boutique operations manual

boutique operations manual

In the best-run stores, everything is carefully considered, planned, and executed. Operations includes many aspects, such as store design, display placement, customer service, money and credit handling, shoplifting prevention, premises maintenance, staff management, inventory optimization, and dealing with the entire supply chain that leads to having products in the store. Retail hasn’t been easy in recent years. The rise of e-commerce, such as the behemoth Amazon, has disrupted many retail store operations, and it’s vital that today’s retail operations professionals adapt to handle that challenge. Many retail professionals say the key to success - in stores or online - lies in superior customer service, both today and in the future. “There is a lot of synergy between your physical store and your online operation,’’ says Jason Parks, Co-Founder of DermWarehouse, a beauty and skin care e-commerce site. “If you just have a physical store and not an online presence, you can distinguish yourself by having amazing customer service. Actual human interaction can never be replaced and that is the advantage that a store owner has.” In this article, we’ll provide an overview of the functions and responsibilities of today’s retail store operations and retail management. We also interview seven experts who give their tips, including on how to break down the walls between physical stores and online operations. How the term translates for individual operations depends on the type of store and the specific company’s organizational chart. So, retail operations can encompass everything about how a store operates each day. If we think about it linearly, we can see examples of responsibilities. Start with choosing the store’s location and designing the store. Then think about how the store plans, orders, and adjusts its product inventory: How it prices items and displays them in the store, under what lighting, in what arrangement, and with what signs.

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How it treats its customers throughout the store experience, from entry to exit. How it handles cash and credit. How it handles returns and refunds. How it handles price markdowns and sales. How it manages its staff and maintains its premises. How it handles data about customers, products, sales, and revenue. All of this can fall under the field of retail operations. In larger retail businesses, some of the functions may fall outside of what they call their operations department. Sometimes those departments exist at the corporate level but less so at individual stores, where more jobs may fall under operations. At smaller stores, nearly every position may fall under operations. It all depends on the definitions of the individual business. For the purposes of this article, we’ll take the widest view of retail operations as a field. Retail can fall under goods or services. Some stores are both. A retail clothing store is mostly goods. A dry-cleaner offers a service. A tire store sells both a product (tires) and service (installation). Traditionally, the term store meant a brick-and-mortar store, but increasingly people blur the distinction, even referring to online stores. The term retail clearly applies to both physical stores and online operations. Each year, more and more sales are made online as consumer habits continue to change, and as the nature of competition changes. The next six sections provide a more detailed overview of responsibilities that may fall under the field of retail store operations: Design Customer Service Cash, Fraud, and Internal Controls Product Inventory Administration Store Management Design is both art and science, often using data to help make choices, such as product display and placement. Here are aspects of design that fall under retail operations. Store location: As the adage goes, location, location, location. Visibility and customer traffic patterns play a key role in a store’s success.

People will travel off the beaten path for something special, but it’s generally harder to build that business. Store design and layout: The store’s exterior and interior design sets the tone for the shopping experience. Design can signal a clean, well-organized but relatively spartan discount store (think Target), a well-stocked, industrial looking warehouse (Home Depot or Lowe’s) or an upscale, well-appointed department store (Nordstrom’s) or clothing boutique (Anthropologie). Another consideration is the display layout. Racks, shelves, or displays can be arranged straight, at angles, or in a geometric pattern to create visual interest in addition to organization. Similarly, traffic patterns for customers can be gridded, almost like streets, looping or curving, or more free flowing. Changes in these patterns can affect what customers see and what they purchase. Creating departments within a store: This is important for item findability in a store, as well as for delivering tailored customer service. By creating speciality areas, such as jewelry, shoes, sporting goods, and housewares, retail professionals create “stores within stores” and have specialty employees who are better able to serve customers. Visual merchandising and display: Create attractive displays of products to set a tone and an expectation. Sometimes, you aren’t just selling a product - you’re selling an experience. A pleasing display of merchandise sends a message to the would-be buyer, and so does a sloppy, unkempt table. Even the height at which items are placed can make a big difference. Some professionals use a retail planogram, a type of diagram, to detail the placement of items in a store. Store atmosphere: Lighting, music, and consistent overall store maintenance create a pleasant atmosphere that makes customers want to shop there. Unpleasant factors like clutter, odors, inadequate air conditioning, or unserviced restrooms can turn off customers.

At the best stores, employees strive to create a pleasant atmosphere that helps to define the brand. Signage: Posting signs, both outside and inside, help to direct customers and make them aware of products, services, and offers. Without good signage, a store can be difficult to navigate, and customers might not see what store managers want them to see. Store space management: Avoid clutter and disorganization by managing space well in the store. Make items easily accessible and use out-of-the-way space for storage. Customers may not always be right, but they’re always the customer, representing a potential sale and potential review. With excellent customer service, stores can increase their competitiveness, and even make up for shortfalls in other areas, such as convenience or pricing. Positive, personalized customer service can help the little guys compete against the big guys, and it can help brick-and-mortar stores compete against online operations. However, online operations have been increasingly good at providing remote customer service, with services such as convenient returns. The best-run stores comprehensively train their employees on how to treat customers and provide superior service to keep them coming back. The following questions address elements of customer service: How are customers greeted when they enter the store. Is there a familiarity with repeat customers. Is personal service offered. At what point? If the store doesn’t have what the customer wants, how does the store handle that. Is it willing to say who else might have the item. Does the store offer helpful guidance - after really listening to the customer. Is loyalty rewarded, such as through loyalty programs? If the customer has a problem or concern, how does the store handle it. Returns and refunds are another vital area of customer service. A store buys faith and loyalty with customers when it handles returns easily and without hassle.

Customers want to know that if they make a mistake with a purchase, the store won’t penalize them. Stores should also carefully track returns to understand patterns and resolve problems. Technology makes this process easier. Handling cash and credit: Good cash and credit handling requires both good people and a good system to track everything, quickly discover discrepancies, and keep the store’s finances and inventory on accurate, solid footing. Today’s technology often comes in the form of a point of sale (POS) system that can handle not only daily sales, but also customer management and inventory. This can make it much easier to track and reconcile each day’s sales with the cash and credit showing in the system. Still, some stores may compare POS statistics with manual counting or cross-checking. They also might do surprise counts of cash or inventory during the day, especially if problems have been occurring. It all depends on the size and complexity of the retail operation. In any case, it’s critical that a store maintain accurate figures with cash, credit, and inventory. Shoplifting and fraud prevention: Stores devote significant resources (both people and technology) to deter shoplifting and fraud. Some keep it behind the scenes so as not to interrupt the customer experience. Others may be more upfront, as in the case of having a guard at a jewelry store entrance. Security cameras, monitoring, and product scanners are also common. Losses from shoplifting and fraud can be significant, including by organized rings and scams, so stores need to be vigilant and find problems quickly if they do occur. Internal controls: Stores develop and maintain internal controls, or standard operating procedures, to prevent problems with cash handling, credit, shoplifting, and fraud. These controls help to prevent money or inventory theft.

They include cross-checks such as deposit slips for cash and a well-defined set of authorized functions, so that only a certain level of employees have access to certain items or parts of the store. It’s also vital to have different levels of employees sign off on others’ work, so no one employee can operate in secret. Without these controls, a store could be at the mercy of theft or fraud by employees, customers, or suppliers. Safety and security: Stores try to ensure that their employees and customers are safe. They may use security guards and security camera monitoring. Police calls to stores can be common, depending on the store’s practices. With liability issues, some stores are quicker nowadays to turn matters over to the police. This is the fourth area of retail operations: inventory management. Stores do their best to balance supply and demand for products in a constant cycle of selling and restocking. If a product doesn’t move well, it is replaced with something that does. If a product does sell well, the store increase its inventory. It may sound simple, but the quirks of supply and demand can make inventory management difficult. Problems in the supply chain can make it hard to get hold of desired products. A sudden shift in demand, such as a new product making an older one less attractive, can catch a store by surprise. These functions fall under inventory management: Ordering merchandise: Buyers place orders for products, trying to anticipate the demands of customers. They’re trying to get the right products in the right quantities at the right time. To be efficient and cost-conscious, they don’t want to order too much. In an automated system, the inventory needs are forecasted, so stock replenishment is automated. Another factor to consider is the merchandise mix. Stores want to ensure that the customer has a variety of products, sizes, colors, and other features to choose from, at appropriate price points.

Receiving stock: Stores receive shipments from suppliers and distributors. They carefully track and record it all, and make sure it’s handled properly and is in good condition. Using an inventory system: The three main types are perpetual inventory, physical inventory, and combined. With perpetual inventory, the counts are updated upon each sale. This is what happens with today’s computerized POS systems. With physical inventory accounting, the business physically counts its inventory. With a combined system, both methods are used, where the physical count provides a cross-check of the computerized system. Pricing: Stores set the prices and mark the products either physically on the product or in the computer via the product’s barcode, or both ways. Price reductions are based on supply and demand, season, promotions, and other factors. Merchandise handling: This includes stocking shelves and displays, moving items for customers, and shipping items to customers. Managing the supply chain: Operations people manage relationships with suppliers, distributors and other vendors, and keep products coming to the store for retail sale to customers. Problems can arise in the supply chain, which can result in bottlenecks, backorders, or quality issues, and store operations people handle them. Managing the premises: Maintain the store in good working order. Make sure customers aren’t turned off by inadequate facilities or poor maintenance. Like a home, a store requires consistent care and attention. Customers may judge you based on a littered parking lot, insufficient air conditioning, or dirty restrooms. Training of employees: Employee training is essential, especially given the frequent turnover in retail jobs. Employees must be trained in customer service and store procedures, such as cash handling and internal controls. Managing of promotions and events: Stores rely on promotions and sales to drive additional business.

Data management and use of technology: This includes streamlining store operations with POS systems, barcoding, and use of a customer relationship management (CRM) platform. With smart use of customer data, stores can guide targeted customers toward sales and offers, build their loyalty, and improve customer service to them - while increasing the store’s bottom line. Stores can also use data to root out bottlenecks and discrepancies, thereby increasing efficiency and timeliness. The store manager is responsible for keeping daily operations functioning smoothly and managing employees. It’s a challenging role in a challenging environment. The store manager reports to regional or corporate managers, or an owner, and may have to follow broad strategies or directives from them. But within the environment of the store, the store manager is the boss and is often responsible for all aspects of its performance, including its finances. Other areas of responsibility may include: Hiring, firing, training, and managing of employees Forecasting sales and budgeting Oversight of inventory and loss prevention Oversight of all internal controls, such as for cash handling All aspects of customer service Internal and external communication Legal compliance They may hope that everyone cares as much about the business as they do, but they may realize no one will care more than they do. So they may work long hours to make it a success, as many driven, ambitious owners do. Store managers also focus on success, but perhaps from a more tactical view of daily operations. They’re trying to meet their goals by hiring and training a team to handle each aspect of store operations. They’re managing the store, while also reporting to the owner or higher-level managers for strategic plans. Still, depending on the business, a store manager may create or contribute to overall strategy.

In some cases, such as a smaller business, an owner may depend heavily on his manager to run the business, including setting strategy. For store employees, such as sales associates, the focus is typically the daily customers they attend to. The best employees demonstrate a sense of drive and responsibility. These procedures can be paired with checklists to ensure they are being carried out properly, by the correct people at the correct time. Virtually every operations function detailed in this article should have a written procedure compiled into an operations manual to ensure uniformity and consistency. Here are examples: General Store Opening and Closing Employees assigned to open should arrive early to prepare the store for its opening to the public. The store should be opened to the public on time, indicated with signs or lights as appropriate. Employees should begin preparing at a designated time for the store to close. This typically includes cleaning and other preparation for opening the next day. The store alerts customers at a specified time, such as thirty minutes before and again ten minutes before, that the store will be closing. Staff may pull gates, change the lighting or perform other steps to alert customers. All cash is counted, reconciled, checked by a manager, and locked. All keys go to the person in charge of that. The procedure should define in detail how important matters like this are carried out. Opening and closing work is subject to inspection by someone responsible for that, as appropriate. ?Download General Store Opening and Closing Checklist Store Staffing Employees should be interviewed, hired, onboarded, and trained in a prescribed manner. Job descriptions should be clear and regularly updated to reflect responsibilities. Employee reviews should be done consistently, with regular feedback and follow-up. Employee work hours should be accounted for through a system, especially with variable part-time work or overtime.

Compensation should be spelled out, as well as determine when and how payment is made in the case of bonuses, such as sales incentives. ?Download Store Staffing Checklist Cash Management Front-end cash procedures ensure proper handling at the POS. This includes how and when to take cash to the back office, and how to reconcile cash and credit against sales. Back-office cash procedures are usually a bigger-picture accounting function, making sure the store is on track and carrying out its internal controls to prevent loss and pilferage. They catch cashier mistakes or possible fraud. Cash refunds to customers should be consistent with store policy. Sometimes a store may choose to only give a credit on a credit card, or store credit. This is all important to decide as part of cash handling and customer service. ?Download Cash Management Checklist Merchandise Handling Product shipments should be received in a set procedure to ensure everything arrives in good condition and in the proper quantity. Route products in an efficient manner to the proper location in the store, either to the shelves, storage, or holding area. Enter products in the inventory system for tracking. Return damaged goods according to standard operating procedures. Download Merchandise Handling Checklist Customer Service Help customers in a way that befits the brand (this can be spelled out in written procedures). Accept and route customer complaints to the proper person for response and resolution. Do home delivery of large items on a certain schedule. Special orders may be possible to get items not regularly stocked. Download Customer Service Checklist These checklists show the range of things customers might judge in a store and what staff can do to make sure daily operations run smoothly. Store Cleaning Checklist Clear the parking lot of debris and sweep the sidewalk each morning. Don’t leave empty boxes of trash outside as a customer’s first impression.

Clean your windows and glass doors of smudges. Make sure your window display looks good each morning. When you turn on the lights, replace any burned-out ones promptly. Clean, sweep, or vacuum your store floors at closing time. Empty all trash receptacles as needed, plus at closing. Clean your restrooms as often as needed to keep them tip-top. Nothing will turn off customers faster than dirty restrooms. Throughout the day, straighten up the merchandise displays. Don’t leave unfolded clothes or disorganized shelves. Promptly clean up any spills or breakage. Keep all checkout areas spotless and uncluttered. Don’t leave empty boxes in the aisles any longer than necessary when restocking. Promptly attend to any unpleasant odors. Periodically do a bigger cleaning, such as a spring cleaning. Download Store Cleaning Checklist Daily Store Opening Checklist Arrive early to prepare the store for opening to the public. Disable any alarm system and turn on lights. Prepare the registers or POS system for the day. Check cash levels. Walk the store and do any necessary straightening, cleaning, or decluttering. Take note of any items not completed properly at the previous night’s closing. Adjust the air conditioning or heat for customer comfort. Sweep the sidewalk and shake out any mats. If you have a parking lot, toss out any debris from the previous night. At opening, unlock the front door or gates and turn on any signs that alert the public that you’re open. Download Daily Store Opening Checklist Daily Store Closing Checklist Start closing procedures at a certain time, or when the person in charge says it’s OK. Don’t rush customers out long before the advertised closing time. Announce to customers that you’re closing soon. You also might lock the doors to new customers at a particular time. When the last customers leave, signal that you’re closed with appropriate signage. Walk the store and do any necessary straightening, cleaning, or decluttering.

The opening people depend on this being done properly. Restock shelves at this time, or as needed, but don’t interrupt customers unnecessarily. Make sure all shelves, racks, and displays are properly filled and arranged. Customers often don’t put things back correctly. Empty all trash receptacles and discard boxes and packing materials left in storage areas. Close out all registers or the POS system. Count the cash and reconcile it and credit payments with sales. Do all necessary cross-checks based on your internal controls. Based on your procedures, you might take some cash to another spot, such as the back office, for later deposit. Download Daily Store Closing Checklist Here’s what they had to say. Here are his tips: Shopify, for example, has its own POS system which ties your online and storefront inventory and sales together, which is very nice. 2. Capture email addresses from all of your customers at your storefront location. Email marketing has a great ROI. You want to make sure that your first-time customers turn into repeat customers, and capturing the email is a crucial step in accomplishing this. Your POS system should have a place to capture the customer’s email. Just leaving a notebook by the checkout area promoting upcoming discounts can also help to capture emails. Here are her thoughts: She advises: Too many retailers on Main Street cling to their 9 to 5 or 10 to 6 hours when the most people are actually on Main Street in the evening. Retailers can’t force people to come to the store when they want them too, but must be open when customers want to be there. 2. Uniforms: I am a huge believer in providing sales staff with some kind of uniform or distinctive identifying clothing item that clearly defines them as people there to help. It doesn’t have to be a full-on uniform as such, but a logo shirt, apron, cap, or something that makes it clear that those people belong to the store. 3.

Get out of the back room and onto the sales floor: Too many retail owners and managers spend too much time worrying over the books in the stockroom, placing orders and such, but that isn’t where the success of their store resides. It depends on the work they do on the sales floor, not the stockroom. Store owners need to be on the floor, greeting guests and modeling the customer service that they expect from their sales staff. Retailers need to hire people to do the back office work, but get out there on the sales floor where their store’s success will be made. She suggests: Change the look of retail displays (including windows) every four to six weeks. 2. Maximize the CRM system. Track customers' purchases in order to create customized promotions. 3. Offer ongoing training - especially when it comes to product knowledge. Customer service training is also a must. Here are his thoughts for expanding online: They can help you scale quickly, and you can always bring things back in-house at a later date. Give them a real reason to visit that provides an advantage over e-commerce - and offer both physical and online experiences that can integrate to create convenience and personalization for consumers.” Amazon and other online retailers continue to grow, while many brick-and-mortar retailers have declined steeply in recent years. We asked our experts, How do you tear down the walls between physical stores and online. Here are their tips: Bob Clary: “By blurring the lines between the two. In-store technology can be expensive and problematic to use, but even simple things like signage and indicators that tie online with brick-and-mortar can bring the two experiences together.” Hyun Lee: “This is a tough one to answer, but even tougher to act on. Professionals have to take this seriously. They must commit their day-to-day activities to provide a seamless offline and online experience. Product pictures must represent the product realistically.

Fit, description, colors, material all have to be realistic. Service should be A-plus both online and offline. No hiccups (website does not load, broken pages, lag vs.We offer the same products and services, but with the added convenience of being mobile. For example: When you commission us to make a custom piece of jewelry, you can now follow the same process either online or in-person. You don't miss out if you don't come to the store. We consult via Skype, email you and split screen with you to review your CAD rendering, mail you your 3D printed prototype, and mail or hand-deliver your final product. Where people feel like they are shopping with people, not a faceless conglomerate. It's why we do Facebook Live - it's a driving force toward our crystal ball. Our phrase is when you shop with us online, we will do everything except hand you a cup of coffee.” Pamela Danziger: “Regarding the walls between online and in-store, I think the main message is that when customers want to buy something, i.e. a buying experience, they are most likely today to go online to make their purchases. Amazon is of course the biggest beneficiary of that trend. But when customers want a shopping experience, they are attracted to specialty independents with a different point of view and a grounding in their local communities. They simply don't go to the malls anymore for either their buying or shopping needs. The retail apocalypse testifies to that.” Laura Cummins: “Always offer outstanding customer service and create memorable experiences for customers.” Andy Hill: “Retail operations professionals need to ensure that both physical and online are optimizing their individual strengths, whilst also integrating both into the customer journey to provide a great multichannel experience. This allows customers to engage more with the products and the brand.

By linking this to the online platform, retailers can showcase more choice that perhaps isn't available in that particular store, or allow customers to place instant orders if something is out of stock in the store.” They may be in regular retail spaces, as a store-within-a-store, in mall kiosks, or in vendor stands, shipping containers or even motorized vehicles (taking a cue from the food truck trend). Because of the temporary nature of pop-up stores, operations may be sized down to a manageable level. For example, there’s often less space for inventory or storage, so more regular shipments arrive to keep the pop-up store stocked. You may remove cash from the premises upon closing for security. Advertising and promotion often needs to take place quickly, since there might not be time for a slow build of business. Sometimes, existing businesses use pop-up stores to extend their brands. For example, Amazon has been rolling out pop-up shops in U.S. malls to give itself a physical presence to pair with its first permanent brick-and-mortar store in Seattle. The same business that caused so many difficulties for brick-and-mortar stores now has one - plus pop-ups. Businesses have even emerged to help merchants find temporary space. For example, Storefront helps to find pop-up space in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Paris, among other cities. With each change in the retail operations landscapes, new opportunities arise. With pop-ups, retailers can move more quickly and take advantage of an opportunity without the full weight of a permanent brick-and-mortar store. We asked our experts: Looking into your crystal ball, what will the store of the future look like. Bob Clary: “Much smaller than today, for one. I think we’re headed toward an in-store experience that will focus on customizing the experience for each shopper, possibly minimizing human help. Think Amazon’s new automated retail grocery store, Amazon Go, for other categories.