2019 Recap...
Early each January, Square sends me a report that breaks down our entire previous year in one quick email. Either everyone that uses Square is like me and prefers that no complex spreadsheet be attached to the email to get to the real data…or there actually is a spreadsheet attached to the email and I’m just not savvy enough to open it and decipher it. Either way, but here's all we need to know...
We grew 38% in 2019 over 2018 sales. That’s 38% closer to World Pie Domination, just in case you are keeping track.
Square tracked PJP at just under 19,000 sales transactions in the past year (18,234 to be exact). That's 5,400 more transactions than in 2018 (and doesn't include any sales at the Roots and Blues festival because of the required use of the cashless bracelet system).
I have no idea how many transactions is average for a small business, but rolling over the 18,000 threshold makes me feel legit. And thankful for every single one of those 18,234 transactions and 9,003 unique customers we served.
Our busiest day of the week was Saturday, for the second time in PJP history. Friday was our second busiest. And Monday? Monday is the low-key MVP of 2019, astounding us with how busy Mondays are in our new storefront.
Our slowest day of the week was Wednesday. What? I would have laid money on Tuesday. This is why I never do well in Vegas.
Our busiest month was November, with our busiest day of the entire year as Wednesday, November 27th. We all worked some long hours leading up to that day, so now it feels a bit more justified.
Our least busy month was January. If January were a person, I would break up with January. Dear January, it's not me...it's you.
While I think I cried more at PJP in 2019 than in 2018, I think 2019 was a more difficult year, both personally and professionally because we built an entirely new storefront and that is no easy feat…and certainly not anxiety free.
Our most popular pie was Dutch Apple, showing no change from the previous three years. Up next was White Chocolate Strawberry and then Chocolate Bourbon Pecan, hardly a surprise to any of us at Team PJP.
Our top customer visited us 75 times last year (or at least used the same credit card 75 times…cash transactions aren’t included in the customer visit count.) Also, it is the exact same top customer as 2018, making her a PJP super fan and inner circle for life. Last year, we gave her a free baby pie a month for a year…and now, we have to up our game because being customer of the year for two years running is a legit accomplishment.
Cheers to 2019. And 20,000 transactions? We're coming for you...