ASVA/ Merlinsoft Webinar - Maximise Your Retail Offering
Broadcast On 14/06/2023
With the current cost of living crisis and the pressure on disposable income, many attractions will be keen to ensure that they are delivering value for money for their visitors. However, this has to be balanced with need to generate a profit, essential for the continued success of your organisation. In addition, with the cost of energy rising and inflation still over 10%, it’s also vitally important that we ensure all areas of the business are as effective and efficient as they can be.
One area that can potentially become neglected is your attraction’s retail space and yet it can make a significant contribution to secondary income if the products, marketing and management are of the highest order. Pressures on budgets and resources may mean that this area is overlooked, with products not being refreshed. Clearly, this is particularly relevant if the products have a ‘sell by’ or ‘use by’ date on them. However, this can be just as important if the products are no longer on trend and not hitting the spot as far as visitors are concerned.
Delivered in partnership with ASVA trade members Merlinsoft, this webinar explored how members could ‘Maximise Your Retail Offering’. It aimed to ensure that members are maximising the potential, the sales and the profitability of their retail space.
Leading the event will be Owen Gleadall, founder of Merlinsoft, who has been supplying Retail Management Systems now for the best part of 50 years, working with many well-known brands including Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Nike 1948 and Zara. He has also written the definitive guide to retailing, as used by students of the National Retail Academy in Sheffield.
Key learning points were be:
- Effective Stock Control
- Perpetual Inventory
- Appropriate Pricing Policies
- Ensuring Margins are Maintained
- Gross Margin v Mark Up
- Maximising Profitability
- Keeping more of the money you take!
If you have a retail space within your attraction and want to ensure that it is delivering the best Return on Investment, then this webinar had some really useful practical advice. It encouraged members to take an in depth look at their retail offering as, often, improvements can often be made by subtle changes and tweaks. The gift shop is an essential part of the visitor experience and very often a significant contributor to revenue and profit if managed effectively and efficiently. This webinar provided details as to how members could achieve this.