As local retailers, many of our clients focus on their customer service, their personal relationships and the presentation at their store. All of these facets of your business are very important to your sustained success. Yet, there is one key dimension of competition in retail that often gets overlooked.
Convenience.
When you were looking for a place to set up your store, you probably looked at a number of different properties. The main thing you were evaluating was location. Why? Because we all know the old adage, “location, location, location”. As a retailer, you know that the first step in creating a successful retail business is being in a convenient location. If you sell pet supplies, this probably means setting up your store on a street with a lot of traffic, preferably commuters who might stop to pick up their dog food along the way.
Unfortunately, after picking a location, the idea of providing the highest level of convenience to your customers seems to be an afterthought much of the time. Often we recognize that we can become more competitive by investing in the best products, best store sales associates, best marketing pieces, the best signage and even the best equipment. Yet, constant improvement in the area of convenience doesn’t always occur in the same fashion.
Ask yourself, “What am I doing to make it more convenient to buy from my store?”. The answer to this question is extremely important now and moving into the future. Your customers will have numerous options for their shopping needs both in the form of brick and mortar stores and ecommerce. The good news is that many of the big box stores don’t have an advantage when it comes to convenience. You can do a lot of the same things that they can offer. The even better news is that most of the time your business is more well equipped to do it better.
Let’s explore some of the ways you can better compete on convenience.
Carry Out Services. Do your customers have to carry their own heavy bags of pet food or horse feed to their car? Make a consistent effort to take care of transport to the car for every one of your customers. Not just the old ladies, people in suits and ties will appreciate it too.
Drive Through or Loading Dock. Do you have customers that frequently come into your store to pick up bulk orders of products? Wouldn’t it be convenient if they could pull into a loading area and have their bulk feed, hay and other orders ready to load?
In Store Pick Up. Do you have customers that stop into your store during a commute? Do they often pick up the same dog food or cat food? Wouldn’t it be nice if they could order and pay for those products on your website and just pick them up at your store on their way home? This would make the process of buying pet food tremendously more convenient for the busy millennial.
Local Delivery. Can your customers order your products to be delivered to their house or farm? Can they process this order and schedule their delivery right from your website? Make it so your customers can order your products from your website and have them delivered to their home. Big box retailers don’t often provide this service and it makes your store into the best ecommerce option in your direct market.