Articles by Ted Hurlbut; Hurlbut & Associates; Retail Consultants and Business Advisors

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Retail Sales, Merchandising and Inventory Management Perspectives for Small and Independent Retailers

Featured at Inc.com

Retail Management - "Surviving a Soft Market"

Managing risk prudently, with a focus on maintaining margins and protecting cash flow, will enable retailers to come through this period well positioned to increase their business significantly once things improve.

Retail Management - "A Numbers Game"

What small and independent retailers can learn from baseball stats.

Sales Strategy - "Create a Retail Experience"

Engaging customers can make your store more than just a place to buy things.

Retail Strategy - "An Unsettling Season"

The landscape is changing rapidly, driven by profitability pressures on the major corporate retailers, on the one hand, and the decentralizing effects of the internet on the other.

Sales Strategy - "The Long Tail of Retailing"

Even in a niche market, a well-planned expansion of consumer choices can reveal demand that was otherwise hidden -- and drive sales.

Competitive Shopping - "Studying Your Competitors"

Looking for new ideas to keep your store fresh and dynamic? Time to go shopping.

Inventory Carrying Costs - "The True Cost of Retail Inventory"

When not managed carefully, inventory costs can be the difference between being profitable or losing your shirt.

Retail Strategy - "Building Brand Equity"

Whether it's quality, selection, product knowledge, or customer service, small retailers can leverage a stronger brand identity to take on big-box competitors.

Retail Strategy - "Tying It All Together"

How do small retailers compete with big-box stores? By selling quality products with great customer service, obtaining higher initial markups, and avoiding corrosive sales down the road.

Merchandising - "Avoiding Markdowns"

As the new season begins, small retailers need to plan sales conservatively and maintain lean inventories to keep from slashing prices down the road.

Retail Strategy - "Greatness Is A Moving Target"

As times change, small retailers must continually reassess what they're doing in order to thrive.

Retail Strategy - "Price Isn't Everything"

Smaller retailers should never try to compete on price alone. By focusing on customer service and quality, they can avoid the fate of big department stores that are losing the ability to offer a compelling retail experience.

Customer Service - "Great Customer Service Starts With Employee Relations"

Small retailers have an edge over larger competitors that treat employees like any other expense line to be reduced and controlled.

Vendor Management - "Vendor Management For Small Retailers"

By managing your vendors, rather than the other way around, you save time and energy for other things -- like growing your business.

Open-To-Buy - "Get A Handle On Monthly Stock Flows - Putting An Open-To-Buy To Work"

With an open-to-buy approach, you'll gain better insight -- and better revenues -- into how much inventory you need to acquire and sell each month.

Retail Strategy - "The One Thing"

What do you do better than anybody else? Identify your "one thing" and everything else will fall into place.

Inventory Turn and GMROI - "Measuring Inventory Productivity"

Sales, profitability, and cash flow are directly linked to a small retailer's ability to manage inventory productively.

Merchandising - "Chasing The Last Sale"

The objective for any small retailer is to maximize profitability and cash flow. Carrying too much inventory can decimate both.

Retail Strategy - "The Consolidation Opportunity"

There are many loyal department store customers who feel a little out of sorts right now.

Retail Strategy - "Is There A Future For Small Retailing?"

A few thoughts on what it will take to succeed.

Cash Flow - "Gross Margin - The Overlooked Metric"

The small retailers who actively manage their gross margins will quickly discover that profitability and cash flow will consistently beat their projections.

Cash Flow - "Talking Cash Flow Blues"

Cash flow is the most serious issue small retailers struggle with.

Merchandising - "Placing Your Bets - Managing Pre-Season Commit Percentages"

Managing your pre-season commit percentages is one of the keys to having a profitable season

Inventory Control - "Cycle Count, Cycle Count, Cycle Count"

Once you’re in the habit of continuously cycle counting, you’ll probably never have to do a full physical inventory again.

Inventory Management - "Low Hanging Fruit, Sludge and Everything Else"

How to turn dead inventory into cash.

Customer Service - "How's Your Customer Service?"

The quality of your customer service is a critical point of differentiation and strategic advantage between you and your larger competitors.

Internet Marketing - "The Small Retailer and the Internet"

If you are a small specialty retailer and haven't thought about creating an e-commerce presence on the Internet, think again. You are most likely leaving sales on the table, and high margin sales at that.

Retail Strategy - "The Markdown Blues, Revisited"

Thoughts on what smaller retailers can learn from watching their larger competitors wrestle in the mud.

Inventory Management - "The Coin of the Realm"

Why inventory management is of critical importance to small retailers.

Seasonal Planning - "The Markdown Blues"

The root cause of excessive markdowns can almost always be traced back to the lack of adequate pre-season planning, and in-season adjustments to those plans.

Seasonal Planning - "End-of-Season Planning"

Even in the rush and crush of the season, it's essential to do the end-of-season planning necessary not just to maximize sales but also to protect margins and cash flow.

Seasonal Planning - "Maximizing Profits During The Holiday Season"

The time to plan for a great finish to the season is now.

Holiday Selling - "The Big Finish"

Now is the time to proactively take the steps to assure that you have a banner finish to the holiday selling season.

Merchandising - "The Dreaded Assortment Creep"

It may be easier to sell your existing customers new items than it is to find new customers for your existing items, but in selecting those new items it is critical that you are actually growing sales, and not just your inventory.

Open-to-Buy - "So What Exactly Is An Open-To-Buy?"

It’s a tool that in the hands of a fully committed small retailer can profoundly improve financial performance.

Retail Strategy - "Building Your Store's Brand Equity"

Only a single minded clarity of purpose will build a memorable identity for your store, and brand equity that will earn long-term customer loyalty.

Inventory Management - "A Cash Flow Key - Think of Inventory in Terms of Time"

Small retailers who think of their inventory in terms of weeks of supply almost always experience healthier cash flows.

Inventory Carrying Costs - "The Full Cost of Inventory: Exploring Inventory Carrying Costs"

When you reduce inventory, not only are you freeing up capital, but you are also creating opportunities to reduce expenses, improve profitability, and increase cash flow.

Sales Planning - "The Beginning of Superior Inventory Management - Accurate Demand Planning and Forecasting"

Developing accurate forecasts, continually updating them, and measuring their accuracy against actual sales offers independent retailers the greatest opportunities today to maximize their return on inventory investment.

Inventory Management - "Don't Fall In Love With Your Inventory (It's Not Likely To Love You Back)"

It’s either going to be sold and converted to cash, or it’s sitting there tying up cash, costing you more cash each and every additional day it’s not sold.

Inventory Turnover - "The Dollars and Cents of Inventory Turn"

Inventory turn can be a powerful metric for freeing up vital dollars and cents for more productive purposes.

Retail Systems - "Retail Demand Forecasting and Inventory Management Applications: A Tool, Not a 'Solution'”

For all of the capabilities that have been built into these applications, it still requires a merchant’s touch to take the information, interpret it, and utilize it to generate sales and gross profit increases.

Sales Planning - "Planning: The Root Cause of Many Small Retail Inventory Problems"

For many small retailers, the largest asset on the balance sheet is inventory. But without careful planning, inventory can easily get out of whack, resulting in heavy markdowns due to overstocks and ultimately, serious cash flow problems.

A Special White Paper for Asset Based Lenders:

"The Slippery Slope"

Part One:

"The Bump in the Road, and Declining Collateral Values"

Part Two:

"The Case for Early Intervention"

Part Three:

"A Proactive Approach to Protecting Collateral Values"

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	Sales Strategy "Selling Cache" A customer will go into any store once, if only out of curiosity, but it’s the power of the experience, and the emotional connection they make, which will keep them coming back over and over again.