By Bill Scott, President, StoreReport LLC Lately, I have been looking for new ideas regarding analyzing the millions of records we have accumulated over the past 13 years. You can find yourself lost in analysis if you are not careful. However, there is something about it that intrigues me. Assumptions have the propensity of becoming…

By Bill Scott, President, StoreReport Convenience store operators tend to live in the present—How much will I sell today, this week, this month, this year—and put little or no effort in forecasting. Forecasting is easy, IF you have the tools to do it. Forecasting may consists of multiple systems addressing multiple objectives. For example, merchandise planning,…

By Bill Scott, President, StoreReport Taking a sampling of 8,806 unique items in 29 convenience stores in Mississippi, we have come up with the top best selling items during the 1st quarter of 2016. These are the items you absolutely must have in your stores if you want to improve your sales. Geographical locations taken…

By Bill Scott, President, StoreReport LLC In the 1960s, I was fortunate enough to have worked for the L.M. Berry company, a well-known telephone directory advertising business. They had an excellent sales school that I was required to attend before I became active in the sales process. I was a pretty good salesman before joining…

By Bill Scott, President, StoreReport LLC The low fuel costs of late have been a godsend for many suppliers, but it’s only a temporary respite, which will end as soon as fuel prices start rising again. While the experts keep touting the tremendous savings to be received from the supply chain, they mostly ignore the…

By Bill Scott, President, StoreReport LLC Recently, my friend Mel Haynes Sr. and I have been having conversations regarding how products can affect behavior in retail. I will call these ‘Behavioral Products.’ I have often said that all products are interlinked with every other product in one way or another. Sometimes the link is glaringly…

By Bill Scott, President, StoreReport LLC WE ALL KNOW that beer sells better on a hot weekend, don’t we? And sticky-buns sell better in the morning than in the afternoon and evening. Depending on your area, Coca Cola 16 ounce may be the best seller, and Marlboro Light 100’s — you can’t keep enough of…

By Bill Scott, President, StoreReport LLC Sales comparisons are in for the previous two months. Not a lot of surprises in February. ‘Pall Mall Blue 100 .50 Off Deal’ dropped off the Top 100 List this month after showing a strong showing in the previous month; however Pall Mall Blue 100 HP did well, jumping up…

By Bill Scott, President, StoreReport LLC One of my favorite sales stories is the one about the new salesman that was constantly nagged by his superior to make more sales calls. On his first day, he made five sales calls and was told that if he wanted to make it in the company, he would…

By Bill Scott, President, StoreReport LLC  Nothing Surprises Me Anymore While doing research on convenience store robberies, I ran across a YouTube video that provides tips for convenience store robbers. Surprised? After watching this video, I realized how our preconceived notions serve to protect us from the real world at a cost of our own peril.…