year))/2

and the (Cost of Goods sold) you will get from your accountant.

Generally, the lower the DSI, the more efficiently you turn over your inventory and convert it to sales.

The kicker is that about 45. Most suppliers give 30 days, so 45 means you do not pay for your stock.

Why DSI Matters

DSI directly impacts cash flow and liquidity. The faster inventory turns into sales and cash, the sooner money can be reinvested or used to pay expenses. Slow inventory turnover ties up working capital.

DSI also reveals operational efficiency. Well-managed inventory aligns with demand forecasts and optimises stock levels. Comparing DSI over time or against industry benchmarks shows room for improvement.

DSI Across Industries

DSI varies widely between sectors based on product categories and sales cycles:

• Grocery stores have a very low DSI, often less than ten days. Food products sell quickly with high turnover.

• Electronics and appliances may have a DSI of around 45 days.

Factors Impacting DSI

Several factors influence DSI:

• Sales Volume - Higher sales volume reduces DSI by turning over inventory faster. Declines in volume can lead to excess stock and higher DSI.

• Inventory Levels - Keeping inventory aligned with demand lowers DSI. Overstocking increases inventory days on hand.

• Pricing - Price reductions or discounts can temporarily boost sales volume and lower DSI.

• Supplier Terms - Delaying payments to suppliers raises short-term working capital but may increase long-term costs.

DSI vs. Other Inventory Metrics

While DSI measures days of inventory on hand, other key metrics include:

• Inventory Turnover Ratio (ITR) - Annual COGS divided by average inventory. Higher ratios indicate better efficiency.

• Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) - Days inventory outstanding + days sales outstanding - days payables outstanding. Lower CCC improves liquidity.

I will discuss these in a future post if there is enough interest.

Best Practices for Inventory Management

To optimise inventory performance and DSI, leading practices include:

• As I have discussed many times, automating stock ordering using your focus AI system here.

• Better stock ordering

• Push high-volume stock items.

In Sum

Monitoring DSI helps gauge inventory turnover, sales efficiency, and cash flow. It provides actionable insights into stock levels.

We have had to help a few of our customers who now need a large print keyboard in their shops. If they have low vision, they are going to love these keyboards.

Based on feedback from our customers, here are some pointers

> The large print keyboard should have high contrast. Choose light letters on dark keys. I find that this combination above of yellow on black works great. You'll want to avoid low-contrast colour combinations that are hard to see. 

> The letters have a habit of rubbing off. You are doing well if these keyboards last two years.

> Ensure the keyboard has large, clear lettering that's easy to see. Try getting the person to be about where they will be when in use and check them out. Make sure the characters are bold and straightforward.

> Pay attention to key size and shape as well. I find bigger keys can help these people avoid missed keystrokes. On the other hand, as they are big, they are awkward to use.

> Since the keyboard will be used in a shop, you need a sturdy and durable build. Avoid flimsy lightweight plastic ones that break easily. 

> Be sure to get a keyboard for Australian standards. Many of these keyboards are made for Europe and have characters we do not need.

> Expect an adjustment period for people to get accustomed to them. They do take some getting used to them.

> Make sure it is a water-repellent keyboard as coffee and tea tend to get dropped on these keyboard.

> Make sure it's quiet; the click on some of them is really annoying.

> Check that the connecting cable is long enough to reach your computer. For some reason, many have only short cables and need extension cables.

With the right large print keyboard, low-vision computer users can type comfortably and accurately.

Let me know if you have any other questions about them.

Invoicing is a crucial process for any small business. Manual invoicing can be highly time-consuming. Your invoice business software provides your businesses an easy way to quickly create, manage, and track invoices to get paid faster.

Benefits of Using Invoice Software 

Invoicing software provides many advantages over creating invoices manually:

> Legal information automatically generated - Invoices must specify some details like ABN, which are automatically produced for you.

> Save time - Invoice software drastically reduces the time it takes to create and send professional invoices.  It has templates that make it easy to fill out.

> Track payments - Once in your software, you can easily track the status of invoices and know when clients view and pay them.

> Go paperless - Save some trees. If you want, you can send it by email to reduce postage.

> Automate reminders - Our software can automatically send payment reminder emails to clients.

> Generate reports - Track income, expenses, and profit with our software reporting. 

> Access anywhere - The cloud allows you to create and send invoices from any device.

> Look professional - Professional invoices make your business look more legitimate and build credibility.  This, in practice, is one of the most critical factors.

> Receipts and statements automatically produced - This is all done automatically.

Out will come an A4 receipt:

Key Features

> Customizable templates - Our pre-made templates make invoice creation fast and easy. 

> Recurring invoices - It is easy to schedule invoices. 

> Miss less - As a rule, people forget to enter, much less if entered into a computer. Our clients have picked up a lot of money from this factor alone. With manual much was missed on the billing.

> Invoice automation - Set terms, reminders, and follow-ups to automate your workflow. 

>Integration - Integrate with many accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero.

Take Your Invoicing to the Next Level

Our Invoice software provides an affordable solution to save time, get paid faster, and streamline financial workflows. Take your invoicing to the next level with a professional touch. Try it out on our top-rated software.

This is part of a proposal I will be releasing for POS Solutions on the benefits of using  Automated Inventory, I hope you like it. 

Keeping on top of inventory levels and movements is one of the biggest challenges retailers face. Manual approaches to tracking stock and purchase orders can be extremely time-consuming and prone to human error. This often leads to lost sales from empty shelves, bloated inventory carrying costs, and unnecessary labour expenses.

Fortunately, POS Solutions provides powerful automated inventory management tools that save retailers time and money.

Real-Time Visibility into Inventory

POS Solutions integrates directly with inventory databases, pulling out real-time stock count data. This gives retailers now their inventory levels across their entire business as stock quantities are updated automatically as items are sold.

Accurate and Automated Purchase Orders 

With an accurate inventory picture, POS Solutions can automatically generate purchase orders as stock levels fall below predetermined or computer-estimated focus AI levels. This prevents out-of-stocks while removing the guesswork from ordering. Orders are precisely matched to demand, avoiding overstocking.

Reduced Out-of-Stocks and Better Customer Service

POS Solutions significantly reduces missed sales opportunities from out-of-stocks by monitoring inventory in real-time and allowing reordering when stock gets low. Customers get reliable access to the products they want.

Optimized Inventory Levels and Carrying Costs

Granular analytics within POS Solutions provide insights into fast versus slow-moving inventory. This allows retailers to optimise stock levels in each location. Excess stock can easily be transferred to meet demand elsewhere in the business. The result is leaner inventories across the board. 

Decreased Labor Costs

Automated inventory management with POS Solutions eliminates employees' need for frequent manual cycle counts and stocktakes. Retailers save on labour while focusing staff on more value-added tasks.

Insights into Shrinkage and Theft 

Unusual inventory activities are flagged by POS Solutions, allowing potential shrinkage and theft issues to be spotted in real time. Problems can be addressed before inventory losses grow.

Streamlined Supplier Relationships

Automated purchase orders and inventory tracking via POS Solutions improve supplier communication and coordination. Deliveries arrive when needed.

The Bottom Line

Automating inventory management via POS Solutions delivers game-changing benefits for retailers, including reduced out-of-stocks, lower carrying costs, optimized inventory, decreased labour spending, and minimised inventory shrinkage.

By implementing POS Solutions stock control, you can manage your stock more efficiently, improve customer service, and boost profitability.