If you have owned a small retail store for a while, chances are that mega retail stores have come to poop your party. This applies to big wigs like Amazon and Wal-Mart. In fact, any digital market place poses a serious threat to your business. Even Alibaba that is not even in the United States, has a say too.
The customers are not trooping in as they were, and even if you are making some profit, you think it’s only a matter of time before you are out of business. In a way, that might be true, but it is a half-truth. What you need might be a little jiggling of your strategy to be able to compete with the big wigs.
Let’s face it. It has only become necessary that you move part of your store online. You might run into additional problems if you don’t. Your store might close faster. Some of the age-long tricks on how to attract and keep customers might have become obsolete. At least the ones you currently employ no longer work for you.
In the race to match the big wigs, at least in your local area, you will need to employ some tactics.
Here are three things you can do in your new retail stores.
Classes of Goods
When you stock your old or new retail store, you must have your goods divided into three classes. The first class will be items that are extremely cheap and affordable. Most times, people won’t buy these, but it is okay to let them be there. Customers will only use them for comparison.
This should make up just a fraction of your stock. Just enough to be seen. The second category is goods that are in the mid-range. They are not so cheap, and not so expensive, either. This is where most of your merchandise will come from. The final group of the items should be the ones with exorbitant prices.
While some will buy, others will use it as a benchmark to determine which of the midrange product they should purchase.
Customer service
Your troubles do not end when you go digital. When you do, you will need to set up customer service for your online business. Even the business in your store needs these customer service providers from you to handle the job properly.
Make sure to train these people properly. These customer care service people you have employed must be knowledgeable and empathetic to avoid ruining your business.
Buy Products with Seasons in Mind
On average, a typical season lasts for three months, and another comes along. Use this seasonal variation for your retail store. Buy products and stock for three months that correspond to the seasonal change. This is because consumers change products during different seasons.
There are still some other rules, but these are the ones that will get your retail business off the ground before making any large scale retail decision.