Feel low profits; Should I still expand?

How to expand family convenience stores?

Problem: feeling low profit; Should I still expand? The old people said that the big fish eat small fish; I open a convenience store, mainly selling food; Recently, many hypermarkets have been opened here; I was told to be bigger; I always feel that I can't catch up with them; It's not that I have no confidence; I don't think it makes sense; I am now a family shop; High efficiency in all aspects; Everyone finds it difficult to make money; I find it difficult to recruit people; Management is a problem; Moreover, these low-profit products have to rely on sales to make profits. How annoying!

Analysis:

1, you are a small convenience store, can you compete with supermarkets?

Why do people go to your convenience store to buy things Why do you want to go to the supermarket? Obviously, people come to buy things from you because it's convenient, right at home. Buy a needle, thread, brain and snacks temporarily. Of course, I don't want to run that far. Going to the supermarket means that the goods there are complete and cheap (maybe), and maybe the things in the supermarket are more reliable.

Therefore, basically speaking, although convenience stores and hypermarkets are both retail businesses, there is basically no direct competition because of the large gap in formats, so you don't need to regard hypermarkets as your competitors.

2. Who are the competitors of family convenience stores?

First of all, of course, it is other convenience stores nearby like you. Then there is a supermarket within 500 meters nearby.

3. What are the inherent advantages of family convenience stores?

Most importantly, this convenience store is a local strongman. Family convenience stores usually open in front of your house. Be familiar with your neighbors. There may be some close friends, such as colleagues. Therefore, the trust relationship and emotional factors formed by this geographical location are important advantages to support family convenience stores.

Secondly, the advantage of family convenience store lies in its convenience. Many times, people can't walk far after buying something. As long as the price is not too expensive, people are still willing to buy it home.

Third, the customer base of family convenience stores is very stable. There are so many people near your store, even if there are a large number of renters, people can't turn around very frequently, and people can't move often. Therefore, your customers must be very stable, they have a stable number and the same characteristics. What is the use of this advantage? It can help you determine the effective promotion method (details will be discussed later).

Fourth, the service cost of family convenience stores is low. Why? Because all the customers are nearby, and most of them are familiar with them! So, for example, the cost of door-to-door delivery is relatively low, the possibility of credit sales is relatively small, and so on.

4. What is the congenital deficiency of family convenience stores?

First of all, money is definitely not rich. Of course, there is not much money for personal investment, not to mention supermarkets, but it is far less than ordinary department stores and supermarkets.

Secondly, the shortage of commodity varieties is basically determined by the problem of funds. Of course, a small convenience store cannot have everything.

Third, there is a shortage of manpower, especially there may be no professionals. The shops opened by your family are generally managed by your own family, so you seldom invite outsiders, right? ! This is normal, after all, the profit is not much, and it is not cost-effective to hire people. There are also trust issues and so on.

Answer:

1. How do family convenience stores cope with the competitive pressure of hypermarkets?

If you feel no pressure, please skip directly. If you feel stressed, please listen to me: don't pay attention to the hypermarket unless it is within 500 meters of your home.

2. Does the family convenience store need to expand? How to expand?

Expansion, of course! Commercial competition is like sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat! ! !

Don't consider expanding unless you have a lot of money. Even if you have a lot of money, you'd better not consider opening a branch.

First, please check your inventory. If possible, do a profit inventory to see which goods are profitable (not profit rate, but overall profit contribution, that is, gross profit) and which are profitable. List the biggest and smallest profit contributors, including those who haven't sold one for a long time. Increase the brand and purchase of goods with large profit contribution, and withdraw those with small profit contribution.

For example, according to statistics, the profit of your chocolate is relatively high, so add more kinds of chocolate. Your mop only has a gross profit of 10 yuan a year, so you won't sell mops in the future.

Why are you doing this? First of all, the reason for the increase. The gross profit contribution of a certain commodity is large, which shows that customers there prefer to consume such commodities. So more brands can give customers more choices and generate more customers (some customers may not buy them because you don't have a brand they like). And a large-scale product gives customers a better feeling, and customers may have the following associations: this product is very popular, very popular; This shop is very professional in this commodity. No matter what kind of communication is beneficial. Besides, the reason for withdrawing the cabinet is simple! This is a dog in the manger. Get rid of it and make room.

Then, please check whether you provide fresh goods. Only fresh vegetables, fish and so on. According to industry practice, the profit of fresh food should account for 1/3 of convenience stores.

Please solve the problem of supply and funds by yourself. Unable to speak in a distant place. What if there is no venue? The first method is to get rid of some original goods. The second method is to put it in the open space at the door. In short, don't rent a new facade unless you have to.

The fresh food provided is not much or complete. Consider according to your eating habits: just prepare 2 or 3 kinds of vegetables that are generally acceptable to everyone in each color. Why do you want to divide it by color? Because generally speaking, green ones eat leaves (such as vegetables), yellow ones eat roots (such as carrots), red ones eat fruits (such as tomatoes), white ones are edible fungi (such as mushrooms), and what is black? There seems to be no fresh food. . . . Hehe, it means that it is enough to prepare two or three of the most common kinds of fresh food. In addition, don't forget poultry, eggs, fish, meat and milk.

How to set the price? Quite simply, it is a little more expensive than a large farmer's market.

Then, please check whether you offer whole grains. Although I don't know your specific environment, as long as it is a city in China, it is almost always like this. Of course, this is more important in the north. Personally, do southerners eat less whole grains? What is whole grain? That is, all foods (such as millet, oats, beans, etc.) except the staple food you locals eat (rice in the south and flour in the north). People don't eat these grains often, but they may want to eat them at any time. So I will definitely buy some every time. So you can make a cabinet that specializes in selling miscellaneous grains, that is, a cabinet with an upward opening and many compartments. The wooden cabinet is better and looks clean and comfortable. Then, every kind of miscellaneous grains is wholesale in a big bag.

How to set the price? It's simple. The profit will be made on the basis of your purchase cost, and the profit will be appropriately higher. It's too high, so put it down if no one buys it. )

By the way, if you are not a professional grain and oil store, you'd better not buy staple food (southern rice, northern flour) in large quantities. That's not necessary.

Then, please check your children's food and snacks. Jews tell us that business for women and children is easy to do. Therefore, we must control these two mouths.

There is nothing specific to say in this regard. Let's talk about how family convenience stores determine the brand structure of goods. A basic principle is that there are fewer batches and fewer brands. A small batch, I believe you must understand. Let's talk about why there are fewer brands here!

First, it is determined by market share. Big brands generally advertise fiercely, with better quality and more people buying. Choosing a big brand can generally satisfy most people.

Second, it is determined by the procurement cost. Reducing the number of suppliers can increase the total purchase volume from each supplier, thus obtaining greater concessions.

Third, the customer base of convenience stores is stable, and there are many people coming and going. A few customers who temporarily refuse to accept the brand you choose will naturally get used to it after a long time.

Finally, please look up things that people need in life, but are rarely sold in shops now, because there is no profit. For example: needle and thread, stamp envelope. These things have no profit, but they occupy less capital, but they are necessities of people's lives. Be sure to sell it in the store. Not for profit, but for convenience.

By the way, it is necessary to conduct market research among customers. Investigate customers and understand their needs. What do you think of the goods and services available in the store? This is very important. In this way, you can understand what your customers need and what they don't need, and you can improve your business accordingly. It should be noted that as a family convenience store, market research does not need to be too serious and professional, and can be more casual. It is important to sort out and analyze the situation from the investigation and give feedback.

That's basically it. Here are some related things:

First, home convenience stores can provide home delivery. Anyway, it won't be far, it's basically a 200M road. Home delivery doesn't have to be free, you can charge. Of course, free is the best! !

Second, if you can make a website, you can build a simple website for yourself and log in all the goods. People are familiar with it simply and unfamiliar with it in detail. The premise is: if you want to make a simple web page, the technical requirements of the website itself are not high, and you don't need to provide online purchase function, just order a phone. Second, there are more families accessing the Internet in your service area, or their consumption or educational level is relatively high. I won't go into details here. We'll talk if necessary.

Finally, if unfortunately, the supermarket does open 500 meters in front of your house, please write to me and I will give you another suggestion. But first: these tricks still work, there is no need to close the door at all! ! ! !

For further discussion, please write to yesanpin @126.com.