Cash Converters

Could you tell us about Cash Converters?

Cash Converters has been around for 40 years in Australia and 30 in France. We specialise in second-hand goods. People can come in to sell their phones, computers, luxury bags or jewellery, and they can buy them too.

We bought the company out of receivership two years ago. It was struggling and had lost its sense of direction on a lot of fronts. We repositioned the whole business: target customers, product range, store formats and pricing.

Historically, the stores felt very masculine, cold and a bit dated. We redesigned them around a new customer experience. Instead of buying and selling everything, we focused on six product categories: phones, gaming, computing, luxury, home and toys. The idea is to move from a mostly male customer base to families.

How has the new concept performed?

Stores with the new concept generate around 25% more revenue on average. The challenge now is to bring the whole network in line, as it includes both company-owned stores and franchisees. We started with the company-owned stores. Now we need to bring the franchisees on board, and they’re dealing with cash-flow, support, management and transition issues. We can’t do everything at once.

How did you choose locations before MyTraffic?

We bought a network of 80 stores. Our first strategy wasn’t to open stores but to close them. Today we have around 40.

To choose locations, we used Google, ChatGPT and a lot of guesswork. We’d go and talk to retailers here and there. That wasn’t ten years ago. It was a year ago. It took a huge amount of time and relied on our gut feeling and on what retailers told us. We needed more structured, more reliable data to make decisions.

What has Gini by MyTraffic changed?

Gini by MyTraffic has helped us bring real rigour to our network expansion strategy. It also changes how we work with landlords, property agents, brokers and prospective franchisees.

Before, we’d turn up with a document based on Google and a few conversations with retailers. Now we come in with a solid, data-backed report, local benchmarks and figures from our own stores. We’re much more confident. The numbers we share with our partners are more accurate, and the outcomes are better.

Do you have a concrete example?

We want to relocate around a quarter of our franchise stores to better locations, with more passing trade or a target customer base that’s easier to reach.

Last April in Bruay-la-Buissière, we moved a store just 500 metres to a better spot in the same retail park. The store was well known, but it sat at the back of the park, in an area with little visibility. The analysis showed that those 500 metres could make a real difference. Revenue rose 25% and average basket size 18%, driven by more store visits and new customers.

We’re also working on a project in Carcassonne with a franchisee who knows the area very well. Using Gini, we compared the planned location with another area slightly further north. It helped us stress-test the project and identify the risks.

How do you use Gini day to day?

I started by playing around with Gini, then tested it properly at an event. I used it for a LinkedIn post, then very quickly for Cash Converters’ overall expansion strategy. We wanted to know how fast we could expand and which cities to target, for both company-owned and franchised stores. Within minutes, the tool came back with a shortlist of cities to look into. That used to take anywhere from one to six months.

I use Gini every day to reassess our current locations and look for where to open new stores. Longer term, it also helps us shape investment decisions and strategy alongside our property partners.

What did you learn about your best stores?

I asked Gini to analyse our best stores and their surroundings: socio-economic profile, unemployment rate, household spending and nearby shops.

Some of our best stores have an Action discount store within one kilometre, at least six competitors within a ten-minute drive, plus a Besson Chaussures and a Maxi Zoo nearby. Stores that tick all four boxes generate 40% more revenue than the others.

On the ground: the Nanterre store

Alexandre has managed the Cash Converters store in Nanterre for about four months. It’s a town-centre store in the City format, which is still rare across the network, and the closest one to head office.

“The location is a real strategic asset for us. We’re in Nanterre’s old town centre, in a very family-oriented area, right by the RER A commuter rail station. We get a lot of footfall, with commuters passing through in the morning and on their way home in the evening.”

Customers range from families to higher-income professionals, and the product mix reflects that. Phones are at the entrance, because that’s what customers look for most. The store has also doubled down on toys. A toy shop in Nanterre closed a few months ago, and hardly anyone in town sells products for children. “We’re going to fill that gap.”

Would you recommend MyTraffic?

I’d recommend MyTraffic to everyone, except our competitors.

At Cash Converters, we’re a small team, so we need to move fast and get it right. MyTraffic gives us the speed and the data to back up our strategy. With AI, we can test our assumptions and prepare for meetings. We walk in with answers and hard data, and that moves things forward.