With her eagerness to learn, effective management skills, flexibility and great ideas, Sophie Nightingale of Costcutter Epsom is described as “going places in retail and is a name that the industry will undoubtedly see much more of in years to come”.
Store owner Sue Nithyanandan explains that it has been wonderful to watch her develop her skills and her confidence, growing from a shy, quiet 17-year-old sales colleague to a trusted manager of a team of 15 people, who leads and inspires others, has great energy and ideas and is a real asset to the business.
“I consult with her on most operational matters and she runs the store during busy, key trading times during the week. Sophie goes about her role with absolute pride and is a good leader. She is very adaptable and always responds to problems (especially staff shortages or illness) effectively and promptly and is always willing to step in and go the extra mile to help.”
The whole strategy and delivery of the store’s vape category has been driven by Sophie. The store’s team made a conscious decision not to have a vaping offer until three years ago and when they introduced an offer, they were very conscientious around being a responsible retailer in this area.
Sophie completely oversees the vaping range and has helped to drive sales - working with suppliers to stock a good range of quality brands, helping to educate customers around products (including encouraging a move to refillable and reusable products) whilst at the same time helping to ensure they sell vapes in a responsible way to mitigate underage sales and also reduce the impact on the planet. Sophie also ensures they are very diligent around where they purchase the vape products from, never buying online and always sourcing from a trusted supplier.
Sophie also has responsibility for alcohol sales which is one of the key revenue drivers at the store, accounting for approx. 20% of total sales. Sales have seen an uplift of 5% across the category in the past year, with the impressive range in this section also helping to drive footfall. She looks after merchandising, displays and stock inventory and ensures this section is always fully-stocked and looks great.
This section, which takes up 10% of floor space, has been remerchandised in the past year, with Sophie keeping a continual eye on trends and evolving the range accordingly.
During the cost-of-living crisis incidents of shoplifting had increased significantly in the store, which was having a big impact on the store’s bottom line and making the team feel uncomfortable and frustrated that so much stock was being taken. Sophie has been integral, through her enthusiasm and dedication for tackling the theft issue, in enhancing the security of the shop and protecting the team and the goods from theft.
Around 18 months ago she suggested trialling product security tagging system Chirpprotect and has overseen the successful implementation of this security tagging device system, which is used on high value items such as meat, cheese, alcohol etc. The tags, along with improved communication through headsets to the merchandiser on the shop floor (so they are able to start tidying an area near where suspicious activity is occurring to deter theft), has reduced shop theft by over 50% - saving around at least £10,000 per annum.
The store is now feared by many shoplifters as Sophie’s leadership and determination around tackling this issue has helped to enthuse all the staff to get more vigilant and be proactive in helping to tackle the issue.
Sophie has also helped Costcutter reduce waste in the fresh category. She has achieved this through better forecasting and reducing products earlier before their best before or use buy dates. She also oversees the ‘Too Good To Go’ app sales, and since joining the scheme, has saved 2,252 meals from going in the bin and reduced 6.08t of carbon emissions.
Sue describes Sophie has an excellent team player and fantastic motivator of people. “She works hard to be the best she can be and has a real passion and energy to progress. She leads by example and is always willing to roll her sleeves up and do whatever she needs to do to help or flex her day if needed to help the business. She is extremely conscientious and is the only person in the team who asks if she can go at the end of her shift and double checks if there is anything else that support is needed with.”
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