3 Ways to Thrive in Retail For 2023

?Where is Retail at now?

According to a recent article published by Forbes they viewed the ups and downs of Retailing over the past three years as the following:

“Retailers and brands are coming out of a pandemic that has essentially lasted three years. Over the past year, challenges across the supply chain, inflationary pricing, economic uncertainty, and geo-political factors have taxed retailers and squeezed the financials. With the new year, however, there is a positive outlook and focus on the customer shopping journey. As retailers adjust to a new normal, a seamless experience and hybrid shopping are shaping the future of retail.”

So we know this already…. How can Retailers shape their business and devise a strategy that helps them gain market share?

There is a lot of noise out there at present lots of news on the radio and people discussing the inflation crisis and how negative that is and will be. So there is a focus across most media that Retailers are closing down some of the below may sound familiar to you:

1. ?Increases in payroll people can’t afford to keep the business open any longer.
2. ?People are all shopping online now so you won’t be in business for much longer.
3. ?People don’t have the extra spending money so I can’t see you being able to stay open for much longer?consumer spending is dropping.
4. ?That won’t work I just know it won’t?sure no other Retailer is doing it.

If you continue doing the same thing you will continue getting the same result.?How often has it been for you to change the way you have always done things gotten in the way? Habits become very quickly extremely hard to change and even harder if you are used to doing things that certain way for a number of years.

Implementing any change is not easy and the pain?of not doing it needs to exceed the pain of doing it in order for any change to occur.?

TIP 1- Focus on going after one KPI that you can put all your efforts into driving growth in?

This could be on any number of key performance indicators within your organisation for today I will discuss the following

• ATV(average transaction value)?
• IPC (items per customer)?
• PPP (price per product)?
• FF( footfall counter at front door)
• Conversion (footfall?customers)

Not every store will have the luxury of being in a high traffic footfall area so it DOES NOT make sense for that store to to be going after footfall over and over again.

Seek the opportunity

For example if: They can influence their PPP for those that are entering the store and in turn will increase the ATV. Don’t focus on every KPI this is one mistake that I see a lot with Retailers it simply rarely works and is not the norm for all to be performing at an exceptionally high level consistently.

BUT.........if you continue to chase all the KPI's and look to increase them all.What will happen if you operate the Retail Buisness like this?

You will waste a LOT of money.

Instead??If you put those same resources into kpis that will give you the return needed to increase your cash flow this will be at a higher profit. So focus ONLY on those key ones prioritise the ones to go after that you will gain the most ROI in.

TIP 2- Omnichannel isn’t just an online store for your Retail business.

This is where Retailers needs to reinvent and?be innovative in their approach to being an omnichannel business.?What does this mean??Just having an online store isn’t enough.

We need to think like customers and put ourselves in their world??We need to meet them where they are at where they are spending their time most on which is?on apps watching video content and what content are they consuming online? Do you they enjoy Tik Tok? Look to incorporate Tik Tok live shopping streaming or creating content that engages with them on the platform such as how to videos or tutorials for products you sell. Recent studies has shown the appetite has increased and many shoppers are wanting more and more options to shop in more places where they are spending there spare time. Did you know Zoom has a shopping option so if you are conducting a webinar you can incorporate shopping after it to increase sales in your business. Many stylists or image consultants are using this feature to drive up their earnings as they can incorporate sales on commission of these product owners merchandise they are selling as part of their business model. How can you incorporate additional revenue streams into your sales in your store what places could you extend your retail sales to?

Another option is: If operating with multiple suppliers seeking to sell advertising space on your website.?The purpose of this is the benefit to increase cash flow?through adverts on your webpage many companies in the US have found this to be very successful and it’s growing year on year.

Use technology such as phones in stores in order to interact with customers that visit this is proving more and more popular. Ask yourself as a Retailer how interactive your shop floor is for those of us that want to use our mobiles to interact with products??QR codes for how to videos or to get products into your shopping basket?or iPads to take quizzes to find that perfect sofa or build it these are just some ways you can incorporate it into a Retailer.?

These are only two example there are many many more if you want to get in touch and work with the team we can find the best Retail Solution that works for you.

TIP 3 Additional services?

What additional services could you offer for your business that will build on the community of your brand?

1. Shop in shop has popularised over recent years brands such as Next clothing have brands such as Nike, Topshop and many others that you can purchase from.?
2. Loyalty schemes/CRM programs/Memberships this builds customer retention and allows your business access into your customers spending so you can tailor promotions and get real time feedback on new product launches and allow you to make changes that are based on your own consumers needs not the wider market place that many have to rely on.
3. Classes these can be on site, virtually or in video format both in person and on social media platforms used to extend the relationship with the customer and establishing a community around the brand. One brand that are doing this is Sweaty Betty in the UK they have exercise classes where customers do the classes in the store this is where the product is being used and indirect selling through the class. Another brand that also done this was Mothercare they carried out Mother & Baby event where they held antenatal classes for mothers to be in store with a midwife and demonstrated how to use a car seat and the other products. This increased sales of over 40% and drove the brand as a leading expert in babycare products.
4. If your brand ethos such as Patagonia is very aligned to sustainability then having a reuse or repurchase of preloved clothing in part of the store works well. Zara are also piloting this in the UK having preloved clothing repaired for customers to help strengthen sustainability within their brand offering.

For more tips or if you want to know how your business can survive and thrive in 2023 reach out for a no nonsense approach to building your brand.

#business #retail #growth #future?