Physical retail isn’t dying. The rules have simply changed due to the rise of online retail. Here are just a few mistakes that you should try to avoid if you want to survive as a physical retail business in 2020.
1. Choosing the wrong location
Location is one of the biggest factors to consider when setting up a physical store. You need to be somewhere that is conveniently accessible in which there are likely to be people passing by. At the same time, you don’t want to be paying sky-high rental costs that eat away at your profits.
Doing some location research beforehand is vital. Upcoming economic areas such as Cedar Hill TX are often good choices – such areas may not be too expensive while attracting enough crowds to generate business. You can find adverts for these locations online.
2. Not knowing your customers
Failing to know your customers makes it impossible to select the right inventory and impossible to market effectively.
When setting up your business, you should have a key demographic in mind. Certain factors to consider could include the age, the gender, the class and the interests of your target consumer. Knowing your customer’s shopping habits could also be vital such as knowing which times they shop and where they gravitate to in the store. All of this can be learnt through market research. This could include monitoring competitors, taking surveys and using analytics to monitor sales trends.
As for getting to know individual customers, this can help you to encourage return visits and spread positive word of mouth. Small gestures could include learning returning customers’ names or making polite conversation.
3. Stocking inventory you love, not inventory that sells
It’s natural to want to sell products that you have an interest in. But you should make sure that you’re also selling items that your customers want. This relates to knowing your customers – you need to know what products are trendy and what could be trendy (i.e. finding a gap in the market). Make sure to keep records of how much each product is selling and take this into account when ordering in new stock. Meanwhile, know when to get rid of products that aren’t selling well.
4. Prioritising price over quality
Low prices can attract customers. But you need to also be selling good quality products, otherwise, you’ll be getting complaints when things don’t work properly and your reputation could be on the line.
It’s okay to sell basic products, but they still need to be functional and durable to a degree. Make sure to research and test all products before selling them. Having a few premium options on sale can also give people the option to pay more for better quality if they want to.
5. Focusing solely on attracting new customers
Return customers can be a big source of income in retail. Make sure that you’re not just focusing your marketing towards new customers as you could be missing out on these important customers.
There are lots of ways to encourage return customers. As mentioned already, getting to know customers can make a big impact. You can also offer incentives to return customers such as loyalty discounts. Advertising upcoming deals and events in store can also encourage current customers to return. On top of this, consider harnessing the power of social media to attract return customers by posting updates to your current followers.
6. Not looking after your employees
If you need to hire employees, make sure that you treat them as your most valuable resource. Some retail companies can make the mistake of treating employees as if they are disposable. If employees don’t feel valued, they’re less likely to stick around and then this means more time and money spent recruiting – and more stress for you.
Make sure to offer a fair wage and consider offering other employee benefits. These could include discounts to items in your store or even discounts to other local services (you can set these up by talking to other local business owners). Make sure that new employees are given suitable training so that they’re able to serve you confidently. Once employees have proved themselves capable, allow them more independence and encourage them to suggest ideas and improvements. Employees are more likely to care about the success of your business if they are able to make creative decisions that impact its future.
6. Using old technology
You also don’t want to make the mistake of relying on outdated technology. Not only could it have a negative impact on the efficiency of your business, but it could reflect badly on your company image and could even be exploited as a security weakness.
A few examples of modern technology commonly found in physical retail outlets include contactless card readers, touchscreen POS displays and accounting software. Don’t make the mistake of trying to run a modern retail business without accepting card payments or while using manual accounting methods.
8. Failing to sell an experience
What can physical stores provide that online stores can’t? The answer is a physical experience. Appealing to senses such as smell, taste and touch can give shoppers a reason to enter store rather than buying the same product online. This could include offering samples of food, stocking scented candles or soaps or allowing customers to get hands-on with certain products.
Failing to sell an experience can run the risk of making your store seem dull in today’s age. Consider how you can customers to safely interact with your products. You could even consider hosting events such as workshops for customers to learn new skills such as cooking or crafts (dependant on the type of products you sell).