It’s not hard to search the internet and get a broad spectrum of advice about what you can do to make your convenience store business more successful. From offering a variety of shopping options from self-checkout to home delivery or investing in new products, the choices for new strategic directions are endless. Yet, before you make any significant changes to your operational strategy, one of your best investments is to get good data about what’s going on in your stores, as good data will elevate customer experience.
Good Data can help improve efficiency, boost productivity, and build profitability.
Do you know what’s really going on with your daily operations? Today’s software solutions can give you hard data about several aspects of the business to help guide
you to making the best decisions for your company. Take a look at these examples:
- Margin. A common element most stores compete with is price. Conveniently offering low prices will bring more customers to your store. Yet, if you’re not analyzing your cost of goods sold and determining how much margin (if any) you’re earning with your current prices, your profitability could be suffering. A sound data system will help you understand all the components within your cost structure so you can identify ways to lower them and maintain the best prices for your customers.
- Selection. Do you know what your biggest sellers are and whether or not they are profitable? Price book software and POS solutions can give you hour-by-hour readouts so you can ensure you have sufficient stock of the right items to maximize sales. These systems will also assist you in trying out new product lines to determine whether they may be worth a deeper investment to attract sales.
- Marketing. Store owners use many tactics to attract customers–from loyalty programs to supplementary services like car washes. Store owners need to know if these programs bring new customers or increase repeat business and which are the most important to achieving profitability. Analyzing the impact of promotions on sales will also help business owners amend programs for even better results.
Your responsibility doesn’t end with getting the data, though.
It’s not enough to implement software solutions to report data. It’s up to owners and managers to review and discuss the findings and then determine what new strategies to embark upon. When you partner with H&S Energy Group, our team of industry professionals will work with you and your leadership team to implement the right software solutions, understand the data, and then make well-informed decisions to boost your bottom-line profitability.
For example, some of the most successful practices business owners implement to analyze data include:
- Review it often. Don’t wait until month-end or quarter-end to review results and recommend changes. Encourage your team to review results daily and make small incremental changes to achieve greater success.
- Keep it focused. Begin with a defined goal and a few data sets to track and review. Avoid drowning in numbers by setting specific targets and drilling into specific strategies that impact results.
- Look for trends. It’s one thing to note whether goals are met, but identifying trends is one of the key benefits of analyzing data. Discovering changes in buying patterns or seeing what products are “hot” is crucial for knowing how and when to make strategic changes to increase profitability.
Are you ready to achieve unbelievable goals this year?
Contact our experts at H&S Energy Group to help analyze your business and introduce you to strategies to increase your revenues and profitability. We work with business owners to review business practices, evaluate methods for improving operational performance, and implement programs to boost bottom-line profitability.
We can help you search for the right location, select between branded or unbranded fuel, build your business brand, diversify your product line, select ancillary services to boost your bottom line, and so much more. By partnering with H&S Energy Group, we can help your business unlock its potential with new opportunities and achieve unimaginable success. Contact us today to get started.