Retail success

- I remember when I was growing up, if you wanted to buy anything, you had to go to the local shop to get it. There was no internet, and a trip to the big shopping mall was a luxury in my family. We had a variety of stores from shoe stores, to clothing stores, to toy stores, all sorts of retailers. But the world has changed! People have shouted it from the rooftops that the internet changed everything and brick and mortar is dead. Is it true? Well, there's good news and there's bad news. Let's start with the bad news. The bad news is that it's far more difficult for retail businesses to compete and to succeed than ever before, especially in a world where customers can have almost anything delivered to them within 24 hours without ever having to leave the comforts of their couch. The good news is that it's still possible to succeed in retail, and many stores big and small have been able to do it. If you want to succeed and to grow your retail business, there are three key things that I think you need to do, and you need to do them well. First, you need to understand customer behavior and continue to learn more about your customers. This means capturing customer information when they come into your retail establishment and making a big effort to understand who they are. This is the key that allows you to market to that customer and then attempt to bring them back. One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is believing that simply providing a decent experience is enough to drive customers back. One of the core philosophies of my work with clients is that loyalty is a result of our day-to-day actions and the proactive efforts that we take to bring customers back. Without understanding who our customers are, we don't have a chance of being able to do that. Next, you need to provide an exceptional customer experience. The questions we need to be asking shouldn't be things like how can we reduce pricing to compete with online competitors. The question you need to be asking is how can you provide an experience that's so exceptional, people are willing to get off the couch, put on their clothes, get in their car, and drive to your store, or why should they choose you over a competitor. The experience has to be that good. Sometimes that means friendly faces, sometimes that means the value-added experience is that the customer receives when inside your business, other times it might be the perks or added benefits they get from buying from you. Finally, you need to be realistic about who you can and can't compete with. Sam Walton, the creator of Walmart, said shortly before his death that there was only one way to compete with Walmart, and it wasn't on price. The only way to compete with Walmart was to do the things that they couldn't do. Smaller retailers had to get out there and personally know their customers, learn about them, understand their likes and dislikes. Walton gave this advice over 30 years ago, and it still hasn't changed. You can still use this simple but tried, tested, and true advice to succeed. Success in retail doesn't need to be difficult, but it's not easy, either. It's about tuning into your customer and really getting to know their needs so you can effectively serve them.