The Verge posted a fascinating article describing so-called Amazon Nomads, independent merchants who scour out-of-the-way stores (often failing chains in small towns) for products on clearance to snap up and sell using Amazon’s storefront. But with all of the prognostications about the death of brick-and-mortar, one can’t help but think of this as being like someone siphoning water from one depleted reservoir to place in another. Eventually, that well’s going to run dry. When those sources disappear, how then will online warehouses fill out their shelves?
While the notion that all of brick and mortar businesses are going to go away is an extreme prediction, it’s probably true that online warehouses will suffocate most chains until only a few survive (see what’s happened with companies like Blockbuster Video, Borders Books, B. Dalton, Sports Authority, Toys “R” Us, Circuit City, Radio Shack, Sharper Image, Virgin Megastores, and countless others).
As a consequence, much of the retail world will continue to contract, meaning that there will be less choice and, by extension, less competition. As the market coalesces around a few large chains, what can your business do to stay relevant?
Thankfully, it’s much more likely that local businesses will persist due to their word-of-mouth reputations for great customer service, familiarity, and convenience rather than all go extinct. But competing with those giants is tough. After all, one of their great strengths is their ability to use their immense size to overcome narrow margins through sheer volume. But as we discussed last week, profits have been thin, so many of these retailers have sought to widen those margins by cutting back on spending, namely through payroll. This has been much to the detriment of their customer service quality.
As we mentioned before, having outstanding customer service is a huge boon for your company, as it allows you to personalize the shopping experience. Conversely, online shopping has always been impersonal, and now the major chains are becoming just as bad as they gut their workforces.
Another opportunity to differentiate your business is through brand identity, which is the image your business projects to outside world through everything from your product offerings to your ambiance (including things like background music and merchandising style). You’ve surely noticed how cookie-cutter the chains are, filled with a dearth of employees and an overabundance of phosphorescent lighting—which is to say nothing of the all-digital storefronts, which can never be more than a bunch of colored pixels on a screen.
Successfully nurturing your business’s customer service and developing its brand identity takes pro-action on your part. You cannot place these priorities on the backburner and hope they’ll take care of themselves, of course. To give your business the attention it deserves, you must probe your customer service quality and source feedback you’re your customer base so you can react accordingly. To do so, let us at The Brandt Group help you design the right curriculum for your staff to keep their customer service skills sharp through our world-class mystery shopping, and we can also get those insights from your customers through our highly detailed customer feedback surveys. As the retail market changes into a faceless, impersonal monolith, there’s never been a more exciting opportunity for you to make your move and set your own course. Contact us without delay, and we’ll get started on helping you do more than survive the world of big chains and online warehouses: we’ll help you thrive!
