Retail business owners

[Dogmum40]

Hi All,

How is everyone’s retail businesses doing right now? We run an online retail business and to say it’s quiet is an understatement, is anyone else struggling like we are? We are lucky to get one or two orders a day which is worrying us a lot at the moment

We were due to get a warehouse next month as we had grown out of our current place but had to pull the plug due to uncertainty, this time of year is quiet for us but this is eerily quiet! Obviously with everything that’s going on we did expect some disruption but we are starting to have a few sleepless nights! So I just wanted to check how are you all finding it and if you are quiet are you at panic stage yet or are you actually busy?

I have an etsy shop selling clothing. It's sooo dead. Really depressing

How long has it been quiet for you? Recent due to the economic downturn or has it been a slow decline since Covid ? Ours has just been bad since the war/price rises, we’ve never known it this bad for our product sales

Is it possible to start a 'support small businesses' thread with links so those Mumsnetters who might be looking for gifts etc could view the list? Or does that go against the rules?

I agree it would be great to have some kind of struggling business support thread on here as I’d like to see how everyone else is getting on as the weeks go by but I don’t think we can post our websites as it will be too outing I think, I’d be happy to accept DMs and maybe set up a group away from here though through social media or WhatsApp so we can all update each other

@Dogmum40 hi I was just wondering how things are going for your business? My Etsy shop is extremely quiet at the moment.

It had been really really quiet then November came and got busy but because of Royal Mail it’s been a nightmare and gone quiet again! Retail really is brutal!

We've had to close and won't reopen until the strikes end - if we're still afloat that is.

All I'm doing at the moment is answering queries as to why they haven't received their orders 😟

Should add! I did a name change and not dogmum anymore!

yeah we’ve made the decision to shut this week too, I’ve got customers shouting at me and telling me I’m ruining their Xmas 😭

Stroppy message here too from customer this morning & trying to stop myself from responding that it is not my fault that Royal Mail is on strike. And breath... We have picked up trade a bit in the Autumn after a totally dismal summer. Goodness knows what the New Year will bring

i’ve been lucky in that my buyers have been mostly understanding.

I saw this coming and changed to DPD delivery in October. Summer was dreadful but it's been not too bad this quarter. This December is busier than 2021's at least.

Old thread...a few months on and just wondering how you are all getting on now?

I have postponed my plans due to the current economic climate.

Anyone?

Sales have fallen off a cliff! We’ve had the odd one or two but February has been shocking, we used to sell on Amazon and our own website but we came off Amazon as their fees went up and it would mean selling our items at nearly double just to make a small profit!

We used to make 40/50% profit per item but we’ve had to drop our prices so it’s now 20/30% which whilst is still a profit there’s not a great deal of wriggle room after you’ve taken on government taxes and overheads!

How are you getting on?

I'm doing ok, sales in February down by around 20% on January but that's quite a busy month for us as people have gift money to spend. I'll be concerned if March and April are the same though ...

I totally understand your concerns about the current state of your online retail business. It's been a challenging time for many entrepreneurs, and it's natural to feel worried. Although my response might come a bit late for you, I thought I'd share a tip that has helped me gain some insights during tough times.
When I'm facing a slow period or seeking fresh ideas, I often look at successful businesses in my niche for inspiration. One project that caught my attention is the Savarin project. They navigated through difficult times by adapting their strategies, finding innovative ways to connect with customers, and leveraging their unique value propositions.
While every business is unique, studying success stories can provide valuable insights and spark creative ideas.

Thank you for your post, things are now up and down, we are either busy or very quiet! We can go a week without sales then do lots in one day, there’s no pattern to it, how’s everyone else doing??

Hi All,

I just wanted to check in on you all and see how you’re doing now it’s the school holidays! I’m ticking along but it’s fallen off a cliff again like it did in February!

Who’s stupid idea was it to run a retail business 😆🤦‍♀️

But of a disaster this year, sales down by half or more since beginning of 2023, luckily I am still working as an employee elsewhere. I'm going to hang in there, hoping next year might turn around a bit.

Sorry to hear your sales are down! My sales are pretty similar and like you we have other income streams so the downturn isn’t affecting me that much but it’s still a huge worry.

I’m hoping this last quarter picks up due to Xmas shopping but after Royal Mail decided to strike last Xmas and we lost a lot of orders I’m just wondering what this year will throw at us.

Only just found your thread. Sales are traditionally quiet for me in the summer so I’m not really making much effort and enjoying the summer with the kids. Should be good autumn and Christmas though so I’ll have to work hard when the kids go back in September.
I’ve managed to hold prices but the money I earn doesn’t go as far.
I sell hobby supplies mainly online but do have some in person sales. I’m looking to increase these locally and diversify a bit.

I'm currently on a par with last year, year to date, taking into account I have had to put prices up. It's enough to see me through. I have tried to diversify by attending markets but knocked those on the head as it has been a massive waste of time, which could have been better spent.
My sales have just quietened off this week after a very busy July, but this is normal for August and it is when I take some annual leave and try and get motivated for Autumn/Winter!
I'm hoping for a better Halloween period than last year, and Christmas of course. I will be reassessing where the business is at come next Spring and may look to stop running it all together. It is getting harder and more stressful selling online. I sell on Amazon Handmade and they have applied a reserve to every single seller account in Europe, so for me it can now be up to five weeks after I've dispatched before I see any of the money. They did this without warning. Sellers are very much at the mercy of the platforms they sell via.

We used to sell on Amazon but their refund policy plus their ridiculous charges meant we had to sell items near enough double to our own website which was crazy.

We now are 100% on our own website but it’s definitely fallen off a cliff again now it’s the holidays.

We have had to put our prices up slightly as our manufacturer has put them up but other companies that sell what we sell have kept the prices the same as they get a discount from the manufacturer and as we aren’t buying in huge quantities due to the downturn we don’t qualify for it. It’s really tough to sell and be competitive at the same time

We're ticking over. We've seen a slight rise in the number of orders but the order size remains low. If RM strike this Christmas then we're done.

Biggest issue is that reserves are low, so buying stock is difficult - but without fresh stock our sales are low - and round we go again!

@Dogmum40 I agree about Amazon. Every day there is a new stick to beat us with but the majority of our orders are coming from there so we just have to put up with it

Have you tried selling on your own website and paying for google shopping/ads? That’s what we do, Yeah we don’t get as many orders as amazon but we still do really well ( when it’s not the holidays) but the relief I have not having to give immediate refunds when there wasn’t an issue 😡 or having to deal with Amazon’s charges has made up for the loss of sales! I lost so much money with their automatic refund policy and charges that I was actually losing money towards the end!

We had our own website a few years ago but it wasn't making much money. We are talking about launching it again, but I think we''ll always have to sell on Amazon as well🙁