Nowadays, it would be fair to say that the outlook on the retail landscape is bleak to say the least. Every week we seem to be hearing an increasing number of stories of businesses closing their doors – and this is hardly encouraging for someone who is looking to get their foot on the high-street.
Of course, there is the online alternative – but this isn’t suitable for every business out there. As much as some might want to tell you, there are ways for the high-street to thrive, but there are most certainly right and wrong ways to achieve this.
For the purposes of today, we’re actually going to focus on the latter. Let’s now take a look at some of the key mistakes you must avoid if you are serious about making a positive impression with your bricks-and-mortar retail company.
You get your location wrong
We’ve all heard of the phrase “location, location, location” and suffice to say, the same rules apply in retail.
You can create the perfect store, but it’s all going to be for nothing if you’ve chosen a bad location. This is one of the reasons it is absolutely crucial to invest heavily in this process; analyze footfall, find out how other shops are performing and obviously conduct a deep review of your own market.
Your in-store experience is lacking
This is a term that was once unheard of but in the current economic climate at least, having a good in-store experience is crucial to your success.
So, what do we mean by these in-store experiences? This really will depend on the industry you are based in but to coin some examples, some toy shops will run various workshops for kids that aims to get them, and their parents, to spend as much time as possible in there.
Then, there are techniques such as digital signage from the likes of cenareo.com, which allow you to showcase product videos and other content to really give your store something unique in comparison to competitors.
You don’t spend enough time recruiting
There are a whole host of elements that can make or break your store, but it would be fair to say that your employees are one of the most important.
Let’s not forget that they are most probably one of the key reasons why people have left the comfort of their own home and decided to shop on the high-street. They are the first source of questions, and you need to take advantage of this.
Sure, not everybody is going to be bustling with enthusiasm, but at least make sure you are hiring people who like to communicate and ultimately sell your brand in the right way.
You gloss over the true metrics
We’ve spoken about some of the softer areas of running a retail outlet today, but when it comes down to proceedings it really all is about sales and profit margins. During quiet times, it can be tempting to initiate a huge promotion that gets customers flocking through the doors. Granted, this is one technique that some stores use, but you need to make sure your numbers are in good enough shape to allow this to happen.
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