Natural Products Overview

Dear WholeFoods Reader:
Welcome to the 2011 natural products retailer survey!

This annual survey (with results published in our December 2011 issue) will give all our readers valuable information about our industry and, most importantly, our retailers.

Please remember:
* One lucky retailer who completes this survey will be randomly selected to receive $100 in cash!
* All answers will be kept strictly confidential.
* Answers should reflect the store’s previous 12-month period (Sept. 1, 2010-Aug. 31, 2011)
* Please be as complete as possible. If you can’t answer a question, please skip it and move to the next one.
* You can also submit this form by Fax. Download a PDF of the survey form by clicking here.

Thanks for your help!

Note: To move to the next field, hit the Tab key not the Enter key.

Your Name (will be kept confidential):

Your Store Name (will be kept confidential):

PART 1-YOU & YOUR STORE: 1. Your Title: What is your job title?:

Owner/CEO/President

General Manager/Store Manager

Other (please specify below)

If Other, please specify:

2. In which region is your store located?:

West: AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, WA

Rocky Mtn./Plains: CO, KS, OK, MT, ND, NE, NM, SD, UT, WY

Midwest: AR, IA, IN, IL, KY, MI, MN, MO, OH, WI, WV

South: AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX

East: CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VA, VT

3. Your job: Which of the following best describes your duties?:

Full-time owner/operator

Full-time manager

Owner with some day-to-day duties

Owner delegating most or all day-to-day duties

Other (please describe)

If Other, please describe:

4. Your market: Which of the following BEST describes your market area?:

Major metropolitan area (1,000,000+ population)

Large city or suburb (300,000-999,999 population)

Medium city or suburb (100,000-299,999 population)

Small city (50,000-99,999 population)

Large town or rural area (less than 50,000 population)

5. Ownership: How long has the store(s) operated under present ownership?: years

6. In business: How long has the store(s) been in business (all owners)?: years

7. Is your store(s) a either or both of the following?:

Cooperative

Not-for-Profit

8. For single stores. What is your TOTAL LEASE AREA, including back room and non-retail areas?:

999 square feet or less

1,000 to 2,599 square feet

2,600 to 4,999 square feet

5,000 to 9,999 square feet

10,000 to 16,999 square feet

17,000 square feet or larger

9. For Single Stores: Please tell us the amount of your total lease area dedicated to RETAIL SELLING SPACE: square feet of retail space

If more than 7, please indicate how many:

11. For multiple stores. Your average size: What is the average total lease area for all your stores?:

999 square feet or less

1,000 to 2,599 square feet

2,600 to 4,999 square feet

5,000 to 9,999 square feet

10,000 to 16,999 square feet

17,000 square feet or larger

12. For multiple stores. Average age: What is the average age of your stores?: years

PART 2: YOUR CUSTOMERS. 13. Customers: On average, how many customers shop with you each day?: customers/day.

14. Days of Operation: How many days per week are you open for business?: days/week.

15. Customer spending: On average, how much does each customer spend when they shop?: $ per transaction

16. Your sales: Please tell us your approximate annual sales (all replies confidential):

17. Internet Sales: Do you sell on the Internet?:

Yes

a) If yes, what percentage of your sales come from the Internet?: %

b) If yes, how much sales come from the Internet?: $

PART 3: YOUR PRODUCT MIX. 18. Your IN-STORE product mix: Please estimate to the best of your ability the percent of total sales you get from each (answer MUST total 100%): Total

Supplements and vitamins: % of total sales.

Health and beauty aids: % of total sales.

Packaged dry foods (on gondola shelving): % of total sales.

Packaged refrigerated foods: % of total sales.

Frozen foods: % of total sales.

Fresh produce: % of total sales.

Prepared foods (juice/coffee/salad/soup bar, deli, bakery, grab and go): % of total sales.

Bulk foods: % of total sales.

Non-foods, household and other items: % of total sales.

19. Your costs: What is your approximate percentage cost-of-goods (cogs) AND gross profit margin (gpm)?:

GPM: % of total sales.

COGs: % of total sales.

(Note: total of cogs + gpm = 100% of your sales.)

EXAMPLE:
Total sales (income): $1.00
Cost of goods sold (cogs): $0.65
Gross profit margin (gpm): $0.35

Your cogs is 65% and your gpm is 35%.

20. Net Profit: At year end, about how much do you have left over after all expenses, but before taxes and depreciation?: We have about $ net profit left over after all direct store expenses at the end of the year.

EXAMPLE:

Gross profit margin (gpm): $0.35
Direct store expenses: $0.29
Net profit (before taxes): $0.06

Your direct store expenses are 29% and pre-tax profit is 6%.

21. My retail inventory value is approximately: $ OR

My wholesale inventory value is approximately: $

PART 4: PAST & FUTURE. 22. Sales last year: Did your sales increase or decrease last year?:

Increase

Decrease

a). If decrease above, by how much?: - %

b). If increase above, by how much?: + %

23. Sales next year: Do you anticipate your sales increase or decrease next year?:

Decrease

Increase

a). If decrease above, by how much?: - %

b). If increase above, by how much?: + %

24. Future growth plans: Do you plan to increase the number of stores you own/operate in the next year?:

Yes

a) If yes above, how many stores do you plan to add?: new store(s).

b) If yes above, what size stores do you plan to add?: square feet.

25. Future expansion plans: Do you plan to expand the size of your existing store(s) in the next year?:

Yes

If yes above, how many square feet will you add?: square feet.

26. Past growth: Did you add a store or stores last year?:

Yes

a) If yes above, how many stores?: store(s).

b) If yes above, how many square feet were added?: square feet.

27. Remodeling last year: Did you remodel your store within the past year?:

Yes

a). If yes above, how much did you spend?: $

c). If yes above, what areas were remodeled?: square feet

PART 5: MARKETING. 28. What percentage of your advertising/promotion expenditures was spent on the following? (Your answers must total 100%) : %

a) Direct mail: %

b) Flyers/posters: %

c) Newsletters: %

d) Newspapers: %

e) Radio: %

f) Television: %

g) Web sites/Social Media: %

h) Yellow Pages: %

i) Other: %

Please specify:

TOTAL = 100%

If you selected "other" above, please specify:

30. Advertising/marketing: How much do you spend on advertising/marketing, including websites, each month? : We spend $ per month on advertising/marketing

31. Please describe your MOST effective advertising/marketing strategy last year?:

32. Private label: Check which of the following items are true of your store.:

a. We DO NOT have a store brand.

b. We have 1-24 private label vitamin SKUs.

c. We have 25-50 private label vitamin SKUs.

d. We have 51-100 private label vitamin SKUs.

e. We have 101-199 private label vitamin SKUs.

f. We have 200+ private label vitamin SKUs.

e. We have items other than vitamins in our private label line.

PART 6: EXPENSES. 33. Labor costs: Please tell us the approximate amount of salaries and wages you spend on direct store labor: a) We spend about $ per week in salaries and wages on direct store labor.

b): We spend about $ per month in salaries and wages on direct store labor.

c): We spend about $ per year in salaries and wages on direct store labor.

d) How many full-time staff members (35+ hours/week) do you employ?: people

e) How many part-time staff members (less than 35 hours/week) do you employ?: people

34. Owners: Do you pay yourself, or other owners, salaries or wages for your direct labor or work output?:

Yes

35. Owners: If you do not pay yourself or other owners salaries or wages during the year for your direct labor or work output, how much would you have to pay to hire someone else to do your job(s)?: $ per year.

36. Rent/own:

I own

I rent my store(s)

If rent, approximately how much do you spend per month on rent?: $

37. What are the most pressing problems facing your store?:

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK. 1. Which of the following trade magazines do your receive?:

2. If you could only read one trade magazines, which one would you choose?:

3. Which of the following trade magazines does the best job of keeping you informed about nutritional trends and discoveries?:

4. How many people read your monthly issue of WholeFoods, including yourself?: people

7. I prefer to read WholeFoods online.:

a) yes

b) no

8. What suggestions do you have for improving www.wholefoodsmagazineonline.com?:

9. I would like to participate in the What's Selling section.:

10. What topics would you like to see covered in WholeFoods?:

Attachment	Size
retailersurvey2011.pdf	250.7 KB

This Month's Issue

February 2012

New Products

all products