What
is the big debate at QVM? Ok, there are a few, but this one is gaining
momentum. - "How much of our success relies on QVM dragging customers to our
stalls, and how much relies on traders reaching out to customers with modern technology
including websites and social media?"
In
the past traders have been part of an incredibly efficient retailing model - set
up a display and feed off passing customer traffic. The rigors of running a
small business efficiently have been conveniently encapsulated around as little
as 5 or 6 hours of trading 5 days per week with the rest of our time taken up
with stock procurement, preparation, bookwork, and so on.
There
are traders who say this is the only way we can operate profitably. We simply
don’t have time to add on all that online stuff, and really, if QVM just brought
us more customers everything would be fine. And there is the problem. Bringing
MORE customers is incredibly hard because customers have found alternatives to
walking past our stalls. They have found retailers happy to open more than 6
hours, they have found retailers happy to allow them to shop online and then
deliver to their home, or workplace. They have found retailers who will
communicate with them, anyplace and anytime, offer huge ranges of produce, and
bend over backwards to get their business.
Attracting
crowds will always be a primary function of QVM as well as adapting our offer
so that it meets changing consumer demand (for example more food and
entertainment), and making it easier for consumers to find what they want.
Analysing consumer data is a key function for QVM. The recent discovery that we
are getting half the number of regional and interstate customers to our market
opens up a great avenue for improving attendance. But this is all against a
backdrop of rising competition, and general retail decline. We cannot expect
miracles.
So
what about trader websites and social media engagement? Many traders are
finding that maintaining a website and social media engagement can be
productive. The capacity for social media to go “viral” means that it is all
about lighting the spark that will get your business out there. Good feedback
on your business generates more business. The secret is to find ways that
generate news about you without having to spend a lot of money or effort. And
here is another problem. This process does require effort, especially in the early
learning phases. We have been guilty of over simplifying the adoption of online
and social media on this website. For many it is a steep learning curve. But it
can start with an entry on the QVM website, a product photo on Instagram, or a Facebook page, and there are
endless opportunities to be creative with your promotion at comparatively
little cost.
So
what is the answer to “How much of our success relies on QVM dragging customers
to our stalls, and how much relies on traders reaching out to customers with
modern technology including websites and social media?” Obviously both are
critical and both require 100% effort. If traders think they can put their feet
up and handball customer engagement to someone else, forget it. If management
think they can place all the responsibility for customer attraction on traders,
forget it. Like many things we do at QVM this requires management and traders
working together, although, without being alarmist, recent sales trends in many
categories suggest that window of opportunity is rapidly closing.
The
next big debate: “With so many demands on trader’s time, including this online
stuff, how can we justify so many traders spending between 2 and 4 hours per
day simply setting up and packing up their stall?”