Retailers strive every day to combat hostile issues like changing consumer habits, supply delays, and many more while the new ones keep piling up. However, conventional retailers can thrive in this multidimensional purchasing environment if certain pitfalls are avoided.
Moreover, failing to understand the retail landscape can be a costly mistake for newbies, or even the most experienced players in the game. There is a long list of common retail mistakes that can make or break your business. Yet these mistakes are so common that it’s easy to overlook them.
Before plunging in, read on to know some tips on how to avoid common retail faux pas or as one may call it, mistakes and what to do instead.
Not Pricing Your Products Right
Mismanaged pricing creates obstacles for retailers to remain competitive in the marketplace. Retail Systems Research (RSR) conducted a study that revealed how retailers responded to greater competition by consistently lowering the price of their goods.
Many retailers have gone out of business as a result of this tactic, which has also encouraged buyers to demand things at costs that retail operators can’t possibly meet.
Retailers also make pricing errors like starting their holiday shopping too early and giving out blanket discounts by knocking way too much off the original price.
Retailers must get a detailed insight into the market conditions – which means delving deeper into the prevailing demand & supply to determine the optimal prices that will be beneficial in the long run. Keeping a check on this will contribute to increasing their profitability with each sale.
This approach doesn’t only apply to supermarket giants – SME retailers too can derive plenty of benefits from this.
Not Keeping Up With Market Trends
It seems easier while launching your retail business to stock items that you like. Sometimes, it becomes a matter of displaying selective items, and you think your customers would be content with your choice. The issue with this strategy is that it frequently leads to a store that has narrowly focused on a certain market group.
Selecting a niche that is too specific is one of the biggest mistakes. If you create a store that exclusively sells tennis rackets, for instance, you could be too specialised for your neighbourhood. So there really exist enough tennis players to support a racket shop? Most likely not. The racket shop would need to market to non-tennis players and sell other goods in order to be successful. This entails stocking athletic-specific footwear, sports balls, apparel, and other equipment.
Also, note that your business should not carry an excessive amount of merchandise and become too generalized. With so many other businesses offering the same selection of goods, it will be more difficult to distinguish apart. You will feel compelled to drastically underprice your goods in order to stand out. Price erosion will also occur when your rivals attempt to undercut you on price.
To deal with this, consider first which items are the most successful. This reveals your areas of strength and the needs that the best-sellers are meeting. Second, think about what distinguishes your shop and its goods from others. How does your store differ from other retailers that offer books in the same way that you do? Determine what makes your store unique.
Third, think about the characteristics of your greatest customers. What features do they share? What aspect of your store’s value offer are they reacting to? Retailers may learn about the demographics and shopping preferences of their consumers with the use of a variety of retail technology apps. To help you establish your speciality, invest in them.
And last, do your homework – Market research. Find out who could be drawn to your products by doing some research. Examine the regional market, statistics, and your rivals’ offerings.
Not Considering Local Market Factors
Setting a timetable that suits you rather than the demands of the market is one of the biggest blunders retail operators make. For instance, if you have a convenience store near a lot of office buildings, your open and closing hours should be determined by the demands of your clients.
Your shop should be open during these times to accommodate them if they typically report for work at 8:00 am and depart between 5:00 and 7:00 pm. However, a lot of the shops in this circumstance are only open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, skipping out on the best times to offer goods to office employees. Small businesses should also be aware of the tremendous deterrent that is closed during the advertised hours of the store to potential clients.
Similar to retailers, some have difficulties due to a lack of adequate local market knowledge. You ought to be conscious of the challenges in your area. You can usually depend on pulling consumers who just happened to be walking by the business if your store has a lot of foot traffic.
But that means spending more time looking for customers if your business is off the main route, established in a huge building, having low foot traffic. Never presume that they will see your store. To ensure that their target clients are aware of their existence, retailers must go above and beyond.
Putting Your Online Presence On Hold
Although having an online presence seems to be common knowledge, several businesses are still unsure of what exactly constitutes an appealing online presence. A majority of your consumers may be active online and therefore, you must put it to your advantage by interacting with them on social media, on your own website, through an app, or through an online e-commerce site.
In the 21st century, consumer behaviours have undergone a significant transformation. Whether or not a customer is actively trying to buy anything, they are continually impacted by the internet. According to studies, $0.56 of every $1 now spent in physical stores is influenced by digital gadgets. Retailers require a digital marketing plan that takes into account how customers connect with them across all platforms, not just a website. A store should ideally use every channel to inform customers about its brand.
Pro tip: You may utilise your online channels to provide shoppers to brand information they would never discover in physical locations – Reviews, recommendations, blog articles, and other information that is challenging to display in-store. You may also personalise its message and raise brand recognition via social media.
Customers may then get a hands-on encounter with the things they have previously seen and heard about online thanks to a store’s internet presence. Don’t consider in-store and online sales as mutually exclusive. You must interact with your customers on both platforms.
Not Focussing On Your Store’s Layout
Both science and art go into designing a retail space and as a retailer, you know better. Having an attractive store layout will significantly influence your customer’s intention of buying.
First Impression is the last impression
First impressions set the tone for the layout enjoyment. If your business has a front window, it should always have an eye-catching story-telling exhibit. For instance, if it’s mid-January, the story can focus on a family getting ready to send their children back to school. In the summer, your store window may display every item required for a day at the beach. Never pass up the chance to make a great first impression on your shop and what you have to offer potential customers.
Avoid placing tall shelves at the very entrance of your store. The reason is that they make your products less accessible and your customers may get disinterested and leave. Instead, stores employ low shelving that enables visitors to view all the way into the remainder of the space, where they could spot something exciting.
Moving Right
The majority of consumers move to the right. Seems random, doesn’t it? But it has a reason – most people are right-handed and this phenomenon is known as the “invariant right.” Stores may benefit from this inclination by designing their spaces in a way that draws customers to the right:
- Placing baskets and carts should be placed on the right side of the store.
- Procuring new wholesale products, limited editions, and discounted goods ought to be visible.
Sidekick and Endcap Displays
Endcap displays are intended to dangle over the ends of aisles to make the most of available space and draw consumers’ attention as they peruse the aisle. Similar to an endcap, a sidekick display is supposed to be positioned in high-traffic locations of the business, including next to the cashier or hung alongside well-travelled aisles.
Consumers are put off by creating aisles that finish at a wall, bathroom, or just end. Additionally, it is a lost chance to attract the customer’s attention by showcasing additional items. Endcaps and sidekicks are used to draw attention to new items, promote impulse purchases, and get rid of inventory.
Bottom Line
We all know that retailing can get tricky to get right, and we hope that you are able to learn from some of the tips we have shared with you.
