Enter Retail- Set Up Retail Store

 

1. Feasibility of Business

(Market Research, Define Business Plan & ROI Analysis)

For those who want to start business from scratch, the feasibility of the company must be considered. This includes the definition of the business plan and ROI analysis. Technical feasibility of a proposed business plan becomes vital to consider. When a retailer introduces a new service or product, a feasibility study can let them evaluate if the launch will be a success. The product feasibility report must consider what the proposed product or service is. Check if the product or service is on sale. If the existing marketplace and introduction costs are factored in, you can easily estimate if the business is workable.

Starting a retail business is about considering how you can protect the brand from the competition, and what the strengths and benefits of the service or product are.

The organization should be capable of evaluating resource acquisition, allocation, and regulatory standards. Whether you’re launching a product or an entire retail store. Testing the market for the proposed idea or action is vital here. Market feasibility is another area YRC looks into to examine whether there’s a market for your retail purpose.

A YRC market feasibility report indicates:

• market segments being targeted,
• why people buy a service or product,
• who the prospective customers are,
• nature of competitors and their strengths and weaknesses,
• product’s competitive edge.

Market research is a central part of the feasibility report for a new business. Commercial feasibility is primarily focused on commercial success. YRC mainly focuses on studying the latest product, service, or business model. Whether your organization can earn enough profits from it, is the key.

For a startup retail store, YRC’s consultants examines the strengths and weaknesses of the business, the pricing structure that can be used and the sensitivity points for activities in terms of sales. YRC specialists also estimate the sustainability of your business, and how long it can be, before you break even. Operating capital and external finance also need to be considered.

If one adds a new product-line to the business, implications on other operations for your newly launched store also need to be considered. Overall “risk assessment” forms the cornerstone of YRC’s strategy to reduce the risk of embarking on a new action. Consider the significant risks associated with the operation, survival outlook for threats, or even how risk-sensitive your profits are and ways to minimize the risk, all in a detailed report from YRC.

YRC consultant for opening a store helps your brand to cover all the possibilities and come up with a “risk assessment map”. Recognizing how risks can make or break the business form part of risk management. If you are launching a new business and need guidance to do things first time right, overall risk assessment is essential. Feasibility reports require detailed preliminary analysis. Pre-screening of proposed actions and proper feasibility assessment is necessary.

YRC outlines your business plan and examines the market space, as well as the commercial viability of an action. You also consider the unique characteristics of the idea and whether they come with a benefit or a pitfall. Examine the insurmountable risks to work and outline risks that can reduce your business plan’s viability. Describing the project scope and current analysis also becomes simple. Part of the feasibility research also focuses on understanding what customers need and how they can meet requirements. Compare the proposed products with competitors effortlessly and focus on the drawbacks and advantages with ease.

YRC’s in-depth feasibility report will help your business to define the following:

• Target market &their buying habits,
• Market share and sales outlook for the business plan
• Revenue projection
• Capital investment
• Rate on investment
• Breakeven analysis
• Budget projections
• Internal rate of return
• Income statement (profit & loss) projections

Any action your company takes while launching impacts profits and revenue.

Feasibility research considers the resources required to implement an action or idea and the source for these resources. External or internal financing options will be considered. The realistic impact of thoughts or actions, whether it involves sales figures, productivity boosts, or cut-down in operational costs is essential to consider. A break-even schedule for the proposal is also critical. The entire economic picture must be factored in, from risky market conditions to the need for additional resources.

The financial cost is essential to estimate when your business embarks on a new venture. Reflecting on the feasibility research, the YRC team offers critical takeaways. YRC considers everything from competition to market conditions, risks, and your business situation. Parts of the feasibility study also need to be considered. Once the results are reviewed, the final decision becomes more manageable. Help your new business move in the right direction.

2. Store Operations Manual

(Business Process Solutions)

Consistent procedures can increase chances of consistency and quality in performance, whereby an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) acts like an operational procedures manual which provides detailed, step-by-step instructions on performing particular business activities. Unambiguous instructions can make the difference between business success or failure. With YRC’s team of experts at hand, you will receive SOPs to communicate to all stakeholders and explain how company operations can be performed.

Employees can deploy SOPs for referential purposes while carrying out specific tasks or activity.

SOP ensures to achieve the following:

• Team is operating in formalized way,
• Coordinated processes,
• Lower chances of error,
• Increase productivity,
• Establish protocols,
• Reduce learning curve of new employees,
• Consistent delivery of services and products,
• Establish uniformity,
• Easy scalability to chain stores,
• Compliance with regulation practices

Retail SOPs further demonstrate and document how tasks can be completed at the retail store.

SOPs can take over and serve as a means of managing resources optimally. These procedures are an effective way to communicate the changes in ways businesses are looking to operate to staff. Requirements for SOPs and their formats range across industries, depending on the activity the organization undertakes or what regulations the company is governed by. SOP writing services from YRC also ensure you have a structured quality system and process in place, along with optimized organization structure. The standard operating procedures support the right people in the right atmosphere.

SOP implementation helps in evaluating what is being done and how to move forward. From implementing new software to consolidating the steps in a reporting hierarchy, it is essential to have SOPs for every aspect of your retail store.

3. Marketing Strategy

(Define the marketing strategy & budgeting)

Each business works within the budgetary confines. How much it can spend depends on a lot of things. A key budget element for retailers is marketing. Retailers looking to launch their business must analyze data to ensure marketing budgets are in place and cost-effective, to set up a retail shop. Marketing forms the core of the budget. But ancillary costs also need to be considered.

Retail businesses can create an accurate marketing budget through effective demand forecasting. Comprehending the consumer demand for the merchandise and anticipating marketing effectiveness is essential for this, which is why YRC teams work on marketing strategy and budgeting with perseverance.

Higher levels of merchandise spending should translate into increased sales, provided demand forecasts, and marketing impact is effectively gauged. So, whether you need to choose between search or social, desktop or smartphone, television or radio, today’s retailers are faced with an increased number of marketing options to make adequate budget allocation complex.

As new marketing channels and media types evolve, retailers need to get value for every penny they spend on marketing. YRC can help you to manage budgets, KPIs, and marketing technologies. To allocate budgets effectively, retailers need to break down silos and move towards a data source that offers a holistic performance overview.

Now, measure the impact of both online and offline channels to allocate budgets more effectively. Specific KPI to individual marketing touchpoints enables retail marketers to engage in effective budget allocation across markets, products, and marketing programs. One needs to look at a link between business performance and marketing spend to determine business drivers.

Access a broad array of strategies and tactics to maximize effectiveness across the complete marketing portfolio. The smarter budget allocation permits retail marketers to plan multiple scenarios in a safe, offline environment. Scenarios are based on direct response goals or brand marketing KPIs. Modeling allowance or spend before putting it into the market, offers retail marketers a chance to make real-life budgeting decisions, especially when leaders want assurance and accountability.

New marketing channels and media types may emerge, but budget allocation does not get simpler. This is why YRC helps you through data-driven strategies. Develop a deeper understanding of your position in the market and come up with a thorough plan tailored to the product and users you seek to reach. Get clarity on the ideal consumer profile. You can also have your mission and audience well-defined and how to connect the two best. Given the rapidity with which digital technologies are advancing, your retail business must have an online presence. Improve your sales pipeline and build an excellent reputation online, with customized solutions from Your Retail Coach (YRC).

4. Layout Planning

Effective product story placement and secure in-store experiences, along with salespeople who can help consumers make decisions effectively and quickly are key here. For a layout within a mall or a commercial shopping area or even your very own store, understanding sales tactics and crucial competitors should be the priority.

People are loyal and steadfast to brands that give them a reason to move from comfort zones. When it comes to designing a retail store layout for memorable customer experience, the focus should be on hitting the mark through practical store layout by engaging time & motion analysis.

Retailers like Nordstrom understand the value of customer experience that is memorable and easy. Retailers should have layouts which permit interactive experiences. YRC can help you to optimize store design elements and floor planning layout for delightful customer experience. To grow the retail business, you need to understand your customer. Relationships between customer experience and profitability are well established in the retail sector.

This includes how the experience connects with customers, how easily they can navigate the environment of the store, and how well does layout facilitate the flow of customer attention on messages and merchandise. Make shopping more accessible, with YRC at the helm, and watch your retail business grow. From sensors providing insights into purchasing behavior and customer flow to providing visitors with a personalized experience, retail store design plays a critical role in improving accessibility to products and services. Layouts should be built based on understanding how the customer navigates the retail experience.

YRC works on how your store is designed, so customers experience your merchandise and interact with it effectively. Retail management strategies from YRC leverage store design, creating a unique experience, and driving customer flow. It is mission-critical for your retail business to stay competitive, relevant, and profitable. The store design is a direct reflection of the brand and vital for staying competitive. YRC enables you to stand out from competitors in a booming retail marketplace.

Visual merchandising is the core language of the store of the retail strategy. From a well-illuminated entry to strategically placed fixtures, furniture and promotional displays, every aspect of your store layout matters. Customers also respond to product placements. Zone merchandising strategies combine with store layout and visual merchandising to benefit your retail business. YRC understands how to make stores thoughtful considering security measures to be taken and have clear zones for easy navigation.

Signage also helps customers negotiate store layout effectively and drive price perception. Careful selection and placement of displays impacts retail space management influences customer flow and determines in-store behavior. Presentations should be coordinated with fixtures to improve store layout and boost customer interaction.

Store layout must be designed to impact customer flow and attend to merchandise in a simple, consistent manner. Shop windows, display racks and their arrangement require careful attention to lighting, signage, and props. The aim should be to create engagement and community with store layout. Planogram is visual presentation of merchandise placement which is part of merchandise planning and is micro planning of the store layout design.

If you need to need expert advice on setting up a retail store, YRC is your strategic ally. For effective retail layout planning, YRC offers innovative strategies.

To conclude, following analysis goes into every layout by YRC team whichhelps to build a impact-maker store’s layout design:

• Planogram,
• Time & motion study,
• Visual merchandising strategy,
• Zone classification,
• Infrastructure planning for every zone (networking, security systems, inventory space allocation, etc),
• Identiy and eliminate theft points
• Store entry & exit points
• Store fascade& visibility planning
• Merchandise planning
• Compliant with security processes
• Ease in store opening & closing

5. IT System Integration

YRC works hand-in-hand with your business to select the best software and ensure SOPs are integrated with the Enterprise Resource Planning/ ERP. If you are looking to set up an omnichannel retail business (i.e. online sales, multiple stores, franchising, corporate sales, export, etc) an agile software which can adopt multiple sales channel is always expected.

Higher-order volumes result in additional order processing. Each channel adds inventory to track and orders to invoicing. Product descriptions must be shared across channels to ensure consistency. Connecting systems is very important, especially when it comes to streamlining and automating processes. If your staff is spending considerable time entering data from one system to another, growth becomes hard to focus on and to fix order errors by the team is more laborious.

Multichannel integration is beneficial whereby IT software connects your store to accounting, PoS systems, inventoryand sales channels across allfulfillment locations. When systems are not connected, inventory management becomes tough. Spending hours putting order invoices into the ERP or PoS system can be taxing, challenging, and prone to errors.

Research shows staff members can spend up to 9+ hours in data entry between the systems if all sales channels are not linked to one solution. Tedious movement of online order data can take up effort, time, and eventually money. After all, your retail business needs staff to be focused on income-producing activities, not entering data between systems.

Customer satisfaction is impacted by order speed and information. Avert software crashes while handling critical data between systems can hamper to keep pace with the growing order situations and end up with customer dissatisfaction. Losing your competitive edge can impact your business negatively.

Merchants need a single, centralized place to manage products and push out to sales channels. This ensures faster go-to-market, consistency, and accuracy. Non-integrated systems make it challenging to manage across customer types.

Consider integrating your retail business using advanced IT capabilities. Product data can be synced from ERP to store platforms. Eliminate manual data entry and help staff to focus on growing the business and boosting customer satisfaction.

Many different solution types exist for integrating channels. Connectors for integrating systems, order management, and inventory add-ons, and robust multichannel management platforms can offer a lot of benefits. Integration is also provided natively by some systems. IT system integration solutions from YRC can help retailers deliver a flawless shopping experience for customers.

IT Integration Strategycan help in analysing the price, assortment, and price across all channels, brands, companies and locations. Retail Analytics helps retail business to improve operational performance across channels by using data to determine the precise occasion when customers shift between multiple channels.

YRC Retail IT Consultinghelps retail businesses implement systems to leverage and coordinate across multiple sales channels, brands, products, companies & locations. Integrating retail systems and supporting IT infrastructure across multiple channels helps your business to give seamless buying experience to customers and attain a competitive advantage

6. Security measures to avoid theft

YRC helps you to identify security measures to prevent theft. After all, before you can lower retail theft, you have to identify the reasons for retail shrinkage. From shoplifting to theft, retail shrinkage can be a real problem. Numerous factors come into play in devising security measures to avoid theft. Security measures are also required to prevent errors by suppliers, contractors, administrators, and management.

Businesses with informal contracts can be susceptible to being overcharged for theft. Mismanagement of inventory and pricing items incorrectly also add to losses. YRC lays down strategies on how to prevent theft. This includes devicing strategies to prevent & trace common tactics, as follows:

• Returning merchandise or exchange,
• Theft prone areas,
• Shoplifting,
• Barcode label switching,
• Inventory pilferage control measures & benchmark pilferage levels,
• Store staff agreements,
• Security staff guidelines &security audit checklists,
• Asset theft management,
• Surveillance equipments positioning,
• Cash anti-theft measures,
• Insurance types to be availed, etc.

Retailers can strategically use store layout, adequate inventory controls, and standard security practices to combat theft. Employee theft and shoplifting policies also need to be framed. Documentation and procedures that are followed must be in place. Inventory management and inventory counting solutions are critical for this reason, and YRC can help your retail business to implement such systems.

7. Inventory Planning To Avoid Dead Stock

Products need to be in the right place at the right time. YRC’s inventory planning solutions ensure your products are readily available. Retail Premier consultants i.e. YRC, makes it easier to identify the inventory needed to focus on for higher profit margins and lower inventory carrying costs. Inventory planning and timely replenishment also prevent the accumulation of dead stock. Policy settings for the review period, safety stock, replenishment cycles, or service levels, the back-order ratio can be managed effectively with YRC’s help. Strategists and consultants at YRC can help your retail business to frame effective procurement policies for greater flexibility. YRC lets you weigh in on the trade-offs between high service levels and more inventory costs.

Inventory-level projections display demand forecasting and expected changes in inventory over a period. Projected inventory levels represent the balance of incoming and outgoing orders, based on forecast requirements and inventory targets. Identify stock-outs, shortfall, and excess stock effectively, because YRC’s merchandise planning is a systematic approach to:

• Achieve greater control on cashflow,
• Optimize inventory investment,
• Avoid out-of-stock situations,
• Reduce probability of dead stock accumulation
• Streamline ordering timelines and quantities
• Forecast demand and plan supply
• Thus, maximizing profits

Proper inventory planning ensures markdowns due to lost sales, and overstock is lowered. With visibility regarding the amount of inventory for meeting sales objectives, there is a greater insight into how to reach category or product contributes to overall inventory objectives. Opting for inventory planning drives time-based replenishment across customer demands. Now, aggregate story inventory needs into warehouse replenishment plans. Maximize profits and service levels through proven strategies. This also helps in gaining visibility into current and projected orders, supply-chain performance and inventory.

8. New Store Development Checklist

Opening a new store involves lot of chaos. There are numerous tasks to be performed within less time. IT involves coordination with multiple stakeholders i.e. vendors, suppliers, architect, branding, marketing, staff, etc. But, have you ever imagined how Mcdonalds are able to open stores so swiftly, wherein around 36000+ McDonald’s exist worldwide. According to CNBC, Starbucks is opening a store in China every 15 hours (source: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/05/starbucks-is-opening-a-store-in-china-every-15-hours.html). So how are these brands able to do such things which sounds like miracle !!! The Answer to this is very simple: Its SOPs defined for their New Store Development.

Mcdonalds has a 500+ pages SOP document which details the protocol to open a new store.Thus, YRC Retail Consultants will help you devise your New Store Development Checklists and SOPs, which will make your new store opening easy and help in rapid chain expansion.

9. Recruitment Support & Training staff on SOPs

If you manage or own a retail business, hiring, recruitment and training staff is another critical area for your new retail store.

Retail staff training is essential. An effective retail training program and resulting employee confidence will position you as a well-informed and professional business. Training also helps with employee retention. Properly trained staff members elicit better sales results.

At YRC, we can help you to reduce costs for hiring, training and searching for new staff. SOPs for safety measures can be beneficial in ensuring reduced liability and increased compliance with regulations. Retail staff training is an ongoing process, given that products, inventory, and procedures all change.

A retail store’s “staff”are its lifeline. Remember even the best advertising and inventory will not be effective without motivation and knowledge in place. Your team should be able to boost bottom lines, and for this, SOP training is essential.

10. Go Live

(Pre-Launch Preparation & Validation)

As one prepares for a store launch, it is necessary to consider layout, operations and identify any pitfalls in-store set up. Elements of marketing communications must be tailored to elicit positive end-user responses. Pre-launch marketing research provides feedback on POS displays, ad concepts, packaging, and other aspects of the marketing mix.

Research ensures messages and communications resonate with target audiences and fit in with the image and positioning of the brand. A better understanding of target audiences from YRC’s detailed research can help you to refine your marketing strategy and optimize pricing as well as positioning. A test market or soft launch can help your retail store before it goes live because it provides a chance to gain business intelligence and actual sales data.

Understanding product usage, brand perception, and competitive comparison can help your business to fine-tune all aspects of the retail store, before committing to a massive, large-scale roll-out or launch.