Monthly sales increased an average of 7% year-over-year, propelled by a surge of transactions of more than 12%.

Note: Q3 2018 saw utilization of ThriftTrac by more locations over previous quarters.

Continued Growth from Q2

The second quarter of the year recorded some steady growth in sales. The third quarter continued this trend with August charting the second highest month in sales over the past 12 months. The 7% increase in sales was largely due to a higher volume of customers.

Average Transaction Amount

With the customer count increasing faster than sales, the average transaction amount dropped. While this observation is not alarming by itself, it hints that customers are leaving the store with fewer items than a year ago. If so, the amount of available inventory may be lacking.

August’s Production

By focusing on August, an increase in average number of units processed can be seen to increase the number of units sold. The 1,600 additional units processed led to more than 900 additional units being sold. In an industry where little control can be wielded over quantity and quality of donations, processing an increasing number of units leads to higher sales.

Looking Ahead

The last quarter of the year includes the busiest donations times of the year as well as the most holidays. Managing staff to receive and process donations is a challenge.

Knowing the metrics that matter help you maximize your sales and profit potential. ThriftTrac makes capturing data easy so you can make informed decisions.

 

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Metrics from thrift operators located across the country are compiled and analyzed monthly to identify trends in the thrift industry. Data includes all ThriftTrac users with locations having at least 1,000 customer transactions (retail) and 1,000 units processed (production).

ThriftTrac is business software for the thrift industry that turns data into actionable intelligence, driving greater profitability for thrift operations.

 

During Q2 2018, users of ThriftTrac saw an average increase of 10% in sales year-over-year.

Consistency

After a turbulent start to the year, largely due to winter weather, the second quarter of the year brought some relative consistency in sales. As such, it’s the best time of the year to evaluate the successes and failures of your strategies. Outside factors have less impact on your thrift operation during the middle of the calendar year.

Year-Over-Year

The most notable change between 2018 and 2017 is the increase in sales. In each month, a 10% boost is seen. Interestingly, the number of units sold was essentially the same. The reason for the increased sales is heavily tied to the increase in the average price per piece.

Average Price Per Piece

A rise in the average price per piece occurs when the quality of the merchandise being sold is also increasing. (If prices are arbitrarily increased, sales suffer since value to the customer has decreased.) Those responsible for pricing items must be constantly aware of the value of each item to push the average price per piece higher.

The sustainable increase in average price per piece suggests more donations were received, enabling teams to select more, higher quality items for sale. To that point, the number of items produced did not substantially change from 2017 and even decreased slightly. Pricing of the “right” items, rather than every item, resulted in the increase in sales.

Looking Ahead

The third quarter has a high likelihood of showing similar trends, due to the relative calm of the middle months of the calendar year. It’s also a great time to refine strategies in order to see immediate effects before the busy fall season.

Diligence in product selection and pricing correctly can have a huge impact. What changes can make you more effective in these two tasks?

Knowing the metrics that matter help you maximize your sales and profit potential. ThriftTrac makes capturing data easy so you can make informed decisions.

 

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Metrics from thrift operators located across the country are compiled and analyzed monthly to identify trends in the thrift industry. Data includes all ThriftTrac users with locations having at least 1,000 customer transactions (retail) and 1,000 units processed (production).

ThriftTrac is business software for the thrift industry that turns data into actionable intelligence, driving greater profitability for thrift operations.

 

For the thrift industry as a whole, the first quarter of 2018 followed the trend from the start of 2017, including a big jump in sales in March.

Going from Low to High

Within the thrift industry, sales follow donations. And weather impacts both the receiving of donations as well as the number of visiting customers. So, it isn’t surprising that sales take a plunge to start the year, as colder temperatures diminish the number of visits by donors and customers. But as winter gives way to spring, donations and sales boomerang back. It isn’t surprising to see monthly sales at their lowest in January and at their highest in March. Pent up supply (donations) and pent up demand (customers) meet to set new records.

Year-Over-Year

When comparing 2018 to 2017 one month at a time, there aren’t any major differences in retail sales until the month of March. Although the average customer transaction amount is about $1 higher, total sales remain fairly consistent. But in March, sales increased by more than 10% over 2017’s mark. The new average sales amount of more than $60K will likely be chased through the remainder of the year.

The new high in sales was made possible by the dramatic increase in production for March, seen in both 2017 and 2018. And for 2018, not only were more pieces produced for sale over the previous months, but the average price of each piece jumped too.

The Formula To Drive Sales Higher

The thrift industry is a unique mix of manufacturing and retail. Only after donations are received, sorted, and priced can the merchandise be displayed for sale on a retail floor. And once an item is sold, more of the same item cannot be reordered.

To drive sales higher, donations must be processed efficiently and priced appropriately to maximize the value of your retail floor. In March, the increase in number of pieces produced at a higher average price per piece combined to set a new sales record.

Tracking Your Metrics

While trends are worth recognizing, knowing your own metrics is even more critical. Only when you know where you are can you chart the course to where you want to be. ThriftTrac makes capturing data easy so you can make informed decisions.

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Metrics from thrift operators located across the country are compiled and analyzed monthly to identify trends in the thrift industry. Data includes all ThriftTrac users with locations having at least 1,000 customer transactions (retail) and 1,000 units processed (production).

ThriftTrac is business software for the thrift industry that turns data into actionable intelligence, driving greater profitability for thrift operations.

 

Fewer selling days in December led to lower total sales but average transaction amount was up.

Retail Analysis

Similar to November, open hours decreased as stores closed for Christmas and New Year holidays. Fewer selling days resulted in a decrease in sales. Even so, the average transaction amount for each customer increased.

In considering seasonal trends, expect donations to be abundant into January but sales won’t likely come close to record territory again until the warm weather begins again.

Production Analysis

The number of pieces produced exceeded 21,000 pieces again but are still lower than the 22,750 pieces produced in December 2016. The number of available units for sale certainly impacted the total number of pieces sold. The 10,875 pieces sold fell below 11,000 pieces for the first time in almost a year. The average price per piece metric dropped to $4.30 from the previous month’s $4.38 but still is well above the $3.67 recorded in December 2016.

Conclusions

2017 proved to be a banner year in many respects. The general economic prosperity experienced across the U.S. led to purchases of new items. In turn, more donations of gently-used items were made to thrift stores. The sorting and pricing of these donated items led to more available product for purchase. And these one-of-a-kind items found their way into customers’ homes, increasing sales in total.

The ability to process donations efficiently at the right price point continues to provide the greatest opportunity for improvement. Sales are directly correlated with the amount of available product to sell. Finding ways to produce more product with the available items from donations is the best way to drive sales (and profits) higher.

 

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Metrics from thrift operators located across the country are compiled and analyzed monthly to identify trends in the thrift industry. Data includes all ThriftTrac users with locations having at least 1,000 customer transactions (retail) and 1,000 units processed (production).

ThriftTrac is business software for the thrift industry that turns data into actionable intelligence, driving greater profitability for thrift operations.

 

 

 

The month-over-month decrease in sales masks the year-over-year increase of more than 5%.

Retail Analysis

The holiday season brings both changes in open hours as well as a rush of shoppers. The decrease in open hours of thrift operators led to a decrease in sales, which was difficult to offset with additional customers on the remaining days. Even so, the decrease from October’s numbers masks the year-over-year improvement of more than 5%. The shoppers who visited spent more too, $0.25 more over October and over $1.00 more over November 2016.

Production Analysis

The average price per piece metric stayed consistent with the number from October. The $4.42 amount represents a greater than $0.60 increase over November 2016 and powered the increase in year-over-year sales.

The number of pieces produced dipped back below 21,000 pieces on average, but only slightly. Assuming an abundance of available donations, pushing this number back above 21,000 and higher will replenish available stock and enable further increases in sales going into the Christmas season.

Conclusions

Considering the season, November largely maintained the trends from October. Comparing 2017 to 2016, there are reasons to celebrate. Managing by metrics points to opportunities in production, in both pieces to produce as well as the average price per piece, particularly as cold weather clothing offers higher value items.

 

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Metrics from thrift operators located across the country are compiled and analyzed monthly to identify trends in the thrift industry. Data includes all ThriftTrac users with locations having at least 1,000 customer transactions (retail) and 1,000 units processed (production).

ThriftTrac is business software for the thrift industry that turns data into actionable intelligence, driving greater profitability for thrift operations.