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Head On #7: Update on Retailer Business Survey; Please Read and Take Survey Today! | March 29, 2017 (0 comments)
Merrick, NY--Thought for the week: Almost April 15. It's time to gear up to capitalize on tax-refund season. Most people filing their personal returns will be learning about coming refunds between now and April 15. Great time to get them into your store.
Survey Update...Please Respond Today!
Last week, I asked all retailers to complete a quick survey to give us a handle on what is happening with our $70 Billion (retail) industry in terms of year-to-date sales. So far the response has been pretty small but will share with you below regardless so we can continue to focus on the real state of our market. If you haven't completed the quick survey, please click the link below today. It will take just a few minutes, is anonymous and will help us give everyone great insights into current business conditions as we get in more reports from you, the retail reader.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/whatsup32317
Here is what the five retailers who have responded so far have told us:
One is a freestanding independent; one is a strip shopping center independent; and three are downtown independents. Two are from mid-sized cities; one is from a small city; one is from a suburban area, and one is in a village in a vacation destination. Two are from the Southeast; one is from the mountain states; one from the West Coast and one from an island location.
The Northeast retailer is up 5%-9% in sales year-to-date, and feels Internet sales are affecting the business; the West Coast store in a suburban area reporting in said sales were also up 5-9% year to date and noted, "After a slow January, we're off to the races now. Personalized clienteling drives steady traffic and we're seeing young people (under 40) seek us out because we're a family independent."
The island store is up 10-24% year to date and attributes this in part to being a destination in their market; one of the Southeast stores (in a mid-sized city) is up 5-9% and attributes the growth to the fact that people in their market are now happy the presidential election is over. The other Southeast store (mid-sized city, strip mall location) is even, and feels the government is a key influence in that sales trend.
Finally, the mountain states retailer is up 10-24% and feels they are in a healthy state economy, which they feel is the "destination place to live."
Obviously the above isn't enough to show a trend, but it would be cool to know from all retailers reading this if business is starting to bounce back in general from what was a challenging election year last year, or what their reality happens to be.
Have an amazing week ahead!