If your shop needs it, you will find SMS marketing extremely useful. The software is available free in your point of sale software.

Where it's ideal is if you have items that you need to move quickly, like last-minute deals. For example, let's say you sell sandwiches. The sandwiches need to be sold soon or dumped. Another example would be gifts for special occasions when the day is ending.

So what is required is to have a list of phone numbers to send out a last-minute offer. Say after lunch: "All sandwiches are $3 today." Besides sandwiches, you may pick up sales in related sales. If you think about it, the sandwiches here cost you nothing now.

The plus here is that these messages get delivered almost immediately. They also have incredibly high open rates. Another advantage: it is hard for your competitors to match your prices as they do not know about your offer.

The main disadvantage is the cost. If you are sending 100 SMSs, that cost is about $6. In our sandwich example, you need at least two sales to justify the SMS marketing.

If you intend to use this form of marketing, you need to keep the following in mind.

) Keep your messages short. SMS is rarely used for long messages.

) Be ruthless in your VIP marketing to prune your SMS marketing list. Unlike emails, you are paying for each SMS sent.

) Do not use emojis. Many people do not understand them.

) Make sure you put your name on it. We had one client that sent off some SMS without an address. It became clear that the receivers had no idea where to go for the special. Also, you are required to put your details.

Make sure to add an opt-out option, such as a "Reply 'STOP' to opt-out" at the end of the SMS. As I stated, it is very much in your interest to prune out your SMS marketing list. Also, some people do not like these sorts of commercial SMS, and you should respect their views.

) Sometimes, like late at night, you should not send SMS.

) Cost depends on how many SMSs you are willing to buy in advance

Other than that, you will find that SMS campaigns are great for engaging more people to buy in your shop if it's a good fit.

I'm sure you have seen a Google map like this one when looking for something.​

What it shows on the map are the nearby places for what you are searching for and the top three search choices. Looking at this map, I can see a business selling lotto that is not on this map. It costs them as many people use this to find the place they want to shop.

Why not check if you are on the list?

Now put in a few of your major products and see if you are listed?

If not, then it is costing you too.

What you need to do is

ADD YOUR BUSINESS TO GOOGLE MAPS!

It is free, so why not do it?

Here is the important point on google maps, *David can beat Goliath* as one of the main factors used by Google Maps is location. If you are closest, the odds are good; you will appear and appear first.

Here are some of my tips before your start.

) Give google what they ask, do not be a smartarse like trying to stuff into your name marketing keywords. If Google does not like you, they will put you on the bottom.

) Do not capitalise on your name! Use John Smith not JOHN SMITH

) Do not add trade names use your company name!

) Avoid special characters ^#%&*( unless they are part of your business name.

Now are some step-by-step instructions.

Let me know if you have a problem as I am happy to help; I have a Google Ads Search Certification.

Google Maps Is So Important For Your Business

COVID has boosted the comic and related industry. I was stunned as readers here will know last year with the figures. Yet, current statistics show that the market appears to be still growing. According to the latest benchmarked figures in the US (no one giving me Australian statistics, probably because of my comment last year on their distribution system), comics are up 46% over the previous two years.

DC comics are up 33%. They started on a lower base. Still, they have Batman, and the latest movie is now out almost everyone will check it out.

Marvel Comics 25%, still the best sellers they have now 9 in the top 10 sellers.

Interestingly, I have noticed that comics as the price is around the ball-park, the price is not that important.

Manga unbelievable is 143% up.

The novels are doing well too. They are up 36%.

Anything now with the Superhero market will do well now as people want escapism, and you do not get more escapism than Ghost Rider, Batman, Spider-Man,  Wolverine and Star Wars.

The big problem is that all these types of products are all protected by Copywrite so it is strictly controlled by the majors.

Premium chocolates are a growing industry. Here is a summary report free from Jan 2022 from TechSci Research. They are claiming a growing market for the next few years of about 7.5%. This is plausible, as I have been saying for years. It's been growing at that rate for years, with no sign of slowing down.

So I was pleased that VANA started pushing premium chocolates into their retail shops. I have no idea how good the company they are pushing is, but it does have a 5-star rating online, and their entry-level order is reasonable. They look small which may be a plus as small producers will be something unique but a negative for marketing. Large brands may pay small margins but they do move product.

Since it is in the market space of our software, here are insights, I have seen from some of our clients that are marketing premium chocolates now.

Here is the first one. The biggest issue in this market is that premium chocolates are very seasonal, unlike the regular chocolate market. If you are not in it, you probably don't realise how seasonal-driven it is. The longest season is Christmas, which will give you about six weeks. Easter is also good, but that only gives you about two weeks. Easter can be a pain to plan for as it moves every year. That means most of the year it is a little more than breakeven. Though I will say that Valentine's Day was good but that is only one day.

To be successful here, you need to create some retail theatre. You'll want to change your window displays frequently and keep your range current.

It is not a "set up and forget" type of business, but then again, nothing is "set up and forget."

My first piece of advice would be to go around your local shopping area and check out what others are doing here.

Many retailers use CRM; our clients have a great one for free.

Although I have not seen any of our clients report any significant customer churn. I have checked our CRM, I can find little sign there yet the figures now coming out from other suppliers of CRM are saying that companies have noticed that "customers are leaving at extraordinary rates." We all expected this as the COVID crisis was a prolonged crisis. This was long enough to change the public's habits. With the reopening, people are now coming out. As the old patterns are just memories, we are now looking at something new. We are trying new shops, restaurants, doing new things, etc.

Meeting the danger

This customer relationship emergency needs to be met with a return to nuts and bolts. We need to review our customer relationship. The problem is not that people's needs have changed, but they are now exploring.

I would also suggest you look into your CRM system.

There is a "Great Reassessment" across society.

One big plus of DTI format receipts is that I briefly discussed a few days ago is its ability to email receipts. This is part of its flexibility.

Email receipts have a phenomenal readership.

* Open rates are about 75%.

* People look at email receipts more, about 14.8 seconds, which is 185% higher than what they spend on an average email.

More figures are available here. I am sure if you look at them you will be impressed.

There are many other big pluses. About 70% of people will give you their email address to get a receipt. You have a great excuse to harvest email addresses.

If you are sending them out, it would be best to include: 

* Thank you note

It has to be brief. A one-liner, for example, say, "Thank you for your purchase and your support of local business," 

Social Media

Your address in Facebook for them to checkout with a note, "Check us out on Facebook." 

Promotional content

Consider adding about 30% extra for promotional content for your business. They have brought from you, why not see if they will buy more.

Follow up

What has proven successful is sending these people a follow-up a few days later with a thank you message with a promotion.

Try it.

It is all free; what is stopping you?

What is commonly done is to measure a customer's spending in a loyalty program in a retail shop. Then compare these figures to the average customer.

I am sceptical.

The spend is not profit.

Yet many so-called retail experts quote this as a critical measure of how successful the loyalty program is as they rarely get profit figures. So this is the best they can do.

The other issue is that one supposes that members of your loyalty programs are already spending more in your shop. So, in most cases, they are spending more with you already. The extra problem here is that they do it to gain more rewards in their purchases, so you are often discounting your products to people who are buying them anyway.

If you are running a loyalty/VIP program in your shop, here are some KPIs; I recommend looking into them.

In my experience, even vague figures are better than none.

Budget

A professional marketer will budget a loyalty program's cost at 1% of sales. Sometimes they will take it to 2%, but it is too much to do anything higher without the suppliers' help. If you are doing a million turnover in your shop, you are looking at about $10,000 cost maximum. 

You need to know whether you are getting $10,000 back in profit.

Membership

Examine your membership. How big is it? Is it growing or declining? Where are the members coming from? Existing customers or new customers? If it's existing customers, then your program is dubious.

To determine this, you need names.

Are you just giving a discount to existing customers?

Email list

The email addresses are said to be worth 2%. If you are not collecting these email addresses, your loyalty program is down 2%. In today's market, you must communicate with your customers. You have to find a way to get your customers to come back. This is the key to profitability.

Usage

How many are using it, and at what frequency?

Member spending vs. non-member spending

The primary purpose of a loyalty program is to get you more customers and get them to spend more. Is it? So do not just check the sales totals but also the basket size, profitability, etc.

Pre-membership vs post-membership spending

What do you need to know that it is working?

The figures can be gotten here.

​Use your data, not the seat of your pants.

In your POS software

Go to Sales-Register > Dissection Companion Sales by Period.

Besides telling you sales totals for a department, it can tell you so much more.

Try looking for is an abnormally high number of products for other stuff that sells well with that department. It is beneficial as it can help you select a product to display near a department prominently. This is a well-known method of increasing incremental sales that all majors use.

What you do is take an item that sells well with that department and place it in that department's area. There is nothing wrong with a good seller having a few spots in the shop. 

As you can see here (green arrow), there are quite a few extra sales that could be made by moving some other companies' chocolates close to Darrel Lea Chocolates. Darrel Lea may not like it but ....

Another great use is more long-term. If grouped by department, you can get a feel of where you should position the display for the department. As you can see here by the green arrow, the books should be close to the stationery.

You may be able to pick up a few extra sales if people looking at your book can see your stationery too. 

Why not try it now?

Look at a few departments and see if you can get a few ideas. It will only take a few minutes tops.

Agency business is when you handle a product as an agent. There are many such products, for example, lotto, post office, newspapers, etc.

A typical SMB retailer would have been an agent for many different products in the past.

Today, critics would complain that this agency's work has low margins, which is often true. Plus, if the agency has a winning product, they will often tend to lower commissions and increase handling costs.

But, I would argue that the key to a modern retail store is to get the people in the door. One point is that a good agency often can bring in people. This is no small matter. Today, a typical major is happy to pay $30 in advertising costs to attract a prospective customer. If it works and they get them in your shop, how much is that worth to you to get a potential paying customer in your shop. How much in advertising do you or people in businesses like yours pay to get them in the door? As an agent, you pay nothing, and if they buy, you will make a slight profit, plus have a chance at extra sales.

Of course, the big question here is will they buy more? Yes, some products, like mobile rechargers, generally do tend to bring in good customers. Many, however, do not.

I recommend if you handle these products by checking your companion reports in your POS software.

This will tell you what sells with a product.

Go to Register reports.

Go to reports > Sales register > Stock Sales companion sales by period 

In options, put in, say, last financial year and put in the product. 

Now out pops up a report which will give you a listing of all the items that were sold with this item. It is worth examining this list. By rearranging your stock arrangements, you may get more sales. 

Then at the end, there will be a total profit. Now the question is, how much of that profit would you have made anyway, with or without that profit. That is something you have to decide. 

An analyst like me, as a first-level approximation in the absence of any other information, would probably say

1. Some would have brought the extras anyway.
2. Some would never have come. This is partly due to the large advertising campaigns many agencies pay.

So I would say 50% of this profit would be lost plus the profit on the agency work.

If you can do a better estimate, let me know. Big Data can help but you will need to ask us to help you there as few can do it in-house.

You now have a start on how useful that agency is to your business.

It is Valentine's Day, and the gifting season is in full swing, estimates are that total sales today will be $415 million.

But do not forget the last-minute shopper. They are not small or minor in terms of trade. The problem these people have now is that they cannot order online. They need something now, and you are local.

The odds are they are in your area looking for ideas, want to spend now, and want an instant solution. 

Here are some actionable tips you can use right now.

* Put a sign on the window, so this person knows you have something. It does not need to be flashy.

* Make a featured area with items that would be suitable and make it easy to find.

If you are not sure what to offer on that day, look at what sold well last year. It will give you some ideas.

This is easy to do in your POS system.

Go to the Register reports.

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

Select last year on February 14, 2021

Out will come the top sellers for that day, they sold that day, why not this year?

* Review, remember this guy is flexible as they have little idea of what to buy.

* Offer gift wrap

* Have appropriate greeting cards on offer if possible.

Final note: Some of this stock will lose much if you do not sell it today, so watch your stock levels.

Ignoring Valentine's Day can cost you. It is dollars considered the fifth biggest shopping day in the year. COVID has shown that even in the middle of the most significant pandemic that we have all experienced with its unprecedented shakeup of our economy and all the jobs lost, consumers did not cut back their spending on Valentine's Day.

I put in Valentine's Day for Australia for this year, last year, and 2019 (pre-pandemic) in google trends. This year's outlook looks like this.

Interest is lower now but comparable to these years.

Now, if you want some ideas, see what does sell in your shop on Valentine's Day and what stock you have? It will take you seconds to find out and give you some good ideas. Remember unlike other marketing holidays, many products on Valentine's Day are still marketable afterwards if you select wisely plus many of you are well-positioned to get the *Last-minute shopper*, the guy who needs to get something at the last minute. That guy is open to ideas for a gift and requires a card.

So in your POS software, I recommend you look at the Top N stock report, which gives you the top-selling items.

Go to Register Reports marked in green.

Select stock.

Now you will see two reports, click the one on green first. The purple you should hold in memory as you may need it before placing an order.

Now select last year Valentine's day, select the top 40 items, which should be plenty. I would suggest doing it by quality sold.

Now you will get a report with top sellers over Valentine's day, plus your current stock holding to see how you stand for Valentine's day.

Also, run his report for 2019. This was in the pre-pandemic period, and one expects that this year will be a mix of last year and 2019.

Do you have a minute spare, well what is stopping you from doing this now?

Back-to-school is an important shopping occasion. In 2022, the importance of the season is increased by the unique environment we find ourselves in. 

Let us start.

Your POS System has an advanced Back to School system. 

Tip 1: Check it out

It would also be a good idea to check that you have stock for the items that parents are likely to buy for their scholars. 

Tip 2: Have the right products.

Because of the supply chain shortages, most shoppers will be planning early. So now is an excellent time to start getting ready.

Tip 3: Have stock, do not count on being able to get stock at the last minute.

What I am sure of is that this year, retailers that get a good back-to-school market will have a great jump start for the year. 

Don't let this opportunity slide!

A bad way to analyse your promotions is by guesswork and instincts in business.

What you need is proper KPIs with metrics to compare the sales for each promotion. For example, do a $20 item with $2 off do better than 10% off?

The only way to find out is what we call A/B analysis. You do option(a) for a week, then option (b) for the next week.

Then here is a quick way of finding this out.

Go to the stock system.

Select Sales Promotion here

Select reports

Fill in the dates, and now you can investigate.

The time has come to begin planning for 2022. 

The first place to look at is the holidays. The issue here is that many of these holidays dates are based on the lunar calendar, not the solar one that we use. This caused them to move in our calendar. A few years ago, this happened to one of my clients when they ordered cards for Chinese New Year. They thought it was the same as the previous year, so they got their cards too late.

So I suggest you click here. Here there is an impressive list of holidays in Australia. If you need clarification on a holiday, click on it to get a description.

If you have many customers from other countries, you can select that country to see if they have any special holidays!

I am sure you will get some good ideas here.

Today's retail season is boxing day. This is when retailers usually try to shed the remaining stock of 2021 before the product is currently due in 2022. This is probably the most important day on the Australian shopping schedule. What is needed is something bright and colourful to attract their attention. So what is recommended is that you fill their entrances with colourful merchandise to brighten the mood and bring them into the shop.

Anyway, I hope you are ready. If you want some more ideas at the last minute, then look at my previous post titled "Last-minute shoppers" here. It should give you some ideas.

While gift bags are more expensive than wrapping paper and the immediate problem is that wrapping paper has recently gone up a lot in price. So now is a good time to learn how to wrap items so you can save some money during the holiday season. 

Gift wrapping is a popular service many retailers offer.

It distinguishes its products from other retailers.

Although gift wrapping is popular all year round now is an excellent time to offer such a service. Learning to do it is not difficult and only takes a little practice. Once you get going, you may consider having * free * and * luxury * pricing services. Luxury includes a card, so a toy becomes a beautiful gift wrapped in attractive wrapping paper with a card.

This method can be used to wrap even difficult items like cups.

​
Holiday creep is when you extend the actual marketing holiday season. For example, Black Friday is over, yet many people keep pushing it long after it's gone. Why? Because Black Friday works, so retailers want more of it. Why make it a day when you can make it a weekend as above or, better yet, two weeks as below, see the green arrow.

What they are doing is changing a holiday day to a marketing season. It is working too as Black Friday sales now exceed those on Boxing Day.

So to stay competitive as a small business, you need to start your marketing early to make sure you do not lose customers who are ready to make a purchase now. Then keep up with those who will wait till the last minute of the day. After count on having something for the people that buy afterwards.

This creep strategy is so successful today as shoppers know of the problems with the supply chain. I have a client whose goods sailed from Shenzhen, China. It is now somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. What worries them is whether it will turn up soon. There is a significant loss to them if it is delayed another month.

Sometimes, you want to add a special short note on the receipt message if you sell an item. Generally, they are promotional offers but sometimes special instructions on the item. These can be specially set to be added at the bottom of the receipt. 

In our point of sale, this is easy to do.

Call up the stock item in stock maintenance, see where the green arrow is, now press the box notes. In the note and add a "^" then add your message.

Every time this printer paper is sold, a promotional offer for your ink cartridges will be added if a receipt is printed.

You can, of course, be more creative if you think about it. Because your receipt is a business document doesn't mean it has to be dull. This receipt could be your last contact with a customer, so why not leave them with an enduring impact? 

Adding a creative message can be a game-changer for your marketing policy.

Many of my clients do use Facebook marketing. When asked, they will say for them it is the cheapest and most profitable form of advertising. That is why they use it.

The first question that many who are not using Facebook advertising will ask is, can they get more people onto their Facebook business page without paying? This is tough as you will find that even with those who liked your page, few get your latest updates.

Although Facebook sees itself as an advertising medium, its main hook is for family and friends. These get priority. What is left, hundreds of million organisations worldwide with Facebook pages are all fighting to get noticed. Now a few years ago, Facebook changed their systems so that unpaid got less to try to get people to pay if they wanted to get people to see their latest stuff. This means you are competing with all these people in a smaller space.

So those that use Facebook today, what they see is what Facebook thinks most interests them. If Facebook feels what you posted is of little interest to your public and does not invite meaningful interaction, they will not display it. 

Your content has to be good to show up if you do not pay.

It is not so easy if you pay either, but that is a story for another post.

Now if you do want to use Facebook you need to test and continually review what is working. No point in using Facebook measures as really who cares how many likes you get in business if no one comes and importantly buys. So put in Facebook if possible a rarely used phone number and/or email address. Most email systems support disposable addresses without needing to register them first. This is perfect for this task.

Next is what you need to know is who did respond to your Facebook post.

Luckily our point of sale software has a very advanced system for doing this. What you need to do is enter into the POS system a Promotion ID.

Firstly you need a Promotion ID here are some tips:

- Make a unique ID for each different promotion. This will allow you to distinguish each promotion. Don’t reuse or recycle these IDs for different promotions. If you feel you must use the same ID  add a date or year after it, eg add say F2Nov2021 (F=Facebook, 2/Nov/2021 if it was first live today).  

- Once you make an ID, don't change it. 

- Do not use spaces, it can be confusing, e.g. a person was looking at Jan  2019, and it sometimes worked, and sometimes it did not. What we found was the ID was Jan 2019 (One space no, two spaces which he sometimes used)

Now in Detailed Transaction Entry see the red arrow, below for more details.

Now you see the Promotion ID. 

Enter the code when putting in the sales.

Now you can watch the transactions based on this code, letting you recognise whether you are receiving value for your efforts.

Too many people now are looking at last year when Halloween due to COVID-19 was dicey.

Today, many people are interested in Halloween costumes and makeup. Families want to join in the festivities so this is not only for children anymore but also for the parents and surprisingly for people's pets.

Most retailers are scared of these product ranges as if they do not sell over Halloween, they are stuck with unsellable items. Still, many of the popular items are not Halloween items, e.g. facepaint, vampire teeth, fairy costumes and makeup. So I would suggest while there is time to look into it.