One of the biggest challenges facing any retail business, large or small, local or high street, is that of controlling the overhead. It is amazing how expenditure can add up and probably only hits home when its time to prepare the annual accounts. And one of the biggest areas in which many businesses leak money is with consumable products.

Consumables are those products that on the face of it are cheap to buy but which we use every day and without which our businesses couldn't function. Those products which we don't even think about but which account for a significant part of our outgoings.

In the world of retail consumable products include till rolls, labels and packaging. These are products, used every day in large quantities, that a retail business just cannot do without. Yet often we scramble about at the end of the day, or sometimes at the start of the days trading, knowing that we are going to run out of one or more of these important products and then spend time getting in new supplies and probably paying more than we need to because we need a rush delivery from the supplier.

Paying over the odds because we need an emergency supply of consumable products is a common scenario amongst retail businesses and can have a surprising effect on our overhead. Yet it is so easy to trim those costs right down and also to never have to go through the panic of trying to secure last minute supplies.

The answer to cutting costs on consumable products is of course to buy in bulk. Most of us know that but surprisingly few actually do it. By finding a good supplier who gives excellent discount on bulk orders we can keep a good stock of consumables on the premises but the key is to have a standing order so that a delivery is made every month and always order more than you expect to use. Just by the simple expedient of setting up a regular discounted order is such an easy way to save consumable spending in the long term and you will notice the difference in your annual expenditure.