Tourism is a
critically important aspect of business at QVM particularly in the Upper Market
and perhaps its main benefit lies in its ability to insulate traders from the current
crazy upside down and disruptive world of retailing.
Global
retailing is in the middle of a revolution with aggressive online competition
and worldwide expansion of equally aggressive bricks’n’mortar retailers. The
competition is huge and it is little wonder that the big pie that belonged to QVM
Traders in Melbourne’s CBD has been seriously fragmented. It is said that we
can no longer sit and wait for customers to come to us but, when it comes to
tourists, maybe we can.
At least
that is the view of one of our key tourist traders who says that tourists are
unlikely to come to Melbourne and then go online to find the cheapest products
in a global market. They are here in Melbourne to shop and QVM is a great place
for customers looking for souvenirs of their trip or just to stock up on items
they can’t get at home.
Of course we
can’t be complacent. One thing that global exposure does is clearly identify
value and we need to be very attentive to pricing, offer and service if we are
to remain a preferred destination for visitors. Direct sourcing, volume
purchases, and constant range evaluation are critical to successful trading.
Perhaps the
lesson from this article is that if your product range at the market doesn’t
include items that are likely to appeal to the captive tourist market, what is
holding you back?