How To Identifying Trending Collectible and Products

If you own or manage a retail store that specializes in collectible products, you should constantly be monitoring and analyzing trends. Using this information, you can make smarter decisions on which products to push and which ones to avoid. The fact is that most collectible products trend either upwards or downwards, and it's up to you to identify their pattern. Here, we're going to reveal some simple techniques for retail store owners to identify trending collectibles and other products.

Know Your Industry

The single most important piece of advice I can offer retail store owners of collectible products is to know your industry. I'm sure this common sense to some owners, but you need to actively engage yourself within your respective niche or industry. If you sell baseball cards and sports memorabilia, then visit some of the local trade shows. This will give you a chance to view other collectors' products while gauging the value of various products. When you're browsing through some of the trade shows, pay attention to what products are hot, as these are 'trending' products that will likely perform well in your retail store.

Here are some other ways retail store owners can learn more about their industry:

• Trade magazines
• Word of mouth
• Collectors' conventions
• Blogs
• Customer feedback

Google Trends

Google Trends is an incredibly powerful and equally versatile tool for locating trending collectibles, products and keywords. Just as the name suggests, this free-to-use tool is the perfect solution for identifying trends. There are similar websites and tools available (free and paid), but Google Trends is hands down the most powerful, and it's completely free.

So, how does Google Trends work? After visiting the homepage, you'll see a list of the top trending keywords and phrases for the day (you can scroll down to view past dates). While this information alone is helpful, the real benefit of Google Trends comes from the ability to search for specific keywords. Let's say you own a retail store that specializes in vintage dolls; you simply type 'vintage dolls' into the search box at the top of the page and Google Trends will pull up data regarding that particular keyword. Among other things, it tells you when the keyword saw a peak in search volume; which regions are actively searching for it; a list of related keywords; and even a future forecast based of previous data.

How To Turn Your Coin Collecting Hobby Into a Business

Coin collecting is a fun and rewarding hobby that's shared by tens of thousands of people from all parts of the globe. If you're one of the many people whom participates in this hobby, you should consider turning it into a business. People are always eager to buy, sell and trade rare coins. And turning your hobby into a business will give you the opportunity to earn a lucrative income doing something you are passionate about. To learn more about turning your coin collecting hobby into a business, keep reading.

Know Which Coins Are Valuable

You can't expect to run a successful coin business unless you know which coins are valuable and which ones aren't. There are several publications and guides available which list prices for old coins, but unfortunately these aren't 100% accurate. You have to remember that a coin is only worth the price someone will pay for it. Does this mean you should accept all of your customers' offers? Absolutely not. But you should research current prices for the specific coin in question to determine a more accurate price. The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) is an excellent resource for coin businesses and collectors. Another option is to check out coin prices on eBay.com. These two resources alone can prove extremely useful in your coin business.

Choosing a Location For Your Coin Business

Of course, you'll need to choose a suitable location for your new coin business. Launching your store in some obscure part of time will only hurt your business in the long run. When choosing a location, ask yourself -- can potential customers easily find this location? If they can't, you'll want to continue searching for a new location. Ideally, your new coin store should be located in an easy-to-find part of town that's next to a major highway or road. The more exposure your business has to passing traffic, the more customers you'll receive.

Essential Tips For Running a Coin Business:

• Use glass display cases to showcase your products in a safe and protected environment.
• Perform a grand opening event to let potential customers know about your business.
• Market your business in the newspaper, television commercials, and radio stations for additional exposure.
• Remain friendly and polite to customers.
• Offer free coin inspections to attract more customers.

Psychology Behind The 'Impulse Buy'

If you aren't taking advantage of 'impulse buys' in your retail store, you are missing out on a simple way to generate additional sales. Owners can boost their store's revenue by incorporating these products into their inventory. Keep reading to learn the psychology behind the impulse buy and how to maximize its effectiveness in your retail store.

What Is an Impulse Buy?

As the name suggests, impulse buys are triggered by customers' sudden impulses. The customer probably didn't visit your store with the intention of purchasing an impulse buy product, but nonetheless, something triggered in their brain which told them to buy it. You'll oftentimes find impulse buy products lined along the checkout lines at retail stores. When customers are waiting in line to check out, some of them will instinctively grab these items without thinking twice, generating additional sales and revenue for the store.

What Triggers and Impulse Buy?

There are several different elements known to trigger impulse buys, one of which is hunger. I think just about everyone has grabbed a candy bar, bag of chips or soft drink while they were waiting to check out. These hunger cravings instinctively send signals to your brain telling you to purchase snack items. Even if you didn't intend to purchase these snack items, your brain convinced you otherwise. Of course, this is just one of the many triggers of the impulse buy.

In addition to snacks, you'll also find as-seen-on-TV products lined along the checkout aisles. This is another type of product that's triggered through impulse buys. When customers see a product they believe will improve their lift in one way or another, a trigger clicks on which encourages them to make a purchase. Whether it's a CD holder for their car's visor, hair clips, a cup holder, or electronic key finder, these are all products which may trigger an impulse buy in consumers.

How To Maximize The Effectiveness of Impulse Buy Products

Location is key when it comes to displaying impulse buy products in a retail store. Tossing your impulse buy products into your traditional everyday products isn't going to work. Instead, you need to display them in a more visible area where customers can easily see them. Checkout aisles and endcaps are two highly popular and equally effective locations for displaying impulse buy products in retail stores.

Don't be afraid to switch out your impulse buy products if they aren't generating a positive response among consumers. Test out new products to see what works and what doesn't.

4 Common Mistakes When Opening a Retail Electronics Store

Do you enjoy the fast-paced, ever-changing industry of consumer electronics? If so, then you should consider opening your own retail electronics store. When managed correctly, retail electronics can prove to be a financially rewarding business endeavour, but you'll need to avoid making the following mistakes.

Mistake #1 - Not Selling Product Fast Enough

You can't expect to run a successful retail electronics store if you allow product to sit on the shelves for several months (or longer). As new technologies are developed, old electronics become obsolete, significantly reducing their value. If necessary, slash the prices of certain products down to clearance to help move them faster.

Mistake #2 - Lack of Variety

Consumers want to be given a variety of products to choose from; therefore, you should stock up on several different models and brands to meet the needs of shoppers. Whether it's televisions, MP3 players, stereo systems, computers, monitors or practically any other electronics, you want to offer your customers a variety of choices.

Mistake #3 - Poor Location

As with most retail stores, the location of an electronics shop is critical to its success. If your electronics shop is located in some obscure part of time that's difficult to locate, you won't have many customers coming through the door. You can expect to pay more for a shop that's located in a 'prime' commercial area, but it's a smart investment that will pay off in the form of more customers and more sales. The bottom line is that you shouldn't try to cut corners or save money by leasing a shop located in a bad area.

Mistake #4 - Not Staying Up With The Trends

Electronics come and go with trends, and it's important for store owners to stay up to date on what's hot and what's not. Turning a blind eye on the current electronics trends will only hurt your business. So, how do you know what's trending? There are several different ways to find this out, one of which is simply from browsing tech-related blogs and forums. See what products people are talking about, even if they aren't officially released yet. Using this information, you can stock up on products that are in high demand.

Another way to locate trends in consumer electronics is through word-of-mouth. Talk with your customers to see what products they are looking forward to. In addition to providing vital insight into electronics trends, this will build stronger relationships with your customers.