Rippleglen's focus in the past year has been on promoting active selling among its shop staff. The drive began in earnest in February, with a comprehensive training programme.
"We had a sales conference for store managers, tailor-dmade to the sales push," says Rippleglen MD Mike Colley. "It separated out the four elements of a sale - the planned purchase, the unplanned purchase, making the connection and promoting the product."
There's not much that staff can do to influence planned or unplanned purchases, the latter generated by good point-of-sale material and a clean, well-merchandised shop. However, if they make a better connection with shoppers they can persuade them to buy related products. "For example, if they are buying cigarettes, offer them a lighter as well," says Colley. "It's the easy sell."
And then there's promoting the product. "We brought in stunning buys for £1 to £2, stacked them by the till and actively promoted them. It was just a question of getting the staff to interact with customers."
The strategy yielded impressive results, though Colley is reluctant to go into detail. Rippleglen launched a recruitment programme at its annual conference in October to woo people who could apply the principles.
Meanwhile, Rippleglen's integration of the 121 Supercigs stores it bought from Tesco in 2004 continues. Some have been sold, reducing its total estate from 191 to 125 stores. A small number remain to be sold, while the rest are still being rebranded as Supernews. In turn, Colley is eyeing two double units and two greenfield sites in the Manchester area, a major focus for future development.
Rippleglen has also found time to invest £100,000 in new store racking to raise the profile of newspapers and magazines.
Last year sales grew 184%, from £71.1m to £202m. This year's figures have not yet been audited, but signs are that healthy growth has continued, albeit at a slower pace, he says.
"We had a sales conference for store managers, tailor-dmade to the sales push," says Rippleglen MD Mike Colley. "It separated out the four elements of a sale - the planned purchase, the unplanned purchase, making the connection and promoting the product."
There's not much that staff can do to influence planned or unplanned purchases, the latter generated by good point-of-sale material and a clean, well-merchandised shop. However, if they make a better connection with shoppers they can persuade them to buy related products. "For example, if they are buying cigarettes, offer them a lighter as well," says Colley. "It's the easy sell."
And then there's promoting the product. "We brought in stunning buys for £1 to £2, stacked them by the till and actively promoted them. It was just a question of getting the staff to interact with customers."
The strategy yielded impressive results, though Colley is reluctant to go into detail. Rippleglen launched a recruitment programme at its annual conference in October to woo people who could apply the principles.
Meanwhile, Rippleglen's integration of the 121 Supercigs stores it bought from Tesco in 2004 continues. Some have been sold, reducing its total estate from 191 to 125 stores. A small number remain to be sold, while the rest are still being rebranded as Supernews. In turn, Colley is eyeing two double units and two greenfield sites in the Manchester area, a major focus for future development.
Rippleglen has also found time to invest £100,000 in new store racking to raise the profile of newspapers and magazines.
Last year sales grew 184%, from £71.1m to £202m. This year's figures have not yet been audited, but signs are that healthy growth has continued, albeit at a slower pace, he says.
No comments yet