Starting a Retail Business? Top 5 Tips for Saving Money

Businesses that are just starting up can always benefit from saving money and, in today’s economy, that’s especially true.

Whether you’re starting a candy store or opening a gift shop, the five tips below can help you save money.

1. Buy Only What You Need

Actually, this tip has two parts: First, you figure out what you need, and then you buy only what you need.

Chances are, you already have a pretty good general idea of what you need, such as merchandise and display fixtures. For example, maybe you already know you’re going to sell candy and you need display fixtures for your store’s floor and countertops. At this point, you just need to decide what kind of candy you’re going to sell (wrapped candies? unwrapped candies? novelty candies? gourmet candies?) and how you want to display the candy (clear plastic containers? colored acrylic bins? glass fish bowls? gravity bins?).

Determining exactly what you need before you start shopping ensures you don’t spend money on items you won’t sell or use.

2. Don’t Buy Everything at Once

This tip goes hand-in-hand with buying only what you need.

While you don’t want to buy too little for your store’s opening day, you can opt to buy only what you know for sure you’ll need during the first few months and then, after spending that time observing your customers’ needs, buy more. This also gives you a great opportunity to advertise “new” and “special” items that will please your existing customers and attract new customers!

3. Buy Bulk Items at Wholesale Prices

Generally, buying in bulk and buying at wholesale prices go hand-in-hand. When you buy bulk items for wholesale prices, you’re getting large quantities of items for a lower price than you’d spend if you bought the items individually or in smaller quantities.

Think of the kinds of merchandise you want to sell a lot of, as well as the kinds of display fixtures you plan to use the most, and find a distributor that sells those items at wholesale prices. Just be sure to compare the prices of several different companies, because many companies that claim to offer wholesale prices actually don’t.

4. Buy On Sale

In addition to looking for wholesale items, look for on sale items. Just like the retail businesses they cater to, retailers and distributors have sales and offer discounts. Store owners can save tons of money when they browse the catalogues of sale and discount items.

Just be sure all the savings don’t sweep you up, because you’ll waste money if you purchase items you don’t need just because they’re on sale.

5. Buy Start Up Specials

Many retailers and distributors offer start up specials for retails stores that are just getting started. Such start up specials might include:

• Pre-filled candy displays for your floors and countertops.
• Pre-filled novelty displays for your floors or countertops.
• Versatile display racks designed with basic display needs in mind, like bucket racks wooden basket racks for countertops and floor displays.
• Basic tools like aluminum scoops and acrylic tong kits for handling unwrapped food items.