Achieving dramatic sales increases through strategic planning: USU Campus Store
The Utah State University Campus Store has served the university community for over a hundred years. Despite the captive clientele of textbook-buying students, sales were stagnant or falling, margins were small, and data on performance was thin or nonexistent.
With merchandise planning from Management One, and consulting from Ken Bankson and David Kent, the store’s boutique sales are up 75% in two years, and margins are better than ever.
Despite a hundred year history and a steady flow of customers, the USU Campus Store’s resources always seemed to be at risk of going up in smoke. Inventory would often land at the wrong time, major marketing opportunities were missed as a result of a mismatch between inventory and customer demand, and margins were way down because of the constant need for markdowns.
The store had a class structure in place, but they had no practical method for getting meaningful information out of their POS system, which meant they had no insight into how those classes were actually performing. This left buyers with the task of meeting with vendor reps and placing orders that were, at best, educated guesses.
That’s when the management team brought in Ken Bankson to help educate and train their buyers to put Management One’s game-changing merchandise planning to work.
Building trust in the process
Even when everybody agrees that it’s necessary, change can be hard. Accountability is scary when there has been no meaningful accountability before. Trusting the numbers—let alone outside consultants—can seem ludicrous to employees who bring years of hands-on experience and passion to their work.
“After the second call,” says USU Director Jason Brown, “the buyers approached the management team to discuss stopping the OTB plan altogether.” Jason knew, however, that having experts train his Campus Store staff was crucial to the future of the endeavor. “Our first goal,” he says, “was to nurture a relationship of trust between our buyers and Management One.”
With this at the top of his mind, Ken Bankson got to work building relationships based on hard numbers and honest talk. As Jason says of Ken and his fellow Retail Expert David Kent, “They are willing to have that hard discussion that only a true partner is willing to have. All while staying humble and willing to listen to our concerns.” Over time this trust leads to action—and when that action gets results, trust deepens, and new strategies can be employed.
“The hardest thing about the first call was how bad we had been managing our resources…Everyone at the store had been sweeping mistakes under the rugs for years and it now looked overwhelming.”
Transforming sales through OTB planning and team-wide dedication
Leveraging the data
As part of the onboarding process, Management One pulled sales history and inventory data out of the Campus Store’s POS system (at the time this was Ratex, but they have since transitioned to Netsuite). With that critical data in hand, Ken and the Campus Store’s team immediately got to work identifying reports that would make the biggest impact on operations.
One such report identified all items that had been historically overstocked and showed how long they took to turn. This revealed areas where cash was being tied up in the wrong inventory and revealed that the status quo wasn’t working.
These insights helped buyers learn to trust the backbone of Management One’s value to retailers: the monthly inventory plan. “Our buyers now depend on the monthly report to help them make decisions. They know what their margins, turns, and markdowns are, and they are always looking down the road.”
“Through these discussions we have been able to improve the performance of key classes and reduce markdowns and losses.”
Focusing on freshness and flow
With the right classes, and a plan designed to optimize sales of each class, buyers were able to start thinking more strategically, and identifying areas where timing—and not volume or price—was the real issue. “Our buyers now have a budget and a calendar of when to land goods. This has reduced our need for space in a warehouse, since we are landing items closer to when we need them.”
It isn’t just about warehouse space, either. “Historically, outerwear was landed in October,” said Jason. “By switching to July, sales increased by over 20% year over year, and margins increased as a result of avoiding markdowns.”
“We now use the data to plan marketing events months in advance. This allows the buyers to be watching for items to bring in for promotions that can maintain margin at a price that works.”
Adapting with confidence
Operating a store during a pandemic is, as every retailer now knows, a recipe for sleepless nights and a lot of uncertainty. Management One worked quickly to produce blog posts, webinars, and even a “Retail Recovery Playbook” to help all of our clients continue planning and selling in the face of store closures and drastically shifting demand.
“M1 did a series of webinars that...were invaluable,” says Jason. “They ranged from inventory to marketing and promotions, but the best one was about the importance of caring for your mental health. If our employees don’t feel supported and are struggling with all of the challenges of the world then how can they give us 100% when at work?”
With Retail Experts at their side, the team at the USU Campus Store didn’t have to work through unforeseen challenges alone. “I truly believe that Ken and David give it their all and care about us both as a business partner and friend.”
“They are our ears on the street…they are able to keep us afloat of current trends and challenges. [Throughout the pandemic] both Ken and David were quick to respond , and with their help we made decisions that have benefitted us as we look to the future.”
Learn more about Retail Expert Ken Bankson
Ken's background—owning his own stores, running stores for others, being on the front lines directly helping retailers improve the profitability of their business and, also, being President of two retail consulting companies—provides a unique set of experience and skills.
Learn more about Retail Expert David Kent
David is passionate about leveraging the power of cash and inventory planning. He sees that as key to improving retailers’ sales productivity, allowing them to capitalize on strategic and operational opportunities that impact growth and profitability.
Ready to talk to a Retail Expert about what Management One can do for you?
All images copyright USU Campus Store and Management One