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Small Business - Success Is Harder Than Ever

Small businesses have more challenges than ever to succeed. The facts speak for themselves. Consumers are changing at warp speed and small retailers must adapt and pursue the consumers in ways as never before used. In effect, retailers today must actively and continuously plan to garner a larger “share of wallet” from every customer they have.

Fact 1: The Retail Marketplace is crowded- there are more places for consumers to find goods and services than ever before. Big Box Stores, the internet, there are more choices than ever before and this is leading to a generation of shoppers that has little or no store loyalty.

Fact 2: Consumers are bombarded with messaging. The reach of marketing today extends well beyond the traditional newspaper ads or radio spots that many independent retailers succeed on for years. Internet advertising, outdoor advertising, even cell phones are places where consumers now receive information about goods and services they might be buying

Fact 3: TIME matters to customers- Gone are the lazy strolls down main streets across America that led to customers walking in your front door and making an impulse purchase. Purpose driven shopping trips rule the day today and it is harder than ever for merchants of all size and shape to get customers into their front doors without any solicitation to get them there!

Fact 4: Competition is fierce. The growth of the big box retailer as well as the internet only merchant is carving a piece out of the independent retailer’s market share today. With online purchases expected to grow at double digits over the next 5 years, and big box retailers entering the marketplace from around the world, this trend are only going to continue.
HOW DO INDEPENDENT RETAILERS “COMPETE” IN THIS NEW
CONSUMER CENTRIC RETAIL ENVIRONMENT TODAY?

Success today requires retailers to deliver an “experience” to their customers. Retailers of all size must “move from a single transaction mindset to establishing ongoing relationships” with their customers. That means retailers must PLAN to attract new customers, they must effectively PLAN for ongoing marketing campaigns and sales programs, and they must PLAN to utilize technology to attract new customers and to retain current customers all the while delivering a personal customize interaction to any customer the store may have.

In effect, retailers today must actively and continuously plan to garner a larger “share of wallet” from every customer they have. Another way to look at this new paradigm shift in the world of retail today is to suggest that “retailers must shift from what moves product to what moves people”

So just how do you move people to purchase in today’s retail environment? That is the question that requires time, energy, research and a well executed response from independent retailers everywhere.

Lynn Switanowski is the founder of Creative Business Consulting Group, a Boston, MA based Strategic Planning and Retail Consulting firm. CBCG works with businesses to develop creative programs across a variety of business processes that will improve sales and profit margins.

Lynn draws on twenty three years of retail industry experience with Fortune 500 apparel and consumer products companies delivering increased sales and profit margins, helping companies re-engineering traditional business models and creating long term programs to reduce expenses. Her management skills and leadership ability have led to the successful growth of niche businesses and have allowed her to establish the strategic direction for companies launching new brands and revitalizing large-scale mature businesses across many product categories.

Want more information? Call Creative Business Consulting Group- 617-437-9191 today. Or E-mail us at lynn@cbc-group.net

“PLANNING for your business to PROFIT”

Tags: market share, marketing programs, retail, small business