“We speak human.” These three words from the Preparing for Traffic motto of Toronto-based computer retailer Riverdale Mac sum up exactly what it does best. Riverdale Mac, along with its sister stores Beach Mac and Roncesvalles, offer a real-world, hands-on computer shopping and repair experience. After being designated an essential retailer at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, their business skyrocketed and continues to thrive in today’s increasingly virtual world.
While Riverdale Mac experiences year-round business,
back-to-school is one of the busiest times of the facebook data year for electronics retailers. We spoke with Myles Kesten, President of Riverdale Mac, to learn how he’s preparing his three locations for back-to-school.
Back-to-school is more important this year than ever before, with schools and universities resuming in-person activities. How has this excitement translated into your business operations?
“Back-to-school starts for us at the Preparing for Traffic end of June with graduation. Comparing this year to last year, our sales are probably about the same, but we’re still way ahead of where we were in the pre-pandemic summer. And back-to-school has a lot to do with that.”
How did you prepare your back-to-school inventory?
“We look at all our inventory across our Preparing for Traffic three stores and see where we’ve put things and where we automated quality assurance and post-editing haven’t. Lightspeed’s reporting features are critical to our success. We have managers talking across stores to see who has what, why, and who’s moving things. Until we know which products will be in high demand, we’re working to optimize our inventory to get rid of dusty merchandise.”
What other Lightspeed features or add-ons are you using for back-to-school?
“Due to the shift in consumer behavior over the alb directory past year, contactless shopping is becoming more common. We’re also seeing a lot of our neighborhood customers use our Lightspeed e-commerce site to see what we sell and how much it costs. This helps our customers feel more confident about working with us. It also saves us a lot of time answering questions over the phone, like, ‘Do you sell iPads? Do you sell computers?’ They’re now seeing them online.”
