HowTos Index

How To Conduct a Physical Inventory
Most retailers are required by tax and/or accounting rules to provide an accurate on-hand value of the merchandise in its store. Although the retail store may be using a perpetual inventory system or other software to keep track of all items, it may still be required to physically count all inventory. Here's how to conduct a physical inventory with as little disruption and as much accuracy as possible.

How To Turn Returns into Sales
Our job is to satisfy our customers and returns and refunds are a reality of retailing. Here's how to turn those inconvenient returns into exchanges and avoid refunds by implementing these simple customer service skills. Listen and learn, offer suggestions, cross-sell, up-sell and satisfy the customer.

How To Properly Lift and Carry Safely
Improper lifting of heavy items is a major cause of injury to retail workers. By taking just a few precautionary measures when handling product, staff may avoid serious sprains, strains or back injuries.

How To Implement and Maintain a Planogram
In order to optimize shelf layout and receive a return on investment, a planogram should be properly executed and maintained by staff. Here's how.

How To Safely Open Cartons
To avoid injury or damage to inventory, retail workers should use caution when opening boxes and checking in freight. Use the following guide to safely open a carton with a box cutter.

How To Use Customer Service to Prevent Shoplifting
Good store management can be an effective tool against shoplifting. Retailers should also use store layout, adequate inventory controls and follow common security practices to combat shoplifting. If your store has been designed with loss prevention in mind, another form of prevention is to use customer service techniques to take away opportunities to steal.

How To Use Store Design to Reduce Shoplifting
The easiest way for retailers to discourage theft in a store is by taking away opportunities to steal. A well-designed store layout will not eliminate all shoplifting but will help reduce it. Here's how to use your store design to reduce shoplifting.

How To Calculate Inventory Turnover
Controlling inventory turnover is the key to keeping our shelves stocked with interesting products and keeping the cash flowing. We want to buy the merchandise, move it quickly and then repurchase more products for our customers. However, if the turnover becomes too high, sales may be lost because of reduced customer selection. Here's how we calculate inventory turns to help create a proper inventory control.

How To Calculate GMROI
An important tool in analyzing your sales and inventory is GMROI (also known as GMROII) which stands for Gross Margin Return On Inventory Investment. The GMROI calculations assist buyers in evaluating whether a sufficient gross margin is being earned by the products purchased, compared to the investment in inventory required to generate those gross margin dollars.