Running a Camp Store can be a fun and at times, a frustrating venture. It is fun to buy product, unpack it, price it and display it on shelves. But when the bills start rolling in it can leave you scratching your head asking yourself, “Am I making any money at this?”.
Here are four ways to make your camp store a profit center:
- Departmentalization: It’s time to start thinking about your product differently. Departmentalization simply means to break your Camp Store layout into departments (Example: Toys, Camping, RV, Household, Grocery, etc) . Creating a floor plan that encourages your customer to flow through impulse sections of the store (apparel and souvenirs) to get to their essential needs creates an opportunity to build the total dollar sale.
- Margin Analysis: The second factor is calculating margins that transfer to profits on your bottom line. When buying an item some things to consider are the cost of goods and shipping or landing costs. Margins percentages will vary throughout the different departments and a pricing policy should be established prior to season to make calculating margins as product arrives a seamless process.
- Merchandising: Setting up your store with proper signage to communicate promotional buys, clearance and short term sale items encourage the customer to “buy now”. As your customer enters your Camp Store and makes their way to the items they are shopping for there should be several places that their eye lands on marketing and display materials which encourage them to buy additional items.
- Customer Service: Training your team to conversationally sell and work with the customer to find, choose and purchase their items is the final step in running a successful and profitable Camp Store.
Camp Stores can be significant profit centers when the right processes are in place. Not only will you enjoy added revenue to your bottom line but your campers will be grateful as well.
Stay safe and camp on! We are here if you have questions.