The Daily Numbers of a Typical Store

It is difficult to picture how well this works for a store without seeing how the dollars shake out each day, and then applying that to monthly totals, and then to annual results.

The following show the results of the store's average day in which 300 new inventory items are cataloged and 200 items are sold of which 10% is conventional in-store retail and 90% is sold using various on-line channels.


Daily Store Revenue by Sales Channel Daily Sales Revenue per Sale Net Income
In-store Conventional Retail Sales 15 4 60
In-store Inventory Sold Online
Via Amazon or Store Website
30 2 60
Sales of Other Store's Inventory 30 2 60
In-store Inventory Sold To Other Stores 45 2 90
Bulk Sales of Other Store's Inventory
(Book Clubs)
30 1 30
Consignment to Startup Stores 50 1 50
Totals 200 350

Daily Cost of Store Operation
Employee Costs (1 person each day)
- Base Wages 12 hours $5 / hour 60
- Retail Sales Commission $75 40% 30
- Cataloging New Inventory 300 10¢ 30
- Pulling Stock Sold From In-store Inventory 120 25¢ 30
- Labor Burden
(Employer tax, Workman's Comp, Unemployment Ins.)
150 20% 30
Other Costs
(Store lease and miscellaneous)
$600 per month 30 days per month 20
Total 200

Net income:

    Daily: $350 - $200 = $150

    Monthly: $150 x 30 = $4,500

    Yearly: $4,500 x 12 = $54,000

Comments

Are the numbers just estimates? Or what are they based on? Also is the coffee shop part of the business? Or is that complementary to the customers?

I have been operating a sideline business for almost 10 years of processing excess store inventory for online sales fulfillment. This latest strategy is born of frustration with the lack of business acumen in the store owner/operators. The numbers presented here are reflections of those frequently found in existing stores combined with my own experience with online sales.

The only figures that current book store operators might find unrealistic are the daily number of new inventory, the high wages given to store employees, and the profitability of low priced online sales. I have had to develop various "proof of concept" tests for these numbers.

The coffee shop aspect would depend entirely on the preferences of each store's owner and manager. I have not included revenue from coffee/tea sales in my projection because I suspect that even if operated with a profit motive they would not bring very significant earnings. My own preference would be to use them primarily to increase traffic and familiarity with the store, to help give it that warm, friendly, and cozy atmosphere, not to mention also guilt-tripping customers into making a purchase.

Do you already have owners lined upto opperate the businesses or is that one of the next steps?

I still have a significant amount of process preparation to do before starting up more stores. In the meantime, I am talking to a variety of people who might have different potential roles in this enterprise. One of the things that I haven't figured out yet is how to quickly attract other people who could help make this happen. In spite of that, my goal is to get at least a half dozen stores up and running before the beginning of next Xmas season, which is a huge sales season for this kind of store. But then again, I'm still working on some of my last year's New Year resolutions.

Do you have a store open already? Or is that in the process?

I do have an existing store with an inventory of over 15,000 books but it is currently closed while I rework the inventory management and point-of-sale systems to enable the new strategy. I am operating the wholesale (on-line) business on a sharply curtailed basis as well.