How to improve single-location retail businesses?
Single location retail businesses are facing a lot of challenges with the onslaught of competition first from different sources. First, Organized or Modern retail like Shopping Malls, Hypermarkets, Supermarkets, Chain Stores arrived. Some customers shifted to these new retail formats.
Now there is new competition from E-commerce (Internet web site based) and m-commerce (Mobile App based commerce) companies. Newer retail formats are being introduced regularly, attracting the customers with different types of services. A few decades ago, small traders dominated the retail business. Now, this dominance is vanishing. They are struggling to survive under the threat from these new players. As things appear today, it seems that the onslaught of such new-age competition is going to remain, even though the type of the competitor may change from time to time. In fact, technology may bring more competition from even more sources. What can the small retailers do to survive and thrive?
Let us look at the whole issue in more detail.
What has changed?
Before a few decades, when the industrial age was ruling and market was not impacted by Internet and mobile, the marketing scene was very different.
- The number of products and services in the market was limited. There were very few options for every product category.
- In most product categories, there was a monopoly like situation.
- The manufacturing capacity was considered powerful.
- Customers did not have too many choices. Availability was more important than choice.
- Information about the products, prices, their benefits or drawbacks was not easily available.
- Distribution channels were not very evolved.
- Things were not easily available everywhere.
- Communication and transportation were not very developed or fast as they are today.
Result?
There were a lot of constraints. So, customers had to struggle to buy something. The customer had to go distances, wait in queues and put up with the crowds and indifferent behavior of staff at shops. Retailers were the representatives of manufacturers. They had the power. Customer had no other alternative. So, they tolerated all that treatment from the retailers.
For shopkeepers, making the products available in their shop was more than enough. Once products were in stock, the customer will have to come. She did not have a choice. The customer did not have more options, so there was no fear of losing them. There was no need to pay much attention to service as it was suppliers’ market, not buyers’.
Now, the situation has changed. The tables are turned, literally. Here is what has happened:
- Power has shifted from manufacturers, suppliers or retailers to customers.
- It is buyers’ market. Customer has power.
- In every product category, the customers have too many choices.
- Information about the product, its features, benefits, other competing options and other buyers’ opinions are readily available to the customers. This real-time availability of information in the hands of the customers has given them a lot of power.
- Distance has died. Technology has bridged a huge gap of time and distance. Things can be made, bought and delivered faster.
- Geography is history. Globalization has merged markets. Products are easily available across markets. Competition is not only local, it can be from any source.
- It is a connected world. Word of mouth has got wings of technology. Good or bad word can spread fast through social media, Internet and mobile. And it can remain there for a long time.
What has not changed?
There is good news also.
- People need things. Actually, they want more things now, then they needed earlier.
- People are still emotional.
- They still value relationships: with products and places.
- They love personalized attention.
- They still have habits. Habits still die hard.
- People don’t have time. Time is going to be even more scarce.
- People still hate waiting.
- People still love good service.
- People still love simplicity.
- People still want to remain loyal, as far as possible. They don’t want to switch easily.
(Expert advice to GROW your business wherever you are, whenever you want.
SMEBusinessGuide.com… https://goo.gl/E3pfoQ)
