Our Blog
Tools For Inventory Control
Buying the right inventory is a major key to the success of a Retail Store. Using the proper tools to achieve this is just as important. To control inventory, there are several buying problems that must be surmounted. The following will addressed some of these major...
Create a Win/Win Relationship with Your Customers and Your Suppliers
Buying the right stock is the major key to the success of a retail store. However, it is also the area where retailers experience many problems, sometimes unwittingly. The most common buying problems are as follows: Most retailers don’t have a buying plan. Most...
The Power of Change
Most people have heard this statement, or something similar, at least once in their lives. This means that there are many people in today’s society resisting change. These are changing times, more so today than ever before, and resisting change or being slow to...
The Real Cost of Old Inventory
All jewelers equate the problem of old inventory with having too much cash tied up in an unprofitable asset. But how they define that cost varies widely and we have heard some “reasons” for carrying old inventory that are merely a skin of truth wrapped around a...
What’s So Special About Special Orders?
Have you ever stopped to consider how much of your profit comes from Special Orders? It’s a certainty that they cost you more than selling something out of your cases. Taking time and resources to hunt down, order, inventory and follow-up on special orders can put...
How to clear Vendor Debt without jeopardizing future sales
When you have overdue vendor payables which are causing you sleepless nights and strained supplier relationships, there is an answer and it’s all to do with managing your Cost of Sales (COS) fund. There are some very strict dos and don’ts which will impact your...
Successful Business Constantly Seek Margin
Many jewelry retailers are so successful they are slowly going broke by chasing sales and neglect to create vital Goss Profit. Too little GP means one of two things - either the business cannot meet its financial commitments on time, or the owners are not enjoying an...
What will “Failure to Plan” cost you?
In large corporations people with specific skills are matched to specific tasks. Big businesses employ buyers for buying, sales people for selling, accountants for preparing budgets and reporting on performance, human resource people for managing staff, marketing...
A Family Business: Is it Destructive?
This topic has been of particular interest to Malcolm during his years as a management consultant to the jewellery industry. Malcolm himself works with his wife, daughter and son, and is well aware of the positives and negatives encountered in a family...
Jewelry Figures that Count!
Traditionally small business owners have their annual accounts prepared 6 to 12 months after the end of the fiscal year, and apart from the accountant spending 15 minutes discussing them and a copy going to the bank, these accounts never see the light of day again....
The Nightmare of Stocktake
Many retailers schedule their stocktake to coincide with the end of the financial year. With stocktake, more commonly known as the ‘retailers’ nightmare’, comes stress for managers and store owners. At ARMS we understand the trauma that stocktake can create so we...
7 Warning Signs your Jewelry Inventory Process is Flawed!
Gross Margin return on investment (GMROI) is consistently below plan. Monthly inventory plan is rarely achieved. Aged inventory is higher than previous seasons and seems to grow every year. Annual inventory turnover is below industry average. Sales goals are met but...
Did you know the cost of holding excess inventory can exceed 33%?
That means for every $1000 you hold in unsold inventory, you loose 33% of your projected profit to expenses annually. Retailers who most frequently fall victim to reorganization cite inventory problems as one of the primary reasons. The solution is to invest in an...
A Little ARMS History
CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF Jewellers Computer Systems (JCS) / Advanced Retail Management Systems (ARMS) 1980 After attending New England University course on Business Management of a Jewellery Store at the Waikato University in Hamilton N.Z to learn more about...
Hi, I’m Malcolm Alderton
This is unbelievably exciting. Providing business solutions to retail and wholesale jewelers has been my business for nearly 30 years. I have truly enjoyed helping businesses become more profitable. Providing the tools to enable retailers and wholesalers to maximize...
Discount Disasters
Given the current economy, many jewelers are willing to offer discounts in hope for good numbers at year-end. The problem with this formula is that it’s a guarantee all right, a guarantee loser. Once you start discounting, a something no so good happens. Customers...
10 Computer Maintenance Tips
No doubt we are all familiar with the old adage “Prevention is better than cure”. When it comes to computer maintenance this is very applicable. Computer hardware failures can be very disruptive and costly in both time and monetary terms. We have listed below some...
Uncollected Repairs
Here’s an easy way to collect money owed to you without adding much additional work. Are you still waiting for customers to come in and pick up their completed repairs? This is in spite of you making numerous phone calls and them promising to come in and collect the...
Are you enjoying your free time and profits?
Do you sometimes feel like your chained to your store, unable to get anything done? Effective time management (as well as the art of delegation) means that even the busiest person in the world can get through a mountain of work. The President of the United States, the...
Better Businesses Require Development
You may not realize this, but many owners of retail jeweler stores are working at least two jobs in order to stay in business. Sound crazy? Consider that retail jewelers are required to divide their time between being jewelers as well as managing all the other...