Retailers – Who’s your competition?
“Who is my competition?” It’s one of the oldest business questions, the foundation for your most important business decisions. For today’s retailer, the answer can be brutally simple. Your competition is…everyone.
An interesting post on the Influential Marketing Blog advises business owners to expand on their idea of who the competition really is. The author challenges the old apples-to-apples definition of competitors as businesses in the same niche and identifies three additional criteria for competition: Location, Emotion and Experience. You have more competition than you think – so you must act accordingly.
From my vantage point here in Metro Detroit, I see another issue. When times are bad, you’re often just competing for dollars. People are reluctant, if not outright scared, to spend at all. Many people have reduced their discretionary spending to the point where retailers can’t always identify their direct competition. A restaurant may be competing with another restaurant – or competing with a movie theater. In this time of “either-or”spending, dinner and a movie is often reduced to just a movie after a home cooked meal. Your restaurant might be directly competing with a clothing store or a dentist within a family’s budget. This drastically changes the rules. You have to grab attention, add value and work harder. You have to build “going that extra mile” into your daily routine, not only to attract new customers but to retain your existing customers.
So, what can you do?
Be Proactive - Be Innovative - Be Positive
Here’s what savvy business owners are doing here in Metro Detroit:
- Lower your everyday prices. Customers really appreciate the “we’re all in this together” mindset. And businesses that say “hey, we understand” – and back it up – get media attention too.
- Promote local products. Here in Michigan, there’s keen interest in keeping our dollars close to home and supporting the local economy. It makes customers feel good about spending. Our local grocery stores are using shelf labels to mark Made In Michigan products. It’s interesting and fun, plus you feel positively empowered when you choose your state’s product over another.
- Create your own little happiness zone with unique products, events, activities and contests. Happy people spend more. Don’t just mail out coupons. Create some excitement. Catching Fireflies (one of my favorite local shops) does this with appealing flair. Their promotions include things like rolling the dice for your discount or “pick a posey” from a giant bouquet to find your discount coupon attached. They also have an interesting blog that’s fun to read on its own, but somewhow always makes me want to run over to their store and see what’s new.
- Engage customers on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Go where the people are. Don’t wait for them to come to you – your competition isn’t waiting. Food stores tweet recipes and sales. Restaurants advertise specials of the day. Clothing stores offer tips about the latest trendy accessory on their Facebook page and offer exclusive discounts to their Facebook community. Any business can instantly create attention by tweeting a coupon code just for their Twitter followers or sending out a special offer or event invitation to their Facebook fans. Build your own little community of customers and reward them for their participation. It’s fun – and it’s free – to experiment with different marketing strategies using social media.
The real secret to competing against everyone - empathy and gratitude. Find new ways to have a “conversation” with your customers – and learn from what they’re telling you. Prove that you understand and appreciate the choices they’re making in these tough times. When money was flowing fast and free, some retailers got lazy. It’s time to go back to the old wisdom of “earning their business”.
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excellent points!