Experience and skills of opening a hardware store

Experience and skills of opening a hardware store

Venue: Community PK Building Materials Market

Shi, executive vice president of China Hardware Industry Association, pointed out that the location of hardware stores is very important. Exaggerated, if the location of the hardware store is successful, the operator can sit in the store and wait for the business to come!

Ms. Ma, the owner of a hardware store in Tianjin, said that my store is in the famous building materials wholesale market in Tianjin. Now people will choose the building materials wholesale market for decoration and buy hardware by the way. It can be said that almost no publicity is needed, and business will come to the door. There is a net profit of 10 to 20 thousand yuan per month.

Reporter's investigation:

According to the joint investigation of our reporter and many colleagues, there are hardware stores in places where there are basically building materials, and the business is acceptable, but the biggest problem is fierce competition. After all, many people know this idea.

Wang Jinlong, the head of a hardware supermarket chain in Nanjing, said that for some new investors, it is also a good choice to open a shop near a mature community. First of all, the rent of the community is cheaper than the business circle where the building materials wholesale market is located; Secondly, in their daily life, it is inevitable that hardware will be replaced. In case of emergency, they will not choose to buy in the wholesale market, but will naturally go to the store for consumption. However, there are two conditions for opening this store. First, the resident population shall not be less than 5000. Second, small shops are generally selected at the exit, which is more conducive to customers' purchase.

Reporter's investigation:

According to the survey, the storefronts in front of ordinary residential areas have a higher survival rate, which is related to people's living habits, while the storefronts near some high-end residential areas are more difficult to survive, mainly related to their consumption habits, because they buy brand-name products, which often break down, and manufacturers will come to repair them. Even if there is no manufacturer's maintenance, they will ask some professional maintenance teams to do it, and will not choose to replace it themselves.

According to Yu Hai, the owner of a hardware store in Wuhan, it is actually a good choice to open a shop in the university town. Because there are many schools in the university town, it can be said that there is a demand for hardware update every day, and the demand of the school logistics department is not as high as that of enterprises, so they prefer to buy from nearby stores rather than to find upstream suppliers conveniently.

Therefore, shops near the university town often don't see people buying things in the store, but the monthly sales volume is not bad. For example, the boss himself has established cooperative relations with four universities, and the monthly net profit is more than 20,000 yuan.

Reporter's investigation:

In fact, not only the shops near the university town have a good business, but also the service-oriented institutions such as hospitals have a good business, because they have demand, but the demand can't satisfy the appetite of upstream suppliers, which just gives small shops a chance to survive.

Scale: the goods in the store are all PK, and the goods in the small store are all right.

Ms. Ma said that to be a hardware store, you must have all the goods. If the goods are incomplete, customers will not come to the door after a long time. In order to complete the delivery, the business area must be large. After all, unlike other commodities, hardware is classified very finely and requires many shelves. Generally speaking, it is at least 150 square meters.

Boss Yu revealed that he disagreed with the whole store. First, the whole store is very big, and there must be a lot of investment in the early stage. As a grassroots investor, it is impossible to have so much money; Second, in fact, the demand for many commodities is not large, so there is no need to hoard a lot of goods.

Now I only prepare some common hardware in the market, which is enough to meet the market demand, not only to meet the vast majority of consumers, but also to have little financial pressure on myself.

Expert comments:

Shi said, I personally disagree with these two views. In fact, the size of the store and the types of goods are completely related to the location of investors. First of all, if you open a store in the building materials market, if your goods are incomplete, your store is not big enough to attract customers and compete with the surrounding competitors. After all, consumers think that the stores in the wholesale market should be well stocked and the prices should be cheap. Secondly, do customers have special needs to open stores near communities or hospitals? There must be, but the probability is too low. It is enough to have enough common goods, and there is no need to take a big and comprehensive route.

Management: self-management PK to join.

Ding, the owner of a hardware store in Shanghai, pointed out that the price transparency of all kinds of hardware in the industry is very high now, and with the developed network, customers can buy it online, which makes the profit rate of hardware not high. If you choose to join again, the profit will be lower, because the leader also wants to make money, and the supply price he gives to the franchisee will certainly not be too low.

One of the advantages of independent operation is that investors cooperate with some manufacturers, and after ensuring how much sales can be achieved, they set their own prices and operate themselves. It's a bit like a regional agency, but this agency area will be very flexible, which may be a street, a community and so on. Due to the low price transparency, investors will have higher profit margins.

But the disadvantage is that because manufacturers have sales requirements, investors have certain pressure to operate, which is very risky for small shops that lack stable passenger flow.

It is pointed out that Mr. Ding's "business philosophy" is indeed a good choice, but I personally prefer the franchise mode. Although the sales volume of a single product in Mao Lijiao may not be high, as an investor, there is no need to run around to buy it, which saves a lot of time and cost. At the same time, as self-employed, because of the small purchase volume, they can't find upstream suppliers to cooperate, and most of them can only cooperate with first-and second-tier dealers in the region, and the profit margin is not necessarily much more than that of the chain model. I think franchising will make money more stable.

Expert comments:

Shi said that in fact, no matter which mode, the mode of simply selling products is outdated, and it is necessary to combine product sales with services, such as providing on-site installation services and group buying services. Take the door installation service as an example. Although each service fee is not high, it is only twenty or thirty yuan, but these are pure profits, which is more cost-effective than selling hardware.

There is also an idea that investors can cooperate with some after-sales service departments such as brand home appliances and furniture. Their business volume is not large, and it is unlikely that they will purchase goods from manufacturers in a unified way. They also buy goods from regional primary and secondary dealers. If investors can develop these businesses, at least the stability of profits will be guaranteed.

What else should I pay attention to when opening a hardware store?

First of all, investors are advised to open a mid-range hardware store in the initial stage, with a minimum investment of about 65,438+10,000 yuan. High-end products should not be involved for the time being, because from the consumer psychology, consumers prefer to buy high-end brand goods in specialty stores or large shopping malls rather than street shops.

Secondly, the purchase channels are dealers and two batches of suppliers, because hardware manufacturers have sales tasks, and general stores rarely meet the requirements, and the capital occupation is very high. It is recommended to purchase goods from distributors and two batches of suppliers, and some products can even be sold on credit.

Third, the turnover of piling is generally 30% higher than that of not doing it. And don't fill the shelves so that customers feel that your products have been sold.

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