The market is a place where everything is constantly changing. Moreover, changes and changes also affect such segments where there seems to be nothing to change. For example, in the field of selling the most basic household items - dishes.

It seems that you can’t come up with any special innovations or tricks here, but there are subtleties everywhere, including in the sale of dishes. Moreover, knowledge of some of them can increase sales significantly. What are these miracles of marketing? And what needs to be done to apply them successfully?

Who? Where? When?

Let's start with the most basic thing - the buyer. Here you need to answer three questions:

• who buys your dishes?
• when does he buy?
• where does he do this?

The first question concerns the price segment, which can be economy, medium and premium. Everyday economical cookware will be constantly purchased by 80% of the population (since it breaks from time to time). 40% of the middle class will be tempted to use the medium (and very, very rarely, since they will only use it on holidays). And a maximum of those 10% of the population who have become “big people” and now care about the external attributes of their status consumption will spend on premium. Which, by the way, is very good for the seller, since high-status consumers have to follow fashion trends, which are constantly changing even in the field of kitchen utensils (although not as quickly as in clothing).

In the meantime, it remains to decide when and where people buy dishes? In relation to the economy segment, the answer will be banal: as needed and during large trips to supermarkets (when products are purchased for the whole week at once). That is, on the shelves of related products. But for medium and premium tableware, people can take the time to go to specialized stores that are located... where? This is an interesting question.

Anchor for the buyer

Let's start with the fact that a specialized kitchenware store does not have to be located in the business center of the city. Firstly, for economic reasons - renting retail space in such areas is too expensive. And secondly, in the minds of even a rich person, kitchen utensils are not such an important acquisition that you would have to go somewhere very far for them.

Therefore, it makes sense to open a kitchenware store even in a residential area, fortunately, many of these areas themselves represent cities with a population of over 100,000 people. But there is also a subtlety here: a store selling tableware should not be located completely on its own. It must be located next to other shopping centers, which in modern cities play the role of “anchors” of consumer demand.

So a store selling tableware can be either a separate building or a cell in mall- the main thing is that it catches the eye of potential buyers more often. The rest will be a matter of technology. If, of course, it is applied correctly. Anyway, knowledgeable people We are confident that any product can be made a financial “goldfish” if three conditions are met:

• hire good salespeople;
• choose the right assortment;
• competently organize merchandising (that is, supply of goods).

At eye level

Let's start with the assortment. Experienced retailers say that most of the products in shopping centers belong to the middle price segment. There is no more than 15-20% of the assortment left for very cheap and very expensive goods.

However, most of the revenue, as already mentioned, comes from expensive and medium-sized goods. How do sellers achieve this ratio?

First of all, through merchandising. The simplest of merchandising rules is the location of the most popular products on shelves 110-130 cm from the floor, at eye level. Products of the medium segment, located in a prominent place, provide up to 40% of sales. Above the level of the hands are more expensive goods, and below the level of the hands (50-60 cm from the floor) there is a completely economy segment.

Let's start with an elementary technique - specialized corners that can attract attention to certain types of goods. Plates and dishes will look much more impressive in a specialized department facing the buyer.

If a potential buyer suddenly sees a table set for lunch in a supermarket among long rows of shelves, this will certainly attract his attention. And if the table is set and decorated according to all the rules, and there are nice consultants next to it, ready to talk about the promotion of a company that specializes in the production of tableware of such and such a brand, then with a probability of about 90% we can assume that the name of the company is the buyer will remember. As is the appearance of her products. And if necessary, he will buy such dishes.

However, supermarkets are usually not eager to organize such performances. But they have other techniques in use. For example, combining medium-class dishes and souvenirs made of porcelain or earthenware in one department. The combination of elegant trinkets with plates facing the buyer creates an uplifting mood that helps a person decide to make a purchase. But expensive premium-class dishes are usually displayed in glazed mirrored display cases, which by themselves appearance should emphasize the luxury of the product offered. Ideally, such display cabinets should be rotating and illuminated. Silver and gold-plated cutlery sets are sometimes even placed in jewelry counters. As for more prosaic kitchen utensils (knives, ladles, pots, etc.), instead of horizontal shelves, vertical perforated panels are used on which these items are hung.

Another trick: frying pans and other small utensils (spoons, spatulas, ladles, etc.) are displayed several at a time - from 3 to 10 pieces. Such a display makes the product prettier and “richer”, and at the same time creates an association with the inventory, which in itself instills confidence in the buyer’s soul.

"20 by 80" in a china shop

Then the question arises: if large supermarkets are familiar with all the know-how to increase sales of tableware and use them, then what about an individual store that is going to do the same? How can a small store (in common parlance “a china shop”) compete with the sharks of the big china business? Will it work?

The answer is simple: it will work if you remember about the “20 to 80” rule, which was already discussed.

To put it simply, super and hypermarkets do business on those 80% of customers who spend 20% of their money on dishes. And a specialized kitchenware store will be faced with the task of attracting the 20% that will spend the remaining 80. But how can this be done if all the methods of attracting customers are already known and used?

Firstly, not all are used. It is still extremely rare to find themed corners in supermarkets. You can understand the owners of supermarkets - retail space should give quick results. And when and to whom can an exemplarily set table in trading floor? But the owner of a kitchenware store will no longer have such a question.

Secondly, owners of specialized stores have access to some other ways to promote their products. For example, sales different types Dishes can be increased if they are displayed in display cases not as empty plates, but with contents. Of course, not the real one, but various dummies. This effective method increasing sales has long been used in Japan. Another way to attract consumer interest is to create corners of dishes associated with national cuisine. This move is promising because it is in this area that the influence of kitchen fashion is present.

Again, if space allows, you can allocate 4-5 square meters in the store to conduct master classes on the proper handling of exotic tableware. These events can be recorded on video and posted on the store’s website, then a club of loyal fans will form on its own over time.

And, of course, the staff. It is preferable to hire women aged 40-45 as sales assistants in a kitchenware store. They themselves come across as sophisticated kitchen experts, and customers will be inclined to listen to their advice.

The wholesale warehouse "Posuda" began its history in the 90s. It was a warehouse and showroom - next door to the production workshop toilet paper. The first deliveries were from Ukraine, from where inexpensive dishes were transported in whole truckloads. In 2013, the company created its online store on the platform, and in two years the site’s turnover increased 30 times. How to open an online kitchenware store and how such a business works - development manager Rustam Musifullin told us about this.

How to open a kitchenware store from scratch and become the first in the niche

“The wholesale warehouse Posuda appeared in 1998, and now it is more than 15 years old,” says Rustam. — Then, in the 90s, everyone was looking for the best way to make money; they tried to sell everything, right down to car parts. And then we thought about a business selling tableware.

A small crockery warehouse operated next door to a toilet paper production facility. We mostly purchased from Ukrainian factories: they transported them in trucks! Now those factories are no longer there, but the tableware business is alive. Our strong point is domestic tableware. We transport almost nothing from abroad. Among our suppliers are such giants as the Kuban, Dulevsky, Dobrush porcelain factories, the Experimental Glass Factory... More than 50 enterprises.

The online store offers more than 20,000 items: dishes and souvenirs, porcelain, earthenware, glass, enamel, aluminum, galvanized, non-stick, souvenirs, household items, plastic. Everything a housewife might need.

We do not work for the end consumer

In the 90s, the company focused on the local market and some neighboring cities. Now it is exported throughout Russia. To the south - to the Astrakhan region. To the west - to the Lipetsk region. To the north - to the Arkhangelsk region. The main buyers are from Bashkiria, Tatarstan, and the Samara region. There is no region where the company does not transport dishes: there are buyers even in the capital regions.

We focus exclusively on wholesalers. Clients are the same wholesale bases, markets, shops, points in markets with household goods. And an important limitation: in the store, so that retail customers would not be interested in ordering one or two products, we have set a minimum order threshold.

Our online store is not a standard store. This is a catalog store

Businesses selling tableware do not really favor the Internet as a sales channel. Before creating an online store, we had a small website with product photos. So, like a catalogue, nothing special: you can look at it, but you can’t order it. Then the main way of selling goods was business trips of managers: they traveled to regions and looked for points.

They took with them packs of catalogs, disks, and offered to look through the catalog website. In general, we worked the old fashioned way. And it worked! But in 2013, we decided to take a more thorough approach to online promotion of products and created a website with the ability to order tableware.

The method when a manager goes on a business trip and meets the buyer on the spot remains the most effective today. But now a potential buyer can see and order a batch of goods directly from the online store. All photos, all current stock, all discounts for customers registered in the store are available in the online store.

We chose AdvantShop as the platform for creating the store website. The platform is convenient for the most unenlightened person in Internet technologies. You don't need to think: just insert pictures, edit and work on the catalogue.

We hardly do anything about promoting an online kitchenware store: we don’t work with contextual advertising, with SEO optimization, all this is useless. In the tableware market, everyone already knows our base. We are going the most in a simple way: through live dialogue with a potential client.

How to open a kitchenware store to differentiate yourself from your competitors? The most important advantage is efficiency. When the goods arrive, we immediately take pictures. Everything that is in stock appears in the store immediately.

How to work with a store client

We work like this: the store’s client studies the assortment, adds the product to the cart, and the manager immediately begins working with the order. Now the order is his responsibility.

This scheme is not entirely traditional for online business, but we rely on personal communication with the client, even if he comes from the Internet. Over the phone, for example, we can upsell something or offer an alternative to a product that the client needs, but we don’t have it.

The manager tells the client about the system of discounts that he is entitled to depending on the volume of purchase. The discount also depends on the distance of the region to which the goods are delivered. The further away the customer is, the more money the delivery costs will eat up. It also depends on the quantity of goods that the client is willing to buy. Now the average order in the online store is 40,000 rubles.

What departments does the tableware business consist of?

The structure of the company then and now is built on the principle: supply department, sales department, showroom, warehouse.

• Sales department. Its specialists know how to sell the dishes that we purchase from suppliers. This dishware ends up on the pages of the online store. Sales department managers work with clients who come from the online store: they call, talk, place an order and monitor payment.
• Showroom Serves local clients. Minimum amount purchases at wholesale prices are 4,000 rubles.
• Stock. All dishes are delivered here and sent to customers from here.
• Purchase department works with all suppliers, factories and companies that are ready to work on barter. Suppliers confer with the sales department to understand what is most often purchased and what the client needs: to understand how to sell dishes, you need to know exactly the seasonality of this product.

Holidays always bring a surge of interest in our product: February 23, March 8. People are actively buying dishes. For men - men's sets and assortment. For women - sets, gifts, souvenirs. In the summer there is a household group: buckets, goods for gardening. Products for children's camps, glassware, glasses.

How we work with cargo carriers

The most common method is forming a route: for example, we bring together all the clients of an online store from Bashkiria, and the truck goes to all these points. There are other ways - for example, containers, rail transportation, air transportation.

All dishes are supplied in original packaging. If the goods are delivered “loose”, then we put them in boxes so that there is as little damage as possible. The fight arises - we pick it up upon acceptance.

How sales in an online store increased over 2 years

What helped us open an online kitchenware store from scratch was... photo efficiency. In the first month of operation, the online store brought in a very small amount, but there were very few photographs in the store.

Cookware manufacturers are very reluctant to take photographs of goods, and it is rare that supplier factories provide images of their products. Many factories simply do not have photographs of the goods, and the contracts do not stipulate that they are obliged to provide them.

And we take a lot of photographs ourselves. And we do it quickly. Our difference is speed. When the product arrives, we quickly upload photos to the store.

Now sales and the number of orders of the online store are constantly growing. We believe that the platform is an excellent tool for working with both new and old customers."

Download the checklist for launching a store

Utensils are used for cooking, for serving and serving food to the table, for storing prepared dishes. These are not all functional purposes, since the dishes can be used as a gift for an anniversary, celebration, or memorable date.

Since it has significant demand and is popular among consumers, the organization of a tableware store, promising direction in business activities.

To organize a successful and promising business for retail sales of tableware, a certain algorithm of actions should be followed aimed at creating and developing a tableware store.

Marketing research

Before proceeding with the organizational issue, you should find out the prospects of the created business in a certain territory and with specific product positions. Hold not deep marketing research quite simple, you just need to study the dislocation retail outlets in the place where it is planned to create a kitchenware store.

If a similar retail establishment already exists there, and the assortment matches the expected one, then it is better to find another place in order to avoid conflict situations. When the assortment is significantly different, and the prices for dishes are significantly lower, then there is no obvious competition, so you can rent premises in the area.

In parallel with the possibility of dislocation trading enterprise, the demand for a particular category of cookware is determined, how much it is in demand among buyers, and what preferences consumers have.
Having clarified these pressing issues, you can proceed to the next stage - registration.

Registration of business activities

Today there are no problems with registration, so this procedure does not take a lot of time, effort, or money. All you have to do is fill out the established forms correctly and submit them for registration to the relevant authority.

It is important to decide on the form of the business entity - entity or individual entrepreneur. For retail characteristic organizational form IP, since simplified accounting, allows you to effectively conduct trading activities. More complex economic forms, such as LLC or JSC are more suitable for production processes or multidisciplinary activities.

Also, when choosing an organizational head start, you should take into account the number of founders who are ready to create and develop the activities of a store selling tableware. If there are two or more people, then you can use an LLC, if there is one, then an individual entrepreneurship.

Renting premises for a kitchenware store

The most the best option The kitchenware store will have a separate room in a shopping center or supermarket. Traffic in such places is high, so sales will constantly increase and trade turnover will increase. If this is not possible, then it is better to rent a separate building near a transport intersection, metro stations or public transport stops.

The retail area must be at least 50 sq.m. in order to place goods on display and leave space for customers to pass through.

The retail space must comply with sanitary standards and regulations fire safety. If these conditions are not met, the owner of a kitchenware store may have difficulties with the relevant authorities.

Agreements with suppliers and manufacturers

To create a successful and profitable business, it is important to organize the supply of a wide range of tableware and related products. The best option is a dealer agreement with the manufacturer, when the dishes are sold at selling prices, and commission interest is paid as a reward. Under the terms of the agreement, the owner of the tableware store represents the manufacturer's products in a specific region, and at prices set by the manufacturer. Such cooperation opens up broad prospects because:

• no significant investment in a range of cookware is required;
• the price of the product is significantly lower than that of competitors;
• a wide range of tableware, including new items and the most popular items.

These are not all the preferences that can be obtained when executing a dealer agreement, however, they are quite enough to conduct a successful and profitable business for the sale of dishes.

If the manufacturer is located in another country and there is no way to establish business contacts with him, then you can purchase dishes from a large supplier, who in turn can be a dealer of a particular brand. This form of mutual cooperation is also quite promising, since the goods are supplied to order, and its volumes can always be adjusted.

By resolving these organizational issues, you can achieve high efficiency from the store’s activities and the sale of tableware.

As our level of well-being increases, we begin to think more and more about the household items around us. Let's take dishes, for example. If we used to pay attention to what we eat, now we are often interested in what it comes from.

Plates, pots, jugs, sets, glasses - the assortment is so large that a good housewife gets new dishes quite regularly. Manufacturers are constantly updating model series, and sellers skillfully display new items on easy-to-view shelves, tempting consumers to make new purchases.

Conceptual points of the tableware business

Before deciding to start a business, do a detailed analysis of the tableware market, study the range presented, the price range, and the level of competition. If the final conclusions are in your favor, feel free to move to the top of the tableware business.

You can start with cheap Chinese and Turkish products. But since the main purchasing audience belongs to the middle-income class, it will not be a big risk to look at the range of average prices represented by domestic and Eastern European goods.

As for shape, color, material, trust the opinion of experienced sellers. They advise placing an initial emphasis on traditional white dishes, in which any prepared dish looks great. White color harmonizes well with different colors of tablecloths, napkins, and furniture. There won't be much contrast when using transparent dishes.

As a material, give preference to aesthetic and practical porcelain. Among its advantages, we note high environmental friendliness, excellent thermal conductivity and great consumer interest. Also, white dishes are relevant from an advertising point of view. Notice how many initially white cups, saucers, and plates are transformed into gift items with the help of drawings and inscriptions. And how often the applied logos of companies transform snow-white dishes into corporate ones.

By the way, gift and serving utensils, along with cooking utensils, provide the main income for a china shop.

It is better to purchase goods directly from manufacturers - first domestic, and then, when you “get on your feet,” switch to high-quality imports. Look for foreign partners at international exhibitions. Cooperation with them involves prepayment, but for large volumes a discount of up to 10% is possible. For your first wholesale purchase, plan an amount of up to $80-100 thousand.

Whatever the product - beautiful, affordable, fashionable - you shouldn’t expect big sales if the store is located in an inconspicuous place on the outskirts of the city. The mass consumer loves to go to supermarkets, most often located in densely populated and central areas. In such places, try to rent space for a future store.

For a small shop, 60 m² will be enough; for a larger one, designed for several thematic zones, you will need up to 150-200 m². With a monthly cost of 1 m² of about 200 euros, you can “estimate” for yourself how much you will need for rent.

The next “sore spot” for many entrepreneurs is qualified personnel. When looking for sellers for a china shop, we recommend not chasing slender, long-legged girls, but focusing on middle-aged women who know a lot about dishware paraphernalia and are able to convey the benefits of kitchen utensils to customers in an understandable way. Statistics show that it is precisely this type of seller that the average buyer of tableware products trusts the most. Based on working in 2 shifts of 3 consultants, plan an expense item with the salary of each salesperson in the region of $300-400.

And one more criterion that influences the final result of any business is advertising. For a “ware” entrepreneur, an effective and profitable way to promote a product and promote the store itself is the so-called product placement. Nowadays there are many cooking programs and other programs that use dishes in the transfer process. By concluding a “serving” agreement, you either earn “real” money or receive effective advertising that increases sales.

Transparent, colored, plain, with patterns, flowers, checkered and striped - today the choice of plates, cups, glasses and glasses is amazing in its diversity! Previously, such dishes could only be seen on TV, and at best in expensive restaurants.

And now from any “curiosity” there is an opportunity to have lunch simply in your kitchen. And all thanks to entrepreneurs who make it affordable to buy original dishes. Maryana Zemlyanykh has been in the tableware business for seven years, and recently she opened the Posuda store.

– What did you do before? What brought you into the ranks of entrepreneurs?

– I worked at a dairy factory. Gone to maternity leave and after maternity leave I quit there, and it’s unclear what was happening there, everyone was fired, the beginning of the 90s. I was unemployed for a long time, fortunately my husband’s job situation was better. In 2000, I got a job at the Everything for the Home store as a salesperson. She worked there for 4 years. During this time, I very often met buyers who were interested in dishes. That store had a selection of dishes, but not a large one; people always left dissatisfied. And then one day I thought, why don’t I “shape” this choice for buyers myself.

– And what were your first steps?

“Without consulting anyone, I began to look for ways to implement my plans. First, I asked the owner of the store where I worked how he found suppliers of tableware, he naturally reluctantly told me, but did not clarify anything. And so in the newspapers, I started looking for advertisements from cookware manufacturers. I didn’t have the Internet at home, I didn’t know how to use it at all.

We can say that my desire to become an entrepreneur accompanied my development; I went to computer courses, bought a computer, connected to the Internet over time and continued my search for suppliers on the Internet, everything is much faster there - there are contacts, phone numbers, I called everyone, found out everything in detail.

I sketched out a business plan in a notebook, and there was little left to do. To begin with, I needed to get at least 10 thousand dollars from somewhere to pay rent (there was no discussion about the premises yet, at that time it was unrealistic for me), for a place on the market and to purchase goods.

– Where, if it’s not a secret, did you manage to get the funds?

“I took out a loan, secured by my husband’s car, and he became my guarantor. In general, the risk was colossal! I took more than 10 thousand dollars from the bank. My husband almost kicked me out of the house for all my tricks; we fought a lot during that period. But, despite this, he supported me, grumbled, but helped.

– Was the risk justified? Has the investment paid off?

- Certainly! I collected a variety of types of dishes and provided customers with a wide choice. Back then, bright, different monochromatic colors, white dishes, transparent black glass were very fashionable. Today, the dominant shape is square, transparent glass with various patterns, vegetables and fruits.

I always try not to miss new items so that my customers can buy everything their heart desires. So after a year, I was able to repay the loan, but I must say, I was lucky, there were a lot of clients, the product sold well. And then it was time to open your own store. All circumstances were favorable for my store to open.

– Maryana, tell me, what difficulties are preventing you from working fully today?

– Probably competition! It is very difficult to survive among competitors today, but we are trying, I think we are doing a good job. And another difficulty arises in the fact that many still do not understand why special glasses for whiskey or martini are needed, because they either do not drink these drinks or will calmly drink them from ordinary wine glasses. Often this product sells slower.

But even over these seven years, the needs of buyers have changed noticeably; even for the family dinner table, people began to buy expensive, beautiful sets and plates. The buyer has developed his own taste, so to speak. If previously people bought French Luminarc tableware only as a gift for a wedding or anniversary, today I already have enough customers who have purchased such tableware for their own use.

“It’s very difficult to run a store without helpers.” Tell me, who is helping you?

– I have a sales consultant, I pay her wages, everything is as it should be. And, of course, my husband, he has his own business, but he also devotes time to my store.

– Do you sell only table glass or do you have enamel dishes?

– Mostly glass, crystal, porcelain, but there is also plenty of enamel. Colorful pots, pans, teapots.

– Do you think selling tableware is a profitable business?

– Naturally, the tableware business is a profitable business, since beautiful, original dishes are always popular... Even our grandmothers loved beautiful dishes, but then there was not such a variety. Manufacturers, in turn, advertise their products, for example, with the help of indirect advertising in TV series; we can see a familiar plate or glass on the kitchen table.

Now the advertisement is there, the TV viewer has already imprinted it in their memory, some wanted to have such a plate for themselves. Where can I get it? And here entrepreneurs who sell tableware will help the client satisfy his need. It's simple!

– What is the price of your dishes?

– The prices are completely different, there are funny cups for 15-20 UAH. And there are services worth 1500 UAH. (for 19 persons).

– What do you spend profitable money on?

- For necessary needs. And also for self-study, I recently started taking courses in English, I do shaping. For my son's education. There is always something to spend on.

– You must always keep your nose to the wind! And at the initial stage, thinking about everything carefully, writing a business plan, even a non-professional one will help a lot. After all, starting any business is already a risk.

Be carefull!