If you own a retail premise, then you will know that space is at a premium as you want to make the most of your shop. You will want to display as many of your wares as possible but at the same time, customers need space to walk around and freely view the items that you have for sale.
Unless you have a huge retail premise with endless room for displays, stock and customers then you need to think smartly about how you will ensure that you have enough stock to cater to your customers’ demands without making your store feel over-crowded and cramped. So, how do you handle your stock when you are limited on space?
How to Handle Stock for Smaller Premises so your Customers don’t miss out:
Monitor trends closely:
No matter whether your business focuses on fashion, homeware, food or sports; there are buying trends in any business and as a business owner it is vital that you keep a close watch on these trends. Knowing what your target market are likely to be buying at any one time can help you to ensure that you can provide the ideal stock supplies for your customers. Identifying popular items and increasing your stock of those items can ensure that you don’t run out or order too much unpopular stock which you may struggle to shift.
Off-premises storage:
If you want to make sure that you have enough stock to satisfy your customers but you don’t want to fill up your minimal premises space then an ideal solution is to find self-storage units close to your site that you can store your stock in. Cheap storage units can be found all over the country and provide an ideal place to keep your stock so that you can buy extra stock of popular items, rotate seasonal stock and store less popular items so that they are not taking up vital shelf space. Keeping your extra stock off-site leaves you plenty of room to keep your premises tidy and uncluttered while ensuring you can keep up with your customers demand.
Ordering options:
If you are unsure of which items will be the most popular with your customers and you struggle for space in your premises to store plenty of stock of various items, then you may want to consider including an ordering system from your premises. If you find you are running low on the stock which is in demand, you can offer your customers the option to order the item they are after and have it delivered to your premises for collection at another time. By allowing your customers to order then and there, they are much more likely to place an order in store and return to pick it up that simply come back another day as they may find what they want somewhere else.
Supply and demand can be difficult to juggle in a small premise but there are options out there for you which can help you to supply your customers with exactly what they want.
