May means the end of spring and the beginning of a highly profitable season for holiday business such as around Memorial Day.
By Jim Callahan, Contributing Editor
Wow, here it is May already—the month that ushers in summer. It’s the super critical period when motorists hit the road and children are on the fly because school is about to end, and holiday business from Memorial Day is about to bring a sales boost.
Believe it or not, this critical time can make or break a c-store’s whole fiscal year. However, effective promotions and good planning for holiday business can make for a fruitful summer that’s both profitable and fun.
Of course, how much of that “drive time” traffic a retailer earns is dependent on the level of preparedness. In the spirit of summer, I’ve chosen preparation as the theme of this month’s column.
By now, both the planning and sprucing up of your stores should be done but, if not, you have a very short time left to get ready. Allow me to mention some fairly obvious items to address, all in hopes of being of some assistance.
First, if you plan on any promotions for Memorial Day weekend and, why wouldn’t you, consider that the products most in demand will be beer, CSDs, water, energy drinks, ice, salty snacks, sweet snacks, foodservice and tobacco. In summer, almost every category is fair game, so why not promote the heck out of them?
START ASAP
If you haven’t, start on these efforts ASAP. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on signage as you can use your own printer; use color if you have it and print your own signs. As a treat, throw in a few Red, White & Blue stars to recognize our courageous service veterans and you’re in business for Memorial Day.
Place signage on clean, uncluttered store doors and throughout the store. I recommend putting the signage up on May 24 and taking it down on May 29. Also, utilize any road-side reader boards that you might have available and program any scrolling device that your petroleum dispensers offer.
Get with your key vendors and work those deals–inquire about items from their “goody box” for a customer raffle. Customers do appreciate FREE.
Though some of these suggestions seem dated and familiar in an industry that becomes more automatic and impersonal by the day, you’ll find that your customers like personal. They appreciate a novelty promotion every so often. Cater to them. Provide your customers something they can’t get anywhere else.
CLEAN MACHINE
Among the many critical tasks to accomplish during the time leading up to the holiday is to make sure that you have clean, soapy water and a working squeegee along with paper towels at each fueling island. I see a tremendous number of smaller operations with empty water buckets, no soap, no paper towels and cheap squeegees, with hard plastic blades that don’t begin to handle the excess use from motorists.
You may be able to fool your fuel suppliers, but you can’t satisfy a passing motorist who is trying to wipe bugs off the windshield with a hard piece of plastic. Sure squeegees sometimes get stolen, but you can figure it this way: squeegees are the cost of doing business.
Have meaningful conversations with all your employees and stress the importance of greeting and thanking each customer for their business, in a sincere manner—make them want to come back.
Assign cleaning duties inside and out. Mandate that the entire store be dazzling. Make sure the restrooms are extra clean, smell good and are well-equipped. Restrooms should simply pass the “Mom” test at all times.
Lastly, make sure the grass and shrub area look fresh— invest in pine chips/bark (The bark/chips will still look good for the Fourth of July festivities). Pressure wash the lot and sidewalks.
Remove all old signage. Nothing says: “I don’t really care” like out-of-date, worn-out or excess signs and decals. When this occurs, customers ignore all of your signs and form a poor opinion of your operation.
Don’t forget to check outside equipment for repairs and clean exterior lights.
There is more but the highlights have been mentioned, and I wish you well in your efforts for a great season of growth and profits. Remember, summer always brings a sense of promise, and motorists.