#723: The Retail Reality Check You Didn’t Know You Needed

Business can be a lonely game, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to Boutique Chat, where we explore community over competition and how to scale your company with the balance and the happiness that we all seek. We'll hear from product based businesses of all types, retailers, e commerce and wholesale brands, along with industry experts shaping the future of our industry. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub and and I can't wait to chat. Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast this week. I love this opportunity to get to introduce you to somebody today who is not only someone that I look at as such a great expert in our industry and a well recognized face, I'm sure for many of you, but I can officially say today you are a member of our team at the Boutique Hub. Dane, thanks so much for being on the show today.

Thanks for having me. And it feels even better to be sitting here as part of the team. So I couldn't be more excited. I've already been jumping in headfirst and there's a lot to get done together so I can't wait.

Oh, it's so good. I don't know if I've told you this yet, but before everyone knew you were joining the Boutique Hub, but we were kind of like. We could kind of start to like. It was two days before we made it official publicly. We were at our mastermind event and I started to tease to everybody. I was like, hey, guess what? Someone new is coming to work at the Boutique Hub on Monday. Do you guys want to guess who it is? Did I tell you this?

Did you really get guesses? Are you?

I really did. I really did. We went around the room and everyone's like, is it a male or a female? Like, what do they look like? Like, are they short? Are they tall? And someone's like, are they really handsome? And I was like, yes. And they were like, it's Jane. So there was a lot of excitement around the room, let me tell you.

Well, I have to say, this is the warmest welcome I've ever gotten from an extended community. I feel like a little retail rock star, I'm not gonna lie.

Oh, well, you are. I'm so excited. Well, one of the best parts of just getting to know you since you've come to the Hub is you just have. I knew you were smart, I knew you had experience, I knew you were reviewed as an expert in the industry, but you have so much more depth than I even realize. Like, your family's history and all the different places you've Been in retail. So let's jump into it. For everyone who has not met you or know the backstory yet, you got to take me back to the beginning of your retail journey, how this all started.

Yeah. So, you know, the reason why I really love talking about this is because before I even started my professional career, right. Retail was just all I knew. My family is a retail family. I'll kind of take you back to the beginning.

Yeah.

My great uncle started Lester's, which was a store in Brooklyn, a 500 square foot store in Brooklyn, New York, in 1948. My grandfather was a retailer too, and had a store not so far away. But Lester's became a thing, Right. And when I say a thing, you know, it built over the years. So it started out as a little 500 square foot store, and then it built into the store next door. They took over the store next door, and all of a sudden, you know, on this little block in Brooklyn, the entire block became storefront, storefront, storefront, storefront, all Lester's.

Right.

And then my dad and my uncle got involved in the business and it just rocket shipped in the, you know, late 80s, early 90s.

Yeah.

And then by the 2000s, there were eight locations across Brooklyn, Manhattan, Connecticut, Westchester, New Jersey. And it really was one of the premier specialty department stores. And, you know, you don't have that much anymore, right. A local department store that is, you know, really community driven.

Right.

And so that's what I knew growing up.

Right.

I used to come in on Sundays and work the register at the stores as a kid, and people would get a little upset because I wasn't that quick on the register. But it was cute, right. Like that was. And I would help you go backs, you know, as a kid, and be at the store. And so it was just such a part of how I grew up. And then, you know, also seeing, right. The. The real enormity of running a retail business.

Right.

And so when I finally, you know, became a professional and started working in the industry, and, you know, it wasn't the first stop of my career path, but when I finally did come into the family business after years of working in retail and wholesale, having that respect for what my father and my uncle built and the hours and the grit and all of the joys, the highs, the lows, the struggles, the just sheer physical work that it takes to run a retail business. And on our highest point, really running eight location, with over 250s employees, thousands of brands, eight departments, shoes, accessories, kids, babies, women's. It was just a I mean, getting behind the scenes and actually getting in the trenches with them was just the most incredible experience of my life.

It's, I mean, to see it full, full circle. Right. I think about my kids and I think about a lot of our members, kids that are, quote, unquote, retail kids and the experience that retail kids have. What advice would you give to someone who's listening, who has a retail kid like you were on how to make this like the best experience that they can come back to, like you did someday?

Well, again, I think some of my greatest memories were just actually being involved in doing the work.

Right.

Yeah.

And so I remember during these are all little fun things. I remember as a kid during sales, I would have to go around and slash the sale merchandise with a Sharpie, a red Sharpie, or putting tags on things or helping down in the basement. So I think the biggest lesson that I learned was that this isn't a, you know, sitting at the top glamour role.

Right.

There are so many facets to unpacking, to working the floor, to cleaning the dressing room and kind of learning that at a younger age and seeing how the sausage was made, so to speak, I think really just gave me such an appreciation of, again, what it takes to run it, that it's not just, you know, fashion and clothing, which a lot of people from the outside sometimes assume.

I'm sure you have like endless amounts of advice that you've gotten from your dad and from your uncle, but are there any specific, like, quotes that stick out and you're like, oh, I can just hear them saying this and this constantly as you grew up.

Okay, so the boutique up community is going to become sick of me saying this, but it was instilled in every bone in my body. And I can't tell you how important I think that, that this quote from my dad and my uncle is, and that is good sales hide a multitude of sins. And I think it's very relevant right now. And it's always an important lesson. But when sales are coming in and things are good and the good times are rolling, we tend not to look at what's under the hood. The operations, the process, the kind of diligence it takes to be a long term successful business. So all of a sudden great sales are happening and things are rocking and rolling and, you know, some of those details fall by the wayside. The minute sales drop or something happens or there's a plateau or an economic situation, you're going to be feeling that pain. So it was always even in the good Times you got to make sure you are buttoned up and ready to go.

Oh, I mean, preach. I could just drop the microphone and we could stop now because if anyone just takes that away. Because, Dean, honestly, I see this all the time. Like from our perspective at the boutique hub. Yes, we have, we'll have newer stores come in, but a lot of the, you know, more experienced or multimillion dollar stores, you know, they may have rolled through some good times, but then once something slows down a little bit, it's kind of panic city and we've got to go back and say, okay, yeah, there was cash in the bank, you know, 24 months ago. But how did you manage that cash, which is kind of in part why you are working where you're at at this very moment. So there's so many tools and ways to get around that sticky situation. And part of your journey, I mean, let's kind of fast forward from the family business to then being a part of management 1. I know we kind of skipped over a few of the steps in the career, but part of your journey at Management One was also just looking under the hood of those businesses every single day as well.

Yeah. And, and so, you know, coming into Management One, you know, right after, know, we sold the business, it was a really eye openening experience because I had, you know, throughout my career, right before I was with Management one, I was with a very, you know, very big national brand where I was doing sales for them. We had a planning department.

Right.

When I was at the family business, we eventually were working with the planners.

Right.

So we had that planning support. And I guess I just took it for granted, right. That everyone had an army of people working behind them crunching numbers. And when I started working for Management One, I realized, and I say this with the utmost of respect, but how many people really just weren't looking at the actual numbers of their business, the finances of their business, and we're just kind of letting it ride. And what you'll hear time and time again is, yeah, I'm just kind of winging it.

Yeah.

And so being able to actually then get in there with, you know, and we worked with businesses doing, you know, just starting and, you know, just kind of building their business. And then we've worked with businesses that are doing 20, 30, 50 million plus in sales and that the thread line there is on both ends of the spectrum, there are people who are just not really fully invested in their numbers and knowing their business and really having, you know, kind of their arms wrapped around that so being able to bring system into place around that reporting and around how to actually invest in merchandise was again, just a. A really eye opening experience.

Yeah, and you're so right. I think it's probably more common than not that people are distant from their numbers. And let's talk about the mindset of that for a little bit and tell me what you think. This is just my personal opinion. I've shared this in retail boot camp, so if you guys have heard me tell this story, I apologize. But I think that somewhere along the line there's a mindset in the common thread that when business owners were growing up, primarily I find it in women more than in men. But somewhere along the line when they were growing up, they had a poor experience with a math teacher and mine was with Mr. Nagle. So Nagle family, if you're listening, sorry, but we just didn't drive. Yeah, Mr. Nagle and I believed from a very early age, probably freshman and high school sophomore. I believed because of my experiences in that class and with algebra and all the things I just believed that I wasn't good at numbers. And so it became a story that I told myself from then on and a belief about myself. And so then I don't know that it's really on purpose, but once I got into business, I almost shielded myself a little bit like, oh, I'm not good at that. So I'll kind of keep it at an arm's distance. And there's a heavy amount of shame, I think, that comes, that people don't really speak about with that belief about themselves and an idea of worthiness that they carry. And it wasn't until I met this wonderful woman who was an accountant by trade and her and her husband owned a hotel in my small town when I was working in economic development and she was on my board of directors and she just took it upon herself to come in and sit down with me and say, ashley, let me just teach you QuickBooks. Your brain loves marketing and communication. Let me make the numbers speak to you like a marketer so that you know how to be empowered by the numbers so you can do all the fun marketing things that you want to do. And God bless her, like, she totally changed my perspective and made me believe that I. I'm capable of knowing and understanding and fully being in control of my numbers. And so when I look at what you did at Management One and really what our entire goal is with all of business at the boutique Hub is we just want to empower people to erase that Old belief system and that old mindset and to let them know that you're completely capable of doing this. Let us just help you take the first step.

Yeah. And not only just to speak to mindset.

Right.

Not only are you capable of doing it. I find, you know, and again, sometimes, you know, with women in the business is that they're, they're not stepping into their power. And I always say, what do you mean you're not a numbers person. You started a business. You do you know how many people out there start a business? Not many. You are running a business, you are hiring people, you are paying people, you are paying bills, you are receipt like your sales are skyrocketing. You are a numbers person. You have to get out of that limiting self belief because you are doing things that most people never even touch in their lifetimes. So the fact that you have taken that leap, that you have opened that business, that you are having a cash register ringing every day, you're a numbers person.

That's so good, that's so helpful. It is a belief that is a half glass is half empty, glasses half full kind of a belief system. So tell me this. When you start to work with somebody in the past, you see them come in and they have that belief and then you're like, okay, let's get down to business. Where's the most important place to start? If you're like, hey, if I'm new to this and I'm a little leery coming in, where do I dig in first to start to build confidence?

Yeah. Well, I think that there's some, you know, the nice part about retail, right. Is there's kind of two sides. There's like a left brain, right brain of retail. And so obviously there's the more creative element, the fun element, the fashion trends and what's going on out there and the marketing and being a personal, you know, figure when you're selling. And then there are the fundamentals and the retail fundamentals in terms of financials, inventory. And the nice part about that is it's pretty black and white.

Right.

We understand what operating expenses look like. We understand what margins you need to cover those operating expenses. We know, you know, what sales, we're recording sales every day now on point of sale systems. That I know that sounds funny, but that didn't, you know, it wasn't always this easy to get this much data this quickly.

Yes.

And so I think the first place to start and where I would really go to right. Is what are the five most important metrics in Your business.

Right.

And are you keeping track of them week by week? And it's going to look different in a lot of businesses. But I would say you want to know what your sales are.

Right.

That's top line. We need to know that. You want to understand how much inventory you have on hand, because that is, for a retailer, that is your biggest liability. And to not know that number is dangerous. So you want to know how much liability or asset you are sitting on, and then you want to start tracking your margin. And there's two ways to look at this. What is your pricing markup? So how are you trending there? And then what is your markdown as a percentage of your total sales? So what is that markdown rate? And then that's going to leave you with your gross margin. And we always want to look at gross margin in relation to your operating expenses. So I know I threw a lot out there.

Right.

That could be overwhelming, and I totally acknowledge that.

Right.

For someone who's maybe done this with a lot of retailers, it's pretty easy for me to conceptualize this, but I totally realize that that could be a tough pill to swallow. Could I make a little plug?

Yeah. Yep. Let's hear it.

When I came into the boutique of and I started poking around and really, you know, digging through all the material and the content and these incredible tools that you're providing retailers, I found the boutique company scorecard. And something that I've been preaching and helping retailers build ad hoc is just sitting right there ready to be used in the training library. And I'm like, where was this? Right. And so I think we talk about this a lot, Ashley.

Right.

There is a scariness about jumping into some of those big numbers. But there is also roadmaps for this. And there are people who have done this for years. And because it's pretty black and white.

Right.

Margin is margin. Sales are sales that you are just plugging in your business's numbers to an already established working formula.

Yes. It's just creating the habit. Like it's finding the tool and the template because they all exist. I mean, the Internet, everything exists on the Internet. Most of it exists inside of the boutique hub. If you're a retailer, so you've got the template, but then it's just. Just starting that habit. Like, to your point, you know, some of those metrics, whether that was overwhelming to you guys or not, when you heard those, I mean, there is an easy button in order to get to some of those places right away in the training library or again, Just starting the habit. Let's go back even a step, like a tiny bit back to the beginning. I even find I actually had a coaching call this week with a retailer who didn't even have QuickBooks set up yet. Or, you know, like there were still a few basics even a step before all of this. So can we talk about just understanding your point of sale versus QuickBooks and some of the tools that we need or classification structure even maybe another good place to start of just in order to get accuracy in these numbers, what are the tools that we need in place?

Yeah, that's, that's a great place to start. And so, you know, just to kind of preface that with we are sitting in a time that has more easy access and free access to technology than ever before.

Yeah, right.

And so this, think about, you know, 10 years ago, even a lot of this stuff was being done manually in physical pen and paper. So, you know, again, it could be overwhelming sometimes, but realize the leg up and the advantage you have that so many of these tools are digital and right there for you. So your point of sale, right? This is the nervous system of your business. It is the central, most, you know, interconnecting piece of the entire business. So there's two things here, right? We want to make sure that we actually know how to use it.

Right.

It shouldn't just be a register. There's a difference between a register and a point of sale. And so, right, it serves as a register. We're ringing sales through it. But it's also an inventory management system. It's collecting data every single day. So you want to know how to use your report.

Right.

And so I would say when you're looking at your point of sale and you're getting it set up, you know, there are some prepackaged reports that come already built in that are probably going to be there for a reason.

Right.

Your point of sale provider, whether it be shopify, whether it be lightspeed, whether it be heartland, whether it be square, has already set a library of reports that they feel is most critical. And so get to know that library.

Right.

And especially, you know, two, three, four, maybe five reports that you feel that you can track and feel comfortable with. The second part of the point of sale is because it is an inventory management system, there needs to be structure. Like you said, your category structure is so important to tracking this data. I'll give you a perfect example.

Right.

I've talked to retailers and sometimes they'll have tops and bottoms as a category. Okay, Ashley, if you were going to a football game and you walked into a store and said, I need a top. That may be a lot different if you said, I'm going to my kid's graduation and I need a top.

Right.

Yeah.

Those are two completely different categories.

Right.

One may give you a fun cut up sweatshirt with a lot of graphics on it and one may give you a nice silk cami. And those are two, two wildly different categorizations of merchandise. So if you are tracking too broadly, you don't actually have an understanding of how are sales in a certain place in your business. How much inventory do you have in a certain place of your business? How much have you received in this area of merchandise? If you're just using these broad labels like top bottoms, outerwear, you're not really understanding what's driving and moving your business for sure.

And outside of, I mean, just to give kind of light to home and gift, I see this a lot in gifts. What's a gift? What is that? And it's not even just about like you're kind of speaking on what's working in my business. Like I need to know what's selling, but just as important, what's not, what's not what is, what is sitting here that hasn't moved, what's getting dust and growing old and becoming a brown banana. I mean, our classification structure will tell us both sides of that coin.

Yeah. And I'll give you a great one. In home and gift.

Right.

We saw a lot of home and gift stores start to break out. Remember as diffusers started to get really big and incense are now starting to really become more mainstream and sold in every home and gift store. And so when that got broken out from candles.

Right.

It used to all be like in a fragrance section or maybe even something more general. But when they broke out diffusers and incense, all of a sudden it actually lets you chase business in these other categories.

Sure.

So it actually opens up how you can actually grow your business. There's a lot of growth opportunity when you start segmenting and again, seeing what's working and just as important, what's not working.

Do you consider brands to be a part of the category structure or do you look at that differently? So for example, if I'm a, it doesn't matter if I'm home gift apparel. I'll just say Jelly Cat, for example. Right. Because some of these stores are selling Jelly Cat like it's cocaine. Like I don't even know. It's just. And my kids all want jelly Cats. So I understand the demand do you look at Jelly Cat as a. As a category or is that just sorting by brand sold and making sure that we're tracking sales by brand and our point of sale?

Can I just give you a funny jelly cat story and then I'll.

Do you collect Jelly cats?

No, but I am like Beanie Babies. I'm so old that Jelly cats, when I first started in retail, we would give them free with every $25 purchase.

No, you did not.

They were just these little cute little things that were not a big deal back in the day. So we used to give them that. So there is a world out there. Who got a jellycat from me 15 years ago?

Oh my God.

That is now probably worth God knows how much.

But that's wild.

So it is funny. But that's actually a great example, Ashley, as this is why vendors are not used as categories. Because Jelly Cat's really hot right now. It may not be that hot in a year. Just like Hydro Flask was the biggest thing and then Stanley became the biggest thing.

Right?

So vendors come and go very often. Sweatpants aren't going anywhere.

Right.

You could be in business the next 50 years and sweatpants will still be a category in 50 years from now. You know, when we're in the nursing home, will we be saying those Jelly Cats are still trending up? Probably not.

So true. Okay, you've got to know about this if you have thought about being a member of the Boutique Hub or if you're already a member of the Boutique Hub. This year we added something that I just can't wait to get into your hands. Okay, so if you're a monthly member of the Hub. Awesome. Glad to have you. It's a great experience. But we were like people who are really serious about their business and growing it into the future. They don't just join the Hub monthly, they join for the whole year. Because it takes more than a month to impact and make real lasting change in your business. So this year we have updated our annual offer for those of you who are our members are thinking about becoming a member and joining for the entire year. You want to hear about it? All right. If you're an annual member of the Hub, not only do you get access to everything the Hub has to offer from all of the education, live, training, every single week, all of our exclusive discounts, resources, wholesale brands, all the things. But now, as an annual member of the Hub, you also have access to some of our very best selling masterclasses and handbooks. That's right. I'm Throwing all of these crazy things in for free. If you are an annual member of the Boutique Hub, this includes our best selling Small Business Marketing Handbook, which is over 100 pages of content, calendars, live sale ideas, TikTok ideas, real ideas, social media ideas for literally every day of the month, engagement questions for literally every month of the year, collections, event ideas to run in your brick and mortar, and so much more. The Small Business Marketing Handbook is a must have for every type of retailer, no matter what you sell. I guarantee it. We're also throwing in our Small Business Hiring Handbook, which is all the things you know to hire, train, onboard job descriptions, everything you need to know to grow a team, plus our holiday marketing masterclass, our content Sanity masterclass, Best of our Boutique Summit, videos, and so much more. There's over $1,300 added in courses, masterclasses and handbooks just for you. Plus, when you're an annual member of the Boutique Hub, you get access to join one on one coaching calls with myself and several members of our team. We don't give out an opportunity to do one on one coaching anywhere other than for our VIP students in Retail Bootcamp or those who are members of Boutique Hub Black. So this is a real opportunity for those of you who are a member of the Hub and you're like, hey, I just need to pick Ashley's brain for an hour. I need to pick Sarah's brain for an hour. What does that look like? You can book an annual coaching call if you are an annual member of the Hub. Did I say annual coaching call? I meant anytime you can book a coaching call only if you're an annual member of the Hub. So that's it. I'm excited. I'm rambling. I just want you to know if you're going to join the Hub, this is the best opportunity to get the most out of your membership. If you're already a member, reach out to our team@happypeopleboutiquehub.com we can get you upgraded to annual. If you're not yet a member, scroll all the way down to the join page at the boutiquehub.com and click annual to join us. Now. I can't wait to see you inside and get you all of these extras. We're going to do a lot together to grow, scale, optimize and secure your business together in the next year. Let's get started. All right, so let's talk about, like these reports a little bit more specifically. So when we're analyzing, we're looking at sales by category. We're probably looking at discounts by category. Talk about, I mean, maybe just give me the lay of the land. You know, someone listening might be new, but there's also a lot of people listening who are more advanced and they're like, Dane, I want to take the next step in knowing my numbers. You know, the things that are going to help me really scale and get into the nitty gritty. So break down, you know, reports by sales reports by, let's just talk about like average order value and margin, some of those more general reports. And let's specifically also talk about aging reports because I think that's a big miss by people as well.

Okay, so let's get into it. That's, that's a lot of good meat on the bone there. So the first thing, and I'm going to use a kind of visual example, right? Because I think it's sometimes helpful, Ashley, if I told you, hey, guess what? I just sold my house for half a million dollars, right? And I'm really excited about it. What would be your next question? Or how would you think about that? Okay, I just told you I sold my house for half a million dollars.

But, but I would want to know, well, how big was your house? Like what was the house and what neighborhood were you in? So is that a good sale or a bad sale? Right.

You may also want to know how much did I buy the house for?

Sure. Yeah.

Right.

So if I told you, Ashley, I just sold my house for half a million dollars and I bought it five years ago for 250, you would be like go Dane, that's awesome.

Yeah.

However, if I said, Ashley, I sold my house for a half a million dollars, but I bought it three years ago for 600,000, you'd be like, oh, you would go, oh, that's not so great. I'm sorry for your loss. Right. It's two very different scenarios. And that is why, and retailers make this mistake a lot. You cannot look at sales in a vacuum. No, you can't look at sales in a vacuum. So I say to a lot of people, and this will always catch people, right? What's your best selling vendor? What's your best brand?

Jellycat.

Right? Let's say it's jellycat. But are you just saying that because of top line sales? What if in order to do that $10,000 in sales in Jellycat, you bought $20,000 worth of merchandise?

Right?

And let's say you're another brand. You sold 8,000, but you only bought 4,000 at wholesale cost. So, you know, there is a relation that sales and receiving has. And so that's the first thing that I like to really point out is that, you know, inventory reports, sales report, they're all relational. So you really always want to look at your sales reports in relation to two things. How much inventory you have on hand and how much you received in a time frame to sell those goods.

Right.

So it always has to be, here are my sales versus what I received in this product category or from a vendor, etc. So that's first. I think that's really important. Let's talk about aged merchandise, because that is a big thing and it's going to vary a lot. In a home and gift store, a pet store, women's fashion boutique, it'll even differ from a women's fast fashion boutique to a women's, let's say luxury boutique or a footwear store. You want to start to understand what age merchandise looks like for your store. So in a fast fashion boutique, that could be six to eight weeks. After eight weeks, it's aged, right?

Yeah.

In a shoe store, you may have four to five months before that inventory really starts to age. So knowing first what the set point is.

Right.

What's your goal? When do you want to start flagging merchandise as being aged and then being able to pull a report that starts flagging you to what's on going. Been sitting on the floor for more than that time. And I've heard it a million times from you. I've heard, you know, it's in the boutique of ethos that you have to think about that aged merchandise as cash getting dusty, sitting on a hanger or sitting on a shelf or sitting on a rack. Because essentially that's what it is. Inventory is an asset until it's a big liability.

Absolutely. And I love that. I feel like this is like you and I are kind of like right brain, left brain here working together. Because when you talk about the numbers and I hear you say that, and what do I do with the aged inventory? Naturally, my marketing and creative brain goes, oh, okay, I know this is aged. That means I better get a hold of this merchandise, restyle it, reshoot it, re promote it, I better make a reel out of it. I need to make it look new and exciting again in or tell my customers, I just restocked it, like whatever I have to do. But my marketing brain now knows 10 actions I can take based on that one report. So I think it's just so critical. As retailers, I'm sure you find This I just feel like we are shopping addicts, for lack of a better word.

Yep, it happens.

And it's just like new, new, new, what's new, what's new? But our customers don't realize that those things are, are new or old. They have no like cons, conceptual, like grasp on what that is. But it's your marketing, like it's knowing the data, but it's being smart with your marketing to make the, the old feel new again. And that's where the money's at.

And can I tell you who, who we can take a little lesson from here? What big box retailer we could look to on this? Zara, right. Who's actually technically the largest boutique in the world, right?

Yeah.

When I say large, I mean we're talking billions and billions of dollars. And they have a very interesting strategy, right. They have a six week out the door policy. So after six weeks you are done. So if you are a piece of product that's been sitting there at Zara, but what they do within that six weeks is really fascinating. And it goes directly to what you're speaking to in terms of that marketing mind.

Right.

They're not just waiting till six weeks putting it on a table, seeing if it sells. They are constantly remerchandising, they are constantly changing their mannequins, they are constantly taking merchandise and making it feel new and fresh. And those are kind of the tips and tricks that, you know, before you just get to that markdown or put something into clearance, you better be taking every advantage of to make it new and fresh for the customer. Because you're right, it may not be, you know, you may have a customer that walks in once every three months. And so within that time period, you want to bring new life to merchandise, whether it be, you know, switching up a table, putting it in a new place in, you know, in a marketing visual, getting it back up on a live.

Right.

And so there's such opportunity, you know, in retail, you open the door every day. In an online retailer, you're open 24 7. So you always have an opportunity to move and shift and adapt. But you don't know where to adapt until you start looking at those numbers. So an aged inventory report is a great way to start flagging what needs attention.

Yeah. And what this all comes down to at the end of the day is what is king. It's cash, it's profit margin. And just really maintain margin across your business. And one of the things that's like music to my ears that I hear from retailers it's when they're like, hey Ashley, maybe my sales, maybe my top line sales weren't what they were this month last year or whatever. But guess what? My profit was way up, my margin was way up, I paid myself more than I ever have. And I feel like yes, you are now working smarter and not harder because otherwise, like to that point of being on this, you know, hamster wheel of a retail cycle that a lot of people are on and that buying addict model, like we're losing that opportunity to actually keep the margin and pay ourself because everything is walking out the door at a discount because we didn't address the age of the inventory in the process.

Absolutely. And you know, again, it kind of speaks to that mentality when we talk about everything in retail is relational. So of course, you know, I go back to that. Good sales hide a multitude of sins. Of course we want to grow top line sales.

Right.

No one's ever going to say depress your sales. You will never hear anybody in retail education say that. However, you're totally right, that it's okay if sales do come down or plateau, if the foundations of your margin and your, you know, your markdown percentage goes down, if you're, you know, building more cash flow, if you're turning things faster, you can have a more profitable business. But again, it's going to take really understanding your numbers and monitoring it to week and knowing what those big metrics are. Ashley, I also want to jump out to another thing that you brought up that I don't think we hit on, which is average order value and units per transaction because I think that's really critical.

Absolutely.

And so from my end, right. And how I used to think about this in retail is those are very store level driven metrics.

Right.

And so I could talk, speak to also how that works, you know, in an E commerce or digital business. But for a brick and mortar store, right, Your units per transaction, your average order value, that's a really great way to measure the performance on the sales floor.

Right?

Yeah.

So that speaks to are my sales associates and or myself. If I'm on the floor, am I cross selling?

Right.

Am I selling one item or am I building a wardrobe in an outfit?

Right.

Am I merchandising, am I merchant if I'm a home and gift store, Right. Am I bundling stuff? Am I selling things together or am I just letting someone walk out the door with one throw pillow?

Right?

Yeah.

That speaks to performance on the floor. So actually knowing where to pull the lever to actually Respond to some of these metrics is really important. So there are buying metrics and then there are store management and operations metrics. And so for me, I love the selling metrics because you can see a really quick turnaround with that if you put some effort into it.

Oh, for sure. And I also will take it back to the marketing brain. AOV is one of my very favorite metrics for marketing because, Dane, I'm sure you've seen this in the, in the training library at the Hub, but the retail traffic formula, there's a whole like little fill in the blank and the numbers calculate for you sheet. Maybe you've seen it. But in marketing, if I want to know, okay, here's my sales goal in this period of time. We'll say by week I have to know how much traffic do I need to make that happen. And that number is totally variable based on two metrics, your average order value and your conversion rate. So if I want to make, you know, if I'm a million dollar store and I need to sell 83,000amonth to make that happen, well, at a $80 average order value, I need a lot more Traffic than at $120 average order value, I need a lot less traffic. So that becomes a metric and a game I can play with my staff to train them. And then secondary is my conversion rate. If 5 out of 10 people who walk through the door buy something versus 7 out of 10, I need a lot less people. So again, it's a staff training and operational metric that really makes my marketing team have a plan and makes their life either a lot harder or a lot easier based on, you know, the two variables in the middle.

And listen, Ashley, I know you're my boss now, but I'm going to suck up a little, okay? That traffic calculator, that conversion calculator that you have, which again sits in that profit plan module in the training library and is on that company scorecard spreadsheet, that simple tool. It's pretty a simple formula. But how you conceptualize that and how that can impact a retailer's thought process on how to approach their business day to day, that's a game changer. And it's, it's so simple. But you may not think about it, right? You may not be viewing the business in that way. So these are again, the kind of made for you tools and the easy access that you have, right? If you're listening to this podcast and you're a member and you haven't dug into some of these tools, there's gold sitting there. I want to tell you one more really fun story.

Okay, let's hear it.

And this is on average order value units per transaction. So when I was, you know, running the retail business at the family business, we had a big children's business, right? That was our biggest departments were children's departments and kind of what we were known for. And one of the things that everybody thought. I cannot tell you how much people laughed at me when I came up with this idea.

Okay?

We. Sometimes we get, especially on the weekends, you know, you'd get some lines forming at the register and you'd have kids. I mean, you know, kids with shopping, like, it could be a long day. They're crying, they're yelling, they're making a scene, they're throwing a tantrum. And sometimes mothers would actually pull the kids off the line and just be like, I can't deal with this.

Okay, Been there.

Yeah, you've been there. So I said, hey, why don't we put, you know, those Haribo stands?

Yeah, like gummy bears.

I said, yes, let's just get one and load it up with different gummies and, you know, little snacks and everyone's at your. Absolutely not. It's going to make a mess. There'll be sugar all over. There'll be gummy worms over. I said, okay, I'm telling you, let, let's try it, right? And so we tried it in one store. We put it right by the register as people were standing online, just line, you know, as that line is there, if we, we were restocking it so often, you have no idea. And that drove our units per transaction. It drove the average order value, right? Sometimes this isn't like, you know, sometimes the simplest ideas and, and fun ideas and creative ideas that will drive up metrics in your business and you can see it happen. So, you know, the fun of being in retail and the fun of numbers, if you're not a quote unquote, numbers person, is when you actually see those numbers changing for the better, right? You take an action, you put something into place, and then you're looking at your scorecard week to week, and you're like, heck, yeah, this is going up.

Yeah. And that's such an opportunity. I mean, first of all, what a fan's first moment. Like, we're obsessed with the fan's first book. We've done multiple book studies on it here in the Hub, But a fan's first moment, and some people may have looked at that as well, it's going to cost me Blah. You know, it's going to cost me this amount to offer this. But really, what did it gain you? Like, that was an investment, not an expense. And I think that's also a big shift that retailers have to make is what are the investment opportunities in my business versus what are the expenses that I should be wary of?

So.

So I love that example. I'm sure, based on your perspective, you've spoken to thousands and thousands of stores as you look across some, like, best practices specific to metrics, numbers, how stores are operating and tracking and shifts they've made. What are some of your favorite, like, best practice stories that you've seen across the board?

Yeah. So I think really this is something that I've advocated in many different areas of my career in retail, and it's something that actually in retail Bootcamp this week, you really helped crystallize for me, which was make a date with your numbers.

Right.

And so I've always viewed it as, you need an executive report.

Right.

And that's your Monday morning report. You should have those metrics you're tracking. And again, you guys pull it together. We pull it together at the boutique hub with the boutique company scorecard. But I've always conceptualized it as, that's your Monday morning executive report. And it can't just be you that's looking at it.

Right.

All the critical players on your team need to be tracking it with you. So that's always how I thought about it. But when you said you have to make a date with your numbers, it was like a light bulb moment for me. You know, in this busy world that we live in, take your Google calendar, take your Planner, and put 30 minutes on your calendar once a week, and that is your time. So it's kind of the merging of the two worlds for me. Like, you're taking that executive report, you're taking that scorecard, and you're actually committing to a time when you're going to block out the world, where you're going to shut your office door, where you're going to know that you could have time with a cup of coffee or maybe a glass of wine. If you do it at night, you're going to look at these numbers. And I love when you phrased it like a date with numbers. It just took a little, you know, air out of the balloon.

Right. It.

It didn't feel so scary.

Oh, my gosh. Well, hopefully. Hopefully so. And really, it just comes down to show me your calendar and you're going to show me your priorities, whatever is important to you and your life and your business will be on your calendar. And so if making money is important, the date with your number should be there. That should be like non negotiable. Has to happen every single week. So I love that. Thanks for calling that out.

Yeah. And I'll. I'll tell you one other thing though, and here's. Here's always my little clue that someone's a fantastic retailer.

Right.

I've, over the years spoke with thousands and thousands of retailers on calls, on zooms, in person at events, you know, and really trying to help them manage their businesses and really gain profitability. And I know that if I ask you a question or two and I say, hey, what were your sales last year? And they have it right there for me, or hey, about how much inventory do you have on hand? And it's right there, or if I say, you know, what's your average markup? And they have it right at the tip of their tongue, I know that this person is not messing around.

That's so true. Oh, amen on all fronts. Completely agree. Well, Dane, we're wrapping up here in just a minute, but I have a couple personal questions for you. Are you ready? It's not even personal questions. It's more like this. I've known you for a long time. You knew about the Hub for a long time. But I'm dying to know when you first, like your first day at work at the Hub, what was the one thing that you were like? I've always wondered if they really. Or what it's really like behind the scenes. What was the question and what was your experience once you started to work here?

Okay, so I have two.

Right.

Okay.

My first one is what is going on behind the scenes of these Facebook groups? And really, because I've been a service provider, right. And I've been in there and it is wild how much activity is going on in there.

Right.

And so I thought, like, what is there, like an army of like, you know, overseas people responding to this? And no, like, you guys are in there and we're chatting back and forth on Slack. Someone asked this question, let's get back to them. So that was like a big moment for me when I'm like, wow, this team is like in there every day, every hour responding to these questions and conversations and dialogues and jumping in and thinking of fun new content to put there. So that was the first big kind of like, whoa, that's pretty bad. Can I say that?

Yeah, you can. Yes.

I don't know what platforms we're on. That's pretty badass, Ashley. Right? That's really cool that you guys are so involved, you know, so directly with the retailers in the Facebook group. So that was a really cool thing to see.

Our team works really hard. I mean, they just really like, literally all hours of the day, all hours of the night, and unfortunately, sometimes like in the middle of the night, on the weekend, on vacation, in Facebook messenger because someone's, you know, worried or stressed or unhappy or something happened. So thanks for calling that out. We want people to know what it takes to run those things behind the scenes.

Yeah. And then the other thing is, we've talked about this. I am just really blown away with how much content and tools there are in the training library. And I cannot emphasize this enough. I don't know, for some of us listening, you're not going to be able to see this. So I'll describe what I'm holding up. I am holding up my years and years of selling manuals, marketing calendars that took me weeks upon weeks, if not months, to create. Over many years of work.

Right?

Yeah.

And I got into the training library and I'm like, this is all there. Like, this is all there. Like, where were you, Ashley, when I was building this for weeks in a stockroom by myself. And so the amount of resources that are at, like, just at the fingertips of members is so powerful. And really, like, I don't want to sound cheesy here, but, you know, there's like a thank you that needs to be said for what you have created and such easy access to it, because, you know, this is stuff that can really take a huge, you know, distraction from your business, just trying to build all of this while you're trying to also run your business day to day. And so the fact that there are some, you know, incredible tools, manuals, how to tos that are really just sitting there for your resource, it's just pretty. It's pretty major.

Ah, well, you know, it goes back to this. You talked about at the beginning your life as a retail kid and you saw how hard your family worked. And it's 24 7. And I think if there's ever been a goal, like for Eric and I specifically at the Hub, it's, we want people to have a life and a business and not just it all kind of blurs together. Right. We want to make sure that how can we make your life easier? So, yes, the business is great. You can operate it, but you can also go home to your family and you can have a vacation and you can have space, because that's not the case for everybody in business. So if we can make everyone's life just a little bit easier, goal accomplished at the end of the day. So I appreciate you noticing that.

Maybe if the Boutique Hub was around, my dad wouldn't have missed my Little League 1994 playoff game. You could have been at that game.

You probably would have turned pro. I mean, it could have shifted everything.

That was the butterfly effect right there.

It was the butterfly effect. All right, I have one last question for you. So you're still new on the team at the Hub. So if you look forward, say fast forward a year from now, what is something that you really hope that you will have accomplished at the Hub and with our members?

Oh, this is a good one, Ashley. So what I hope to accomplish. Well, listen, let's put a bow on this conversation, because I think we've talked a lot about it is I do really want, in a year from now, people that maybe I'm speaking to now who are coming in, that that idea of I am not a numbers person really starts to go away.

Yes.

And I'm going to say something a little controversial now.

Okay.

I think that this is the year to do it, because this is going to be, you know, we're in the year 2025, and this is going to be a challenging year. But necessity is the mother of all invention. And I think that the, you know, Boutique Hub members out there, the retailers out there, the boutique owners out there, the store owners out there, the digital creators out there, Right. Your hand is going to be forced this year. And if you are passionate about your business and you mean business, right, and you want to grow and you want to succeed and you want to be here for the long haul, you will find the ways to flourish. You will find the ways to survive. And I think that, you know, getting a handle on that numbers piece of this and walking away from this year and being able to stand up tall and say, you know what? I'm an entrepreneur, I'm a business owner, I'm a CEO, and I'm a numbers person a year from now, that would be a major goal.

Mic drop, we're making it happen. I'm on board. I love it. Dean, this has been incredible. Thank you so much for your time. And I'm so excited that you're here on the team at the Hub. I know our members are, too. So for those of you who are listening, who are members, obviously Dane's in the groups now, in all the groups. And we're going to be finding all kinds of new ways to to get you in touch with Dane as you have questions, new trainings. We're gonna be creating probably a rebrand on how the training library works. I mean, there's a lot of really great things in the works to get you guys exactly what Dane is talking about today. So, Dane, again, thank you for the person you are and the shining light you are in this industry. We're so blessed to have you here.

Thank you, Ashley. And I'm really, really excited for what's to come and for being a part of the team. So definitely I want some Facebook action.

So send him a message, guys.

Send me a message.

Foreign.

Thanks for listening, guys. I hope you took away all kinds of nuggets and new ideas from this week's episode. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a rating and review. We love to hear your feedback and give you a chance to be featured on the show each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and to access guest downloads and bonuses and all the resources we talked about on the show, head on over to the boutiquehub.com and join the community. We'll see you next week.