How Do You Manage Multiple Retail Stores?

If you’re a retail business owner managing multiple retail stores, keeping your eye on the prize might be challenging.

Understanding how your shops perform in terms of inventory and ROI is essential to the success of any multi-store operation. What if we told you that you could successfully manage all of your stores’ inventory and ROI with one intuitive inventory management system? In today’s retail, technology is the key to efficiently executing a smart business strategy. Continue reading to learn how to leverage multi-store retail management software technology to boost the overall performance of your retail stores.

1. INSTANT ACCESS TO DATA

To get a comprehensive view of how all of your stores are operating as a whole, you must be able to access all of their data at once. Using an inventory management system that stores data in real-time is crucial to having access to such data at any time and from any location.

Managing your retail stores allows you to:

• Real-time data access
• Analyze data anywhere, anytime
• Easily compare data between storage.
• Instantly update data from anywhere to all stores.
• With automated updates, you never have to bother about software upgrades.

Having real-time data at your fingertips allows you to take control of your retail business, your employees, and in turn, generate more money.

2. STORE STANDARDIZATION

Keeping your stores in sync entails more than just keeping track of inventory levels. While each store sells products differently, you still need to have standard procedures to ensure that your stores perform at optimal efficiency. Start with:

1. Store organization: If you practice heat mapping, you may have slightly different store layouts. However, organize your inventory in the same manner across all businesses.

• Store Floor: As a starting point, consider constructing areas for men’s apparel, women’s apparel, and shoes.
• Stock Room: Establish an inventory organization policy in your stock room so that everyone knows where inventory is at all times across all stores.

2. Transfer policies: One of the most practical aspects of owning a multi-store business is transferring products between stores. Even if one of your stores has low stocks, you may borrow from the others. Make sure you have a policy in place for cross-store transfers. Simple methods for implementing procedures include:

• Setting a transfer limit
• Identifying transfer shipping methods
• Creating a ‘never go below’ inventory level

3. Accepted payments: If you’re the only owner of your business, you’ve probably already standardized this. However, if you run numerous businesses with a partner or multiple owners, you should consider discussing payment standards between stores.

The most prevalent forms of payment are cash and credit, so ensure that all of your locations accept both. Customers will be upset if they stroll into one of your other locations and realize they can only pay with cash when they previously paid with a credit card at another location.

3. INVENTORY OPTIMIZATION

When you have more than one store, you must keep track of your inventory to ensure that you are operating at your most profitable. Each shop is equally important, yet merchandise probably performs differently at each location. You may find yourself with surplus inventory in one shop and a shortage in the other due to geography or store size. Be sure to optimize your inventory across all of your stores to achieve maximum profits. Simple inventory optimization tips include:

• Analyze inventory performance monthly at a minimum – If you keep track of what inventory is selling (and what isn’t), you’ll be able to get a sense of what product sells best at each store.
• Map inventory sales – Understanding which stores sell certain products the best can help you to stock your stores effectively. Take information from each store and begin mapping inventory sales across all of your stores. This will allow you to start forecasting demand for specific inventory in each store.
• Take advantage of transfers – Utilize the stocks you have on hand in all of your stores. Just because one store is out of a size or color doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. Check your inventory management software to see what’s available in your other stores, and then offer to deliver the goods to your customer’s door or let them pick it up in your store once you receive it.

4. EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT

When you manage a retail business, your staffs are more than simply helpers; they are the front line of sales in all of your stores. If you want to meet sales targets and keep them motivated, It’s critical to provide your staff with the opportunity to sell. Understanding how each store operates will assist you in employing your top salespeople during peak selling hours to enhance sales and avoid overstaffing.

Peak Sales Time: Run a sales report by time and then identify the best and worst sales hours to determine your peak sales times.

Top sales personnel: Identify your best salespeople by running a report of sales by person and then:

• Sorting by sold products
• Sorting by add-ons

This will assist you in determining who sells the most and who is most effective at an add-on of sale goods. Schedule these salespeople with your lowest performers so that you may motivate and train them to perform better.

5. ANNUAL REVIEWS AND CHECK-INS

Successful businesses provide their customers with a full-service experience that begins the minute they walk in and continue long after leaving the store. After you’ve configured your stores to run the way you want, it’s essential to check in on them regularly to verify they’re carrying out your vision.

• Periodical check-ins – Plan on visiting your stores at least once a month and spending time evaluating processes and procedures.
• Secret buyers – Choose to have a secret shopper come in once a quarter to confirm that the staff provides the experience you want.

Checking in on your stores monthly is a great way to keep things running smoothly. However, just because things appear to be going well every month does not mean you shouldn’t reflect on year-over-year statistics. Spend time each year analyzing year-over-year growth, shortcomings, and achievements to chart out a plan for your stores for the upcoming year.

Manage your entire retail chain stores with ChainDrive

Managing multiple retail stores might be difficult and frustrating. Still, if you establish a robust multi-store retail management software that supports multi-store operations, you’ll find yourself making better business decisions and increasing revenue.

Leverage the powerful features in ChainDrive to grow your retail business. Set up multi-store locations, manage your pricing, create compelling promotions, manage your employees, and track store operations across the entire retail chain.