A Simple Solution That Cost a Penny
Simple Wins.
Almost all of what we sell at Habitat for Humanity ReStore is donated. A small percentage is new, purchased merchandise, which has to be accounted for differently.
The issue is that some donated goods look a lot like purchased goods. Paint accessories being the poster child. We sell paint all the time and feel it’s important to have brushes, rollers, tape, and so on so a customer can get everything for their project.
Paint accessories are donated from time to time and we appreciate those. It’s feast or famine. In order to serve customers consistently, we purchase these items and fill in with donated when we have them.
All that said, at the checkout, we have to know which is which without a sophisticated POS system. To complicate matters we received a corporate donation of the exact same brand and styles we are selling as new.
What to do?
The management team had half a dozen ideas, all of which added complexity in one way or another. One manager came up with the simplest and perfect answer. Price purchased goods ending in a 9 and continue pricing donated goods ending in a 0.
How simple is that?!
Sometimes dragging out a discussion, pressing for other ideas surfaces just the right one. It was an aha moment, no one had a better idea so we ran with it.
It’s been a few months since we implemented the process. Our documented sales of purchased goods are up substantially. I totally credit that increase to that simple solution.
Simple wins.
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