The retail industry has had a rocky ride in recent years, but demand for in-person shopping seems to be back on the upswing. Brick-and-mortar retail continues to dominate sales across the United States, accounting for 83.6% of all retail business. That&#;s a trend that&#;s expected to continue at least until , and likely beyond. In-store shopping has always been big business. It&#;s the preference for millions of shoppers in the United States who seek out in-store experiences for the customer service, product selection, and competitive pricing. Providing that experience&#;and reaping the benefits that accompany it&#;comes down to effective retail store management.
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What is retail store management?
Retail store management includes all of the processes and responsibilities associated with running and managing a retail store.This includes:
- Retail store operations
- Employee management
- Sales and marketing
- Inventory, warehouse, and supplier management
- Customer service and support
- Payments and accounting
While specific tasks vary, retail store management is all about ensuring that a brick-and-mortar shop operates as needed to sustain the desired business output while satisfying customer demand for products and services. Effective retail store management comes down to a combination of people management and process building. These two converge to create a retail business that operates efficiently, and encourages customers to come back again and again.
The role of a retail store manager
A retail store manager is in charge of creating and executing both the people management and process building that's needed to run the business. They ensure that the operational, commercial, and human resources sides of the business all run smoothly. Specifically, a retail store manager is in charge of:
- Hiring and training staff
- Managing and motivating employees
- Developing strategies to increase customer visits
- Growing store traffic (potentially online and offline)
- Meeting sales goals
- Ensuring customer satisfaction
- Managing inventory and ensuring stock remains level
- Stocking shelves and merchandising products
Of course, a retail store manager isn&#;t necessarily directly involved with each of the above jobs. Like any good manager, they're also expected to be exceptional delegators. While they are ultimately responsible for the outcome, they manage and rely on staff to help spread the workload and achieve the desired outcomes.
4 key retail store manager responsibilities
Specific responsibilities will vary depending on the size of the retail business, the number of employees, and the amount of product that&#;s sold through the store. Smaller stores may have a single manager that wears many hats, while larger stores might have role-specific managers who focus on one or two responsibilities. Regardless, the key responsibilities of retail store management come down to the following five categories.
1. Hiring and managing staff
People are a central component of any retail store. As such, retail store managers have a direct hand in sourcing, interviewing, and hiring new staff to fill vacant positions and adequately staff the shop. Once employees are hired, retail store managers also play an important role in onboarding and training new staff&#;either themselves or by delegating to a qualified staff member. Creating and deploying the onboarding curriculum and training schedules also fall into their wheelhouse. Lastly, retail store managers are also in charge of setting employee schedules, delegating to managers on duty, and setting goals for their teams.
2. Improving customer experience
Strong customer service is integral to any successful retail store. As such, retail store managers are directly responsible for setting expectations for customer services levels, and ensuring all staff meet those expectations.
3. Optimizing store processes
Successful retail stores run on multiple converging processes that allow them to operate at scale. This includes internal operations, procurement, promotions and sales, customer service and support, and finances. Typically, retail store managers are involved in creating and executing these processes (or continuing them from a predecessor).
4. Supporting growth
Lastly, retail stores are typically in business to make money (go figure, right?). Growth, therefore, is a key consideration. It&#;s the retail store manager&#;s responsibility to find opportunities to drive growth. Think making store improvements, expanding product offerings, hiring more skilled staff, or implementing new training&#;and to mitigate issues that might lead to losses&#;like shoplifting, return fraud, or inventory error.
KPIs for retail store management
Tracking and reporting on key performance indicators (KPIs) is another important requirement for retail store managers.Here&#;s a non-exhaustive list of KPIs for retail store management:
- Conversion rate (number of sales / visits to the store)
- Sales per square foot
- Sales per employee
- Average transaction value
- Year-over-year revenue growth
- Net and gross profit
- Customer retention rate
Tracking and reporting on these metrics is how retail store managers can show progress within the business, and identify opportunities for improvement.
10 tips for retail store management
Clearly, retail store management isn't for the faint of heart. There&#;s a lot to juggle, and a lot of people that rely on the retail manager&#;both internally and externally.
10 tips to help aspiring or current retail store managers be successful in their role:
- Create strong processes, backed by strong tooling. The only way to juggle all of these responsibilities is to implement repeatable processes, backed by the appropriate tools, to help the business operate efficiently at scale.
- Regularly gather feedback from employees and customers. There&#;s always room for improvement. Ask employees and customers for feedback on what&#;s going well, and what could be better. Action that feedback regularly.
- Stay on top of KPIs. These metrics offer valuable insights into what&#;s going well, and what isn&#;t. Analyze past trends and current benchmarks to identify parts of the business that need work.
- Maintain good relationships with vendors and suppliers. Supply chains are critical to success in retail. Always maintain good standing with vendors and suppliers to ensure products remain in stock for customers.
- Establish a strong hiring, onboarding, and training process. Recruiting and ramping up new employees helps ensure that your store's always staffed with the best possible teammates. These are the people who will provide exceptional customer service, and help run the business.
- Automate as much as possible. Reduce administrative burden by automating manual tasks like scheduling, payroll, and inventory.
- Get obsessed with store layouts and in-store experiences. Customers crave positive experiences in-store. Experiment with different layouts and offerings to make the shopping experience a positive one.
- Get involved with your community. Networking and making connections in the community builds interest and loyalty amongst local shoppers. Get involved and carve out a place in your community.
- Establish a loyalty program. Nurture and reward repeat shoppers with loyalty points and exclusive offers. This encourages repeat business, and builds loyalty.
- Create an omnichannel shopping experience. Shoppers today want to browse and buy on their platform of choice&#;online, in-store, or a hybrid. Think about how to offer this experience in a seamless and integrated way.
Homebase: your best friend for retail store management
Retail store managers wear many different hats, and Homebase is the perfect tool to help them do that. With it, managers can build schedules, communicate with their team, track time, and manage HR and compliance documentation all from a single platform. Want to learn more? Get started with Homebase today.
Owning your own small business or retail store is a goal of many. You can be one of the few small business owners who make the dream a reality.
You just need to understand what you are in for regarding start-up costs, cash flow, and what it takes to be profitable before you open your doors.
Your marketing strategy should include understanding your target market and what products they will buy from you in enough volume with high enough profit margins for you to live the lifestyle small business owners dream of.
While I don't believe in build it and they will come, I do believe if you go in with your eyes open, you can have it all. I've met thousands of business owners from all over the world who prove it.
And you'll learn how to increase retail sales sooner or later anyway. Why not learn the pitfalls you will encounter when you start a retail business before you take the plunge?
If you&#;ve already opened a new store, read on to see how many you&#;ve encountered...
42 Things No One Told You About Starting a Retail Business:
1. Your retail shop will be solicited for donations before you make your first sale.
2. People in your town will assume you are rich because you have a business.
3. Some days, you will donate more products to your community charities than you sell in your store that day.
4. As soon as you figure out what your customer wants, they will want something totally different.
5. Every lunch will be eaten standing up, and only one bite of a hot meal will be eaten hot.
6. What customers say with their mouths is interesting, but what they say with their wallets is how they really feel.
7. You will never forget the customer who got under your skin and got you to lose your cool...even if you were right.
8. Every significant event in your store coincides with a terrible storm.
9. Customers will have suggestions for every part of your startup - what products you carry, what events you should hold, what POS system you should buy, etc. But what they buy, attend, and otherwise support is another matter entirely.
10. You will work weekends and holidays; if you don't like it, don't become a retailer.
11. Just because someone asks for a discount doesn't mean they won't buy if you don't give them one.
12. Nobody cares more about you and your business than you.
13. You will outsell your best retail employees... every time.
14. Customers never read the small print on coupons which will challenge your ideas of delivering customer service.
15. People think you have no boss because you are a business owner, which is completely wrong; you have many. Your business loan is your boss, your retail business space is your boss, and every customer who walks through your door is your boss.
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16. 99% of the time, that 800 number on your caller ID is probably a merchant-services telemarketer trying to get you to switch to them.
17. Sometimes, a Tuesday might be your best day of the week; other times it will be a Saturday. In this business, there is often no consistency.
18. There will always be customers who won't respect your store, products, or employees.
19. Never discuss politics with your clients in your shop or on your shop's social media page. You will be making half of your customers angry.
20. Like most brick-and-mortar retailers, you will fight a losing battle to keep your backroom, stockroom, and desk organized.
21. Without a sense of humor, you will never survive. Okay, you may survive, but you will be miserable.
22. You're bound to get pitched by a small business consultant who opens the conversation with, "My retail store failed, so I switched to consulting."
23. The customer is not always right.
24. Many businesses only intend to rip off and scam other small business owners.
25. Sales reps can lie...even some of the best ones.
26. If you let your vendor substitute one item for another one time, the next time, they will simply send you whatever products they feel like sending you, so you won't even recognize it as your order when it arrives at your retail shop.
27. You will need to force any marketing or PR firm you hire to be accountable, and you will need to fire them when necessary.
28. You'll have to fire the friend you were sure would be a great business partner or employee.
29. Balancing income with expenses is an art form entrepreneurs rarely master.
30. You will eat, sleep, read, breathe, talk, study, compare, worry, and probably be flat broke for some time.
31. 20% of your customers are responsible for 80% of your sales.
32. You can always be told no and say no.
33. Organization is a skill worth working on; it can make or break you.
34. The longer you own a store, the harder it is to pay full price anywhere.
35. You will rarely have a "for sure" day off again.
36. You need to listen to what customers spend their money on, not what they say they want.
37. You must study a location for foot traffic and other variables before you open your brick-and-mortar; going by your gut is often wrong.
38. You'll discover an employee you loved during the interview cannot do the job.
39. The best parenting advice in the world doesn't mean a thing if you don't know what YOUR baby needs. Your store is no different. Know your baby.
40. Consistently great customer service will make your enterprise thrive, but one bad customer experience in the face of social media can close your doors!
41. Running a business is harder than you think, but you won't really have time to notice.
42. Master change. Change vendors when pricing or service don&#;t match, change advertising when it doesn&#;t drive results, and change employees when necessary (especially friends and family).
But you know what? It can be well worth it...
... even with all of the maddening things that come with being a small business owner - especially, it seems, right now.
When starting a small retail business, the things you will learn about yourself, your customers, your online presence through social media, and your community will make your life more rewarding.
While you won't start off a well-known brand, from your dedication to trying new ideas as you go along, you can build a local brand that beats others in the retail industry.
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