Hello to all OTC store owners and its staff members:
When you read the title to this article, it states “beauty supply” in bold, and when you had to describe in the lease agreement what your business was, what did you put?
Almost 99 percent wrote down that your business is a beauty supply store. Even your outdoor sign on the store generally states “Beauty Supply” as well. For some odd reason, the selection and inventory levels of our beauty supply and beauty general merchandises in OTC stores are shrinking at an alarming speed over the past several years.
There may be good reasons why the OTC beauty supply stores have decreased their selection of goods and I am sure they knew what they were doing at that time. Still the fact remains that if you look inside at a very successful beauty supply store in any major city or small rural town, these stores have one thing in common; they have concentrated on the wide selection of beauty supplies and beauty general merchandise in their stores.
I am fully aware that buying many brands of hair, fashion, custom general merchandise and shoes has become the major focus for OTC stores. Our company sells them as well due to high demand from our customers. Many OTC store owners proudly state that their hair sales make up 60 to 70 percent of their store sales per month and now some stores state that shoe sales make up 10 to 20 percent of sales per month. We must not forget the main reason that your consumers come to your store is to buy a necessary gel, oil sheen or simple hair pin. It is the same reason we go to grocery store – to buy milk, orange juice and eggs. This is the reason why every single grocery store places these products all the way in the back. It causes us to walk down the aisles and pick up other things along the way.
I am a strong believer in carrying a wide selection of beauty supplies and beauty general merchandise for the OTC beauty supply stores who want to succeed and weather these hard economic times with ease. This is not because our company has the most selection in the country, nor am I suggesting that you should purchase through our company at all. Some 30 years ago, our predecessors before us gave us a great business model that even today, no single major retail chain competes with our OTC Beauty Supply stores head on.
We all need to regroup, think about our current status and be different in times of trouble. Make small changes to your store; for example, on every order you place with your chosen distributor invest $100 to $200 dollars on items that you never carried before. These small changes will definitely help increase your sales in coming months. Lastly, nobody likes change, but those who take the initiative will be able to rise from this economic downturn. Not everyone is created equal, but we all have the same opportunity to change for the better. Thank you for your time.
Eddie Jhin – Top Manager of Jinny United.
