Running a comic shop in 2019 is hard. While comics come out weekly, shops have bills that are due weekly as well. Meanwhile, many customers will come in monthly, or even less frequently. Unfortunately, having the comic in stock doesn’t guarantee that whoever ordered it will pick it up when the time comes. This could create a major issue with your store’s cash flow.
Cash flow is the money that goes in and out of your business. Money goes in when your customers make purchases, and it goes out when you purchase things that you need for your business. It seems like cash is constantly flowing out, between rent, employees, inventory and supplies, having guaranteed income is essential to today’s business.
What Causes Irregular Cash Flow?
When a customer orders an upcoming issue of Detective Comics from your store, they’re not paying for it immediately. They’re basically submitting a request for it to you. Then you have to order it so that you can sell it when it arrives. What happens when the customer doesn’t come in once their comic has arrived? It means that you have invested your money in the hope that this customer will come back, if they don’t come back you may be stuck with that unsold product, and you won’t even know until it’s too late.
Customers disappear. Sometimes for months on end. They often have no idea when their comics show up, so they’re unsure of when to visit the store. They might have forgotten, or they may no longer want the comic. That’s why there needs to be a system in place that can notify your customers once their products arrive. Even better? A system that involves online invoicing.
What Does Online Invoicing Entail?
It’s too inconsistent to wait until a customer walks in to charge them. An online invoicing system will allow them to pay for their purchases as soon as they order it. That would solve the problem of owning a comic that hasn’t been paid for yet.
This system will also guarantee that a customer visits the store. They’ve already bought the product so all that’s left is to pick it up. They still may not come in, but you won’t lose any money if they don’t, and you can add shipping as an option for customers.
Online invoicing software has numerous benefits for any business. Since it utilizes the cloud, all customer information is saved and protected. This makes it easy for customers to repeatedly order products. This will also increase the number of repeat customers in general. Subscription-based businesses literally revolve around clients who keep coming back.
If you need an online invoicing system that can take care of all of this and more, look no further than Manage Comics!
What’s Manage Comics?
It’s a subscription software for comic stores that makes things easier for everyone. It’s a system that can manage all of the comic subscriptions that you’d normally use a spreadsheet to keep track of. Once your customers are subscribed to their comics through the system, they’ll receive weekly emails about which comics have been pulled for them. It’ll be impossible for them to forget about their purchases.
Payment won’t be an issue either. You can accept credit cards for pre-purchase, or just send out invoices as you see fit. Billing customers has never been easier. The best part is that if your customers haven’t paid for the comics after 30 days, you can bill them and get paid anyway. No more waiting around for someone who refuses to pick up their order.
The Best Way to Bill Your Customers
Every comic store involves subscriptions to some degree. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t use Manage Comics to sell comics while also giving customers control over what they order. If you’d like more tips on how to properly utilize Manage Comics, check out this free eBook on the subject. You can also attend the webinar to discover all the benefits that the software has to offer.
