By Mashum Mollah
There are companies in the same market area producing the same amount of goods with totally different results. For example, you can have two businesses that have comparable annual sales volumes, but that’s where the similarities end. Something as (seemingly) trivial as an attitude can set them apart, making the difference between frustrated and happy employees, satisfied and upset customers, and positive vs. negative cash flow.
The Right Attitude:
Owners of successful retail operations aim to foster continuous improvement in their enterprises. They are always looking for ways to introduce innovation. They never stop learning. It can be tempting to stay set in your ways, but it’s not good for business.
No Tricks:
Some companies hide behind the inefficiency of their selling process through advertising. However, this strategy is merely a stop-gap arrangement when it comes to selling in the retail space. Once the glory of advertising and marketing gimmicks disappear, customers experience a bitter taste in their mouth. This is because the selling process is highly inadequate and unfulfilling to the consumer.
This is where data can play a big role to help the selling process. By tracking what is working and what is not, organizations can tune up or change their selling strategies. If you have the right kind of data, you will understand what strategies close sales, and which ones do not. Retailers who do well use POS systems so they can improve the follow-up between clients and salespeople. Using this approach, there is a much higher close rate per customer as opposed to per traffic.
Price Flexibility:
Setting the right price is more often a psychological thing for brands. For consumers, a $199 price point means that I am willing to pay that price for a product that might be available for $175. This is where brands need to be smart and understand pricing from a psychological point of view.
For example, if a product costs the retailer $215, he can afford to offer it for $199. The next product, which costs him $167, can be put on the floor for $199. Yes, it is not as simple as that. However, most retailers follow this policy to maintain the top line and the bottom line.
Fear is Not Your Friend:
If you want to be successful, you should be afraid to take a risk. There is not one size fits all strategy when it comes to making things work. Some best practices that are good for some brand, might be completely counter-productive to yours.
The key is to keep on experimenting until you find the right balance. This means trying out different means of media like tv advertising, radio advertising, and print mediums. Do not hesitate to tread carefully into the digital world. More and more brands have started successfully experimenting with digital marketing. However, unless you try something out, you might not know whether you will succeed or fail.
There is no Magic Trick:
Some retailers are convinced that there is a magic trick when it comes to advertising and they don’t really make an effort. They try radio ads once, and if it doesn’t work, they try the internet. When that doesn’t work either, they try another medium. Ultimately, they pay money for nothing and never really break into the market.
These retailers have not failed sufficiently in one place and have not generated mass exposure. Marketers need a niche, so if your business is facing ones that own the media channel, you’ll need to make a major investment.
Have no fear of discounting goods that don’t sell. You shouldn’t think about the cost because the money is gone anyway. By keeping goods that don’t sell, you’re just losing more money from the valuable floor space these goods are taking up. Most retailers would return the goods to their supplier if the latter would agree to pay them back for them.
Profitability:
Many retailers are so focused on the top line that they forget about what really matters. Maintaining a steady bottom line is quite important for businesses. This isn’t to say that the top line should be ignored, just that both need to be given equal consideration. One should set acceptable standards in all areas of cost. A strategy that ensures a small bottom line percentage even during the tough months needs to be in place.
The Right Tactics and Strategies:
A good retail strategy has at its foundation data and reports. Unless you are able to collate and present the right kind of data for your brand, you will not be successful. This means understanding and analyzing data becomes very important.
Data also helps you assess the performance of a strategy and helps chart a roadmap for the same. If you see that figures are not supporting your goal, you can re-evaluate or move in another direction. From the sales point of view to the purchase section, data can help streamline many internal processes. Most importantly, data helps you make informed decisions for your business at all times.
Conclusion:
Successful retail operations go beyond the basic principles outlined here, but our tips will certainly prove helpful to you. We wish you the best of luck in your endeavors!
Read Also:
