Being
a retailer has become really hard. Oh how I wish for the good old days of
retailing when setting up a physical retail display guaranteed you a certain
uniqueness. Sure, you had competition from fellow traders but consumers had to
come to your place to see your offer. At The Queen Vic Market our uniqueness was inherent in our
product choice, our ability to cut out the middle-man, and the fact that we
traded when others didn’t.
Now
that uniqueness has gone. Consumers have a whole selection of options before
they make their purchase and sometimes they don't even have to walk out their
front door. An unfortunate consequence of flat retail sales is that retailers
are demanding that suppliers only provide them with guaranteed, sure-fire
sellers, and of course the result of that is that more retailers are selling
the same sure-fire sellers and the uniqueness becomes even more watered down.
Make
no mistake - your future as a retailer relies on you being unique. Consumers
need a really good reason to buy off you but the good news is that there are a
whole lot of ways to achieve uniqueness -
1. Price. -
your products obviously have to be competitive and you may choose to select
price as your key advantage.
2. Presentation.
- how well you display your products, or more importantly, how much pride you
show in your product, is important.
3. Innovation.
- the power fuel of entrepreneurs is innovation. New products, new ways of
presenting old products, and constantly thinking outside the square, are all
productive ingredients.
4. Service. -
we have mentioned that customers have so much choice, and they are in the box
seat. Meeting, and exceeding, customer service expectations will enhance your
uniqueness.
5. Marketing.
- there are many different ways of marketing your business these days and
fortunately many of those ways are inexpensive. Website's and social media are
accessible to all.
Have Your Say - click here.
