Retail chain simulator
Run an established retail chain at its real size — 1.2 million customers on day one — year by year for eight years, before you bet the real one.
Stores, stock turns and the discounter moving into your towns. This one opens as Harbour & Co.: A national chain of stores selling household goods in cities across the country. Rename it, reprice it, or describe your own retail chain and let Nova rewrite it to fit.
What a steady chain ends up with
Played steadily for all eight years — quality first, then growth, a fair share of the bank spent each year — a steady chain here ends its last year on $908m of revenue and $35.9m of profit, with 2.1 million customers and 23% of the market (#2 of 6).
It opens as it stands today: 1.2 million customers, 600 staff and $30m in the bank.
People who play it well do better, and a bad plan runs out of money.
Revenue in the last year: $908m
Profit in the last year: $35.9m
Customers at the end: 2.1 million
Share of the market: From nothing to 23%
Where it finishes: #2 of 6
Years and decisions: 8 years, yearly
What you'll decide each year
Each year you set prices, brand and sales spend region by region, decide capacity and headcount, choose where to expand next, and how much to borrow or pay back.
Each decision shows on a forecast before you file it, and every period resolves against the rivals and the economy.
Who your customers are
At this size the market barely grows, so every point of share is taken from somebody, region by region — and the leader fights back.
8 million customers in all, across your home city, the capital, the second city, a university city and a coastal city.
Value shoppers: Millions of them, loyal to the price and nothing else. About 4 million of them, worth $266 a year each.
Mainstream households: They buy the brand they trust and switch when it lets them down. About 2.6 million of them, worth $418 a year each.
Premium buyers: They pay for the best and expect it to feel that way. About 960,000 of them, worth $912 a year each.
Business accounts: Contracts, volume discounts and a procurement team. About 480,000 of them, worth $1.5k a year each.
Who you're up against
You start as one of the big names, with four rivals around you and every one of them after your customers. They play to win: they cut prices, spend on marketing and answer what you do.
The global leader: The biggest, and slow to change — it has stopped listening to its smaller customers. Holds about 30% of the market.
The discount giant: Wins on price and little else; its customers leave the moment somebody is better. Holds about 22% of the market.
The regional champion: Hasn't changed in years and is living off the customers it already has. Holds about 14% of the market.
The fast-growing challenger: Clever and quick, but stretched thin and hard to get hold of. Holds about 8% of the market.
How it works
Free until you start: building and previewing cost nothing, and starting is $10, once.
Build it — free: Press build and you get your own copy of this market: four kinds of customer, four rivals and five regions.
Make it yours: Change any number, describe your retail chain in a sentence or two and let Nova fill it in, or upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history to fit it to your real figures.
Preview — free: See what a steady chain ends up with, and every warning worth reading, before you pay anything.
Start — $10: Pay once to start, your seat included. Then run it year by year for eight years.
Also for
stores · department store · supermarket · retailer
How much does the retail chain simulator cost?
Building and previewing are free: make your own copy of this retail chain market, change anything in it and see what a steady chain ends up with without paying. Starting the simulation is $10, once, and your own seat is included.
Can I make it match my own retail chain?
Yes. Every number can be changed — the customers and what they pay, the rivals, the regions, the costs and the starting cash. Or describe your retail chain in a sentence or two and Nova, SparkTower's AI, fills every section in for one Nova action. If you already trade, upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history and the simulation is fitted to your real numbers.
Are the numbers realistic for a retail chain?
The template is checked against what real ones do: played steadily, a believable one finishes year eight turning over between $250m and $800m, with between 600,000 and 2.2 million customers. Your own prices, costs and figures change that, which is the point of trying it here first.
Can I use it to test a retail chain business plan?
That is what it is for. Put your plan's prices, costs and starting cash in, play it forward year by year, and see whether the money lasts, how many customers you would need and what a rival's price cut does to you — before you put real money in.
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