“Put on your flip-flops and we’ll go shopping, dear…” - as the Sultans of Ping FC sang in the early 90s, shopping is part of everyday life. For many charities, the humble charity shop has become a fixture of the high street and an essential tool in fundraising.
But in today’s retail climate, is having a shop enough? And if not, what steps can charities take to ensure their stores remain purposeful and profitable?
The role of the charity shop in fundraising
It’s fair to say that most charities will have some form of presence on the high street to sell donated goods to raise much needed funds. The concept is certainly not new; find an empty shop, mailshot the local area to ask for donations, cram as many items as possible into the window/shelves/racking, put up an 'open' sign and wait for the tills to start ringing.
As ever, the shop needs to be treated as a business in the current climate. It's essential that the management information of your charity shows clearly what the costs associated with the shop are. This will enable you to confirm with certainty that the shop's existence contributes positively to charity. The contribution can be non-financial, through raising awareness of issues important to the charity, generally advertising the existence of the charity or creating an additional space for community use if this helps to achieve the charity's objectives.
If the shop isn’t doing any of these things, then some action needs to be taken. Assuming the main purpose is fundraising, then the following points may help to get the most out of your charity's shop. Even if the primary purpose is as an advertising point, these points may still help out.
Practical steps to improve your charity shop
Create an inviting shopfront
The first point is to never assume that the word 'charity' will entice people in. Premises that look unappealing, dark and cluttered may be somewhere potential customers don’t want to tread.
A successful shop will generally be somewhere that is bright, inviting and gives an impression of a vibrant space. The window is the most critical point of any shop - people passing will see things that may be of interest resulting in them stepping over the threshold. Take time to review the window display; does it look fresh and inviting? Are goods on display those that are going to entice people in? Is the display regularly rotated so people make a point of looking in for new products?
The first hurdle in shopkeeping is getting people through the door! Set a schedule to make sure the display is changed round on a regular basis.
Pricing items correctly
Rightly or wrongly, people expect a bargain in a charity shop. Many goods will be donated, so how do your price these effectively?
This one may need a bit more time and research. Personally, as someone who collects random things, I would be confident in knowing the general price certain items sell for on Ebay or Vinted. In the same way, I would expect these prices to be right in a charity shop.
If an album was a major selling album in the past, the chances are there were millions produced and sold, and the market price will likely be much lower than you think. Just because it is an original Beatles LP doesn’t mean it is worth hundreds of pounds! If it was, chances are the donor would have sold it on Ebay in the first place.
Likewise, with new goods - if the poundworld sells them for a pound, the market price is probably a pound. In fact, it may be 90p to make it appealing for the bargain hunter. It definitely isn’t one pound twenty.
Another point on pricing is the availability of cheap items from global ecommerce platforms like Shein and Temu. If they can sell a brand new item for five pounds, there is going to be a need to make sure that the garments donated are priced at the right amount to avoid losing sales to the competition here.
Sort through donations effectively
Spending some time sorting through donated goods is a good investment. Inevitably, there will be some goods and clothes donated which simply are not sellable, and cluttering a shop with them can create a negative shopping experience.
Remove stained, ripped or unsellable items, and consider diverting them to emergency clothing charities or recycling centres.
Chosing an outlet
When sorting through the goods, think a little about where might be a good outlet for the item.
An online presence on second hand selling platforms might take a little bit of time and effort, but for truly collectable items, it may help achieve the best price. On the subject of online selling, this can hugely enhance the offering of new branded goods used in profile raising. A lot of companies can offer made-to-order garments with bespoke branding on. This doesn’t have too much of a price mark up on in, and it also has a very quick turnaround of delivery.
If branded garments are one of the staples of your shop, is there a saving to be made by placing say a weekly or monthly order for confirmed orders rather than trying to stock all colours and sizes and outlaying cash up front which is then tied up for months, potentially years if it is a less popular size or colour.
Think about an online presence: would a second hand selling site help to turn fast fashion items round quickly rather than having them hanging around and potentially not selling? A good way to control stock is to record when an item was donated and when it was first offered for sale. Combine this with a policy of each item having a certain number of weeks to be displayed. Any items not sold after this time get listed online, which may help to improve fundraising efforts and allow displays to be regularly refreshed.
Time your displays
The final thing to think about is ensuring that goods are sold at the right time. It seems obvious but using precious display space to display shorts and summer items in November probably isn’t going to be helpful - perhaps a dedicated winter sun area might be a better use of space, allowing winter coats and jumpers to take the prime space.
Taking a commercial approach
The charity world continues to experience challenges and changes which need to be navigated through. Taking a commercial approach to the charity shop is a must in the current climate to help maximise the space, volunteers and cash outlay. Consumer habits may be changing, but fundamentally, potential customers are putting their flip flops on to go shopping.
The next step
As ever, please do reach out to Dave Allum or your usual UHY charity contact if we can be of help.
