so much easier! Don’t rely on your vendors to provide you with all of your trend information. Vendors can provide great information, but they are sales people, so often the “hottest trends” just happen to be items they carry. You’ll know what works best for your community and, more importantly, for your store. Often trends don’t hit everywhere at the same time. For example, a big seller in Maryland may not make it big in Alabama for months, or it may not ever be a hot item thIn addition to giant marketing budgets, one thing that large retailers have over the small business is access to research. Major retailers spend thousands of dollars every year gathering information from experts on current trends in fashion, technology, buying habits and more. As a small business owner, you need to be up-to-date on what’s happening in the marketplace, and often the only expert you have access to is… you!

You are already doing trend research in your store on a daily basis. Reading trade and consumer magazines plus paying attention to your customers’ buying habits is trend research. When you are flipping through magazines, tear out articles and items of interest. In addition to magazines, surf the web for sites focused on your business. Pay close attention to articles that mention items you carry and note announcements of new product offerings or updates to current products.

Listening to your customers’ needs and noticing buying patterns will help you identify what items best suit your store. You know your merchandise better than anyone and I’ll bet you know which items in your store move faster than others. Keep track of your top sellers each week. Charting patterns of sales will help you predict how to balance your inventory in the future.

Don’t forget to see what others are doing. Paying attention to what your competitors are bringing in (and seeing how fast it moves off the shelves) will help you determine what sells well in your community.

It just takes some organization to turn your daily activities into useful information. I like to organize research projects in a 3-ring binder. They are easy to access, easy to update and durable. Make tabs for your magazine tear sheets, sales reports, and competitive research notes.

Go through your binder thoroughly before each buying trip or vendor visit. Arming yourself with research will make the buying process so much easier! Don’t rely on your vendors to provide you with all of your trend information. Vendors can provide great information, but they are sales people, so often the “hottest trends” just happen to be items they carry. You’ll know what works best for your community and, more importantly, for your store. Often trends don’t hit everywhere at the same time. For example, a big seller in Maryland may not make it big in Alabama for months, or it may not ever be a hot item the

a daily basis. Reading trade and consumer magazines plus paying attention to your customers’ buying habits is trend research. When you are flipping through magazines, tear out articles and items of interest. In addition to magazines, surf the web for sites focused on your business. Pay close attention to articles that mention items you carry and note announcements of new product offerings or updates to current products.

Listening to your customers’ needs and noticing buying patterns will help you identify what items best suit your store. You know your merchandise better than anyone and I’ll bet you know which items in your store move faster than others. Keep track of your top sellers each week. Charting patterns of sales will help you predict how to balance your inventory in the future.

Don’t forget to see what others are doing. Paying attention to what your competitors are bringing in (and seeing how fast it moves off the shelves) will help you determine what sells well in your community.

It just takes some organization to turn your daily activities into useful information. I like to organize research projects in a 3-ring binder. They are easy to access, easy to update and durable. Make tabs for your magazine tear sheets, sales reports, and competitive research notes.

Go through your binder thoroughly before each buying trip or vendor visit. Arming yourself with research will make the buying process so much easier! Don’t rely on your vendors to provide you with all of your trend information. Vendors can provide great information, but they are sales people, so often the “hottest trends” just happen to be items they carry. You’ll know what works best for your community and, more importantly, for your store. Often trends don’t hit everywhere at the same time. For example, a big seller in Maryland may not make it big in Alabama for months, or it may not ever be a hot item th

g patterns will help you identify what items best suit your store. You know your merchandise better than anyone and I’ll bet you know which items in your store move faster than others. Keep track of your top sellers each week. Charting patterns of sales will help you predict how to balance your inventory in the future.

Don’t forget to see what others are doing. Paying attention to what your competitors are bringing in (and seeing how fast it moves off the shelves) will help you determine what sells well in your community.

It just takes some organization to turn your daily activities into useful information. I like to organize research projects in a 3-ring binder. They are easy to access, easy to update and durable. Make tabs for your magazine tear sheets, sales reports, and competitive research notes.

Go through your binder thoroughly before each buying trip or vendor visit. Arming yourself with research will make the buying process so much easier! Don’t rely on your vendors to provide you with all of your trend information. Vendors can provide great information, but they are sales people, so often the “hottest trends” just happen to be items they carry. You’ll know what works best for your community and, more importantly, for your store. Often trends don’t hit everywhere at the same time. For example, a big seller in Maryland may not make it big in Alabama for months, or it may not ever be a hot item th

lp you determine what sells well in your community.

It just takes some organization to turn your daily activities into useful information. I like to organize research projects in a 3-ring binder. They are easy to access, easy to update and durable. Make tabs for your magazine tear sheets, sales reports, and competitive research notes.

Go through your binder thoroughly before each buying trip or vendor visit. Arming yourself with research will make the buying process so much easier! Don’t rely on your vendors to provide you with all of your trend information. Vendors can provide great information, but they are sales people, so often the “hottest trends” just happen to be items they carry. You’ll know what works best for your community and, more importantly, for your store. Often trends don’t hit everywhere at the same time. For example, a big seller in Maryland may not make it big in Alabama for months, or it may not ever be a hot item th

so much easier! Don’t rely on your vendors to provide you with all of your trend information. Vendors can provide great information, but they are sales people, so often the “hottest trends” just happen to be items they carry. You’ll know what works best for your community and, more importantly, for your store. Often trends don’t hit everywhere at the same time. For example, a big seller in Maryland may not make it big in Alabama for months, or it may not ever be a hot item there.

Knowing your market trends can help you avoid buying mistakes. The investment of your time in research will be well worth it, as it pays off in better buys and bigger sales!