Know Your Shoppers - Meet Their Needs

Even if you're a dollar store expert with the most successful store in one area of town

, you can't always count on successfully replicating the store in another town or another area. That's because the type of dollar store merchandise that sells in one area doesn't always carry the same popularity in another. Of course, good store practices never go out of fashion, but unless you meet the needs of your client base, even the best store management won't guarantee success. Knowing your customer, your competition and the neighborhood is also a key factor in insuring a profitable store.

Before you open the store or buy one dollar's worth of merchandise, you should spend time in the neighborhood shopping at the stores that will be your competitors. By simply watching closely, you'll know the types of items the shoppers tend to purchase. You can also talk to wholesalers and let them know where you'll be opening the store and describing the demographic data for the neighborhood and surrounding area.

Once you open the store, take time to listen to the customers. Some may tell you they wished you carried such and such product "like the other store" does. Others will ask for specific items. Keeping a close inventory will also help you track the items that sell rapidly and ones that simply sit on the shelves wasting valuable space and collecting dust.

Core items, laundry detergent, hand soap, paper products, foodstuffs and etcetera fit many different demographic groups. However, in some neighborhoods, herbal tea, green tea and regular tea will fly off the shelves, while other client bases purchase more coffee and creamer. The same is true for candy, cookies and other snack items compared to canned food and staples. In many cases, you simply have to watch closely, since demographics does not govern some of these preferred selections.

You'll find carrying certain household items such as cups, glasses and silverware, sells far better in a younger neighborhood where couples are just starting to live on their own. You'll make far fewer sales in neighborhoods with older residents, since many times, these people have more than enough of those items and may even be giving them away. However, if your clientele is older, you'll probably sell more greeting cards than you would otherwise, particularly sympathy cards, family birthday and get-well cards. Older customers tend to send more cards if the price is right, whereas younger customers email greetings.

by: Robert Hamilton

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