Effective Tips to Cut Down Excessive Waste in Retail Store Operations

1. Effective Tips to Cut Down Excessive Waste in Retail Store Operations

2. For retailers, it’s imperative to take necessary measures to reduce the amount of waste produced by their company. This would not only help in reducing your carbon footprint but also save a lot of your money and enhance your brand image in the market. There’s no getting around the fact that retail is an incredibly profit-driven industry. While there are several factors that add to the success and profitability of a retail business, one of the practices that can go a long way to reduce unnecessary costs is reducing your own business waste.

3. Minimising waste, recycling and reusing certain materials can be very helpful in saving the environment as well as your own business. There are many customers who prefer shopping from environment-friendly stores that reflect their ecological values in their operation. Here are a few simple ways you can go about reducing your business waste and create a big impact.

4. Start with a Retail Waste Audit To determine the waste from your product or retail activities, it’s essential for you to have an advanced POS system installed in your establishment, depending on the type of retail business you run.

5. With a suitable POS system in place, you keep a tab on all your inventory including items that have not been in use for a decade. With essential inventory information in hand, you can consider conducting an internal audit which should include: • Creating a list of different categories of waste. • Establishing a certain area for each category of waste. • Gather all the waste from a set time period. • Separate it into each appropriate section. • Consider placing all items in the pile that were unnecessary. Once you have complete information about your waste, you will be able to reduce half of your operational cost. You may also consider hiring a professional for this task if you don’t have much time for it.

6. Promote the Use of Reusable Bags Another great way to reduce retail waste is to bring in reusable cloth bags. As Australia has already joined the long list of countries taking necessary action against single-use plastics, offering cloth bags at a retail store is a much win-win situation for both customers (who can save money they would otherwise spend on purchasing a carrying bag) and retailers (who can minimise the cost of purchasing thousands of plastic bags every month).

7. Moreover, you can add an appealing design to the bag to make it a bit stylish for customers This will also serve as a marketing opportunity for your business. You can even incentivise the use of reusable bags by sending promotional emails to your customers, reminding them to carry your brand’s reusable bags (if they have it) to avail extra 5% discount on their purchase.

8. Reduce Waste in Retail with Less Packaging • Don’t use additional or oversized bags. • Avoid wrapping items in more than one layer. • Offer efficient gift wrapping during the holiday season. • Order in bulk from vendors. Cut down your expenditure on bulky packaging. In order to initiate this, check out your inventory to see the areas where you can eliminate packaging. Even reducing one small piece can be of utmost help when you sell hundreds or thousands of items. Apart from this, be mindful of these details:

9. Execute a Buy-Back Program in Your Store Some retail stores encourage customers to bring in products they no longer use through a buy-back program. This program helps retailers to buy products at half the original rate. In turn, a retailer is able to resell the product at their store, donate the product or sell them to another retailer. Implementing such programs within your store would be beneficial to everyone involved. Customers get a small return on their original purchase, retailers have the opportunity to make a small profit on the item, someone can use it as a discounted price and most importantly, the product doesn’t get wasted.

10. Invest Less in Paper Big retail businesses are now going paperless, but many small businesses are yet to make this switch. Going completely paperless, however, is difficult for retailers as many customers ask for physical receipt of their purchase. If you must use paper receipts, make sure to integrate a highly efficient direct thermal label printerwith your POS system. A high-performing printer will allow you to prevent quality issues and print more receipts using less paper, thus reducing paper waste.

11. Use your POS data to manage inventory effectively and identify areas with biggest waste. • Invest in reusable bags. • Restrict the use of packaging • Send POS generated email receipts to customers. Alternatively, use an efficient printer for printing paper receipts. • For training, choose online training guides instead of providing physical documents to employees. To sum up this blog, making a few changes here and there will make a big difference in your retail operation, brand reputation and profitability. Therefore:

12. With these small and big improvements, you’ll not only do your best to save the environment but also improve efficiency across your retail operations. In addition to all these points, it’s also important to install a robust retail inventory software to keep record of your inventory. If you currently running a retail business without a cutting-edge point of sale system in place, you are already losing a million dollars. So, invest in the right technology and follow the aforementioned tips to ensure a successful and eco-friendly retail business.

13. Contact Us POS Sales PO Box 7921 Baulkham Hills BC NSW 2153 Email: sales@possales.com.au Phone: 1300 026 062