As a business person, you have to learn new ways to grow your retail business everyday. We all know after overcoming the fear of setting up a business and launching one, your enthusiasm may start fading away as you realize the returns are not as you expected. It is also perfectly normal to feel frustrated after a few years pass by and you still on the same spot. Here are a few brilliant tips that may help you grow your retail business, and move it to the next level;
1. Expand to other localities
Opening up new branches is a common strategy among business people who are looking forward to growing their retail business. Setting up your business in new locations enables you to reach new customers and widen the offline presence of your store.
If you choose this option, remember to put into consideration the two main factors that make the process of a multi-store operation successful; standardized components of your venture and your local strategy.
Your Local Strategy
When most entrepreneurs think about opening a new branch of their business, what comes in their mind is a set up similar to what they already have. Well, as much as you have the same branding and processes, you have to inject a little local flavor in each of the shops. The little change helps you connect with local shoppers and win them over to shop with you. Carry out local research on the interests of every place and customize it based on the needs of the residents.
Your processes and technologies
While you can (and you should) get creative across your local shops, there are certain factors that you need to keep constant. That includes policies, core procedures, and technologies.
Having the same standard procedures ensures consistency, efficiency in production, and services across all stores. Also, it makes it easy when you need to transfer an employee from one location to another as they are familiar with the processes, saving time and cost that would have otherwise spent on training them.
2. Grow your product and service offerings
Adding new products into your portfolio can help you grow your business. A great way to come up with the right things to add is by thinking about related products that your clients may need. Are your clients asking for any specific product? Is there a particular product they really require that you are not selling yet?
A good example is that of a vendor selling mum clothes. Mums do not only require to buy clothes for themselves but their children as well. You can, therefore, add kids wear to your store.
Cute Baby Clothes
Alternatively, you can add a service related to the goods you are selling to your customers to help them make the best out of them. For example, a retailer selling skating shoes can add skating lessons on their catalog.
3. Expand to other markets
Specializing in business is key to success; however, when diversification is done correctly, it can yield great results. You can test the market in small bits before finally pouring substantial money to the project. An excellent example to explain this is a beauty company for women. The company may add men grooming products, and sell them during holidays to see their reception in the market and gauge their performance. If the results are impressive, they may officially include the products into their list.
4. Pop up in other places
Opening a new branch or adding a new product in your firm can be scary, especially if you have not tried it before. One way to make the whole process less risky is by popping up in different places through road trips. After a few numbers of trips in various cities, you can analyze the data and see which cities your product did well, and set up your new store in the location.
5. Team up with other businesses
Focused entreprenurs in a meeting
Whether you are looking to expanding your business or add a new product in your list, the best way to do this is by leveraging yourself through existing businesses. This can be done through acquisition or partnership. This strategy is great because the other company already has established itself in the market and has its customers.
For example, a vendor offering women’s wear and have a dream of expanding to men’s wear can acquire an already existing men’s wear shop, or partner with the men’s wear company in a way that both firms enjoy the benefits.
Acquisition saves the time and resources needed to set up a business. Also, if you decide to keep the staff, it saves you the recruitment process and ensures the professionals are well trained.
Well, not every company can afford to purchase another firm, but there is a great lesson for every retailer here: If you find it difficult to expand your business, collaborate with a third party and make an agreement that benefits you and adds value to your customer’s lives.
6. Focus on How You Sell Your Products
Over the past 25 years, we have moved from a scarce economy to a flooded economy. It is almost impossible to come up with a product that cannot be found somewhere else. So what happens if you are selling something no wants to buy? Focus on selling your product. Differentiate your brand from your competitors, and make sure your customer service is remarkable. New substitutes emerge in the market every day, but there is always room for great goods and services.
A well-groomed bedroom
7. Sweat the small stuff
Many business people chase big things and ignore the small things that could actually make a change in the business. Concentrate on the needs of your clients and tailor your products to fit the description of your users. This will help bring your brand to life, which in turn will grow your retail business.
8. Never Stop Researching
You have to keep researching. Who are your competitors? Who are their customers? What do they do that makes them successful? Implement what you learn to grow your retail business. Get to know who your salespeople to ensure they have excellent customer services, their selling techniques, and their passion in the position.
To cut the long story short, research on how to grow your sales, your merchandising, your sales, your marketing, and improve yourself and your employees.
9. Use the Online to Offline Strategy
We cannot deny the rate at which technology is revolutionizing the business industry. With all the online stores available, and everyone shopping online, it is easy for mortal businesses to experience a decrease in sales.
With the Online to Offline (020) platform, this can be turned to an opportunity to grow your retail business. There are many ways to do this. For starters, open social pages such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram among others for your business. Market your products to your target market. Use the pages to interact with your clients and answer any questions they may have.
One way to entice your online buyers to visit your store is allowing them to shop online and pick up their products offline. This helps with orienting your clients who are a bit paranoid about shopping online with the change.
Also, use Google My Business, which is an online listing for retail businesses. See that you complete filing in all the fields for a good listing. Most importantly, consider having your listing optimized with keywords relating to your business, to increase traffic on your site.
Final Thoughts
We all want our retail businesses to grow and yield returns. However, sometimes we fail to understand the right measures to take to sustain the needs of our customers. It is vital to understand that the growth of every business starts from within the firm, and extends to the external environments. Work on improving yourself and your employees, and then consider other ideas of retail growth such as;
1. Expanding to other localities
2. Growing your product and service offering.
3. Expanding to other markets
4. Popping out in other places.
5. Teaming up with other businesses
6. Use the Online to Offline (O2O) strategy
7. Focus on how you sell your products
8. Learn to sweat on the small stuff
9. Research, research, research
