Imlisanen Jamir
If you can’t beat them, join them. That’s the weathered adage on how to meet a challenge against a seemingly insurmountable foe.
That’s sort of what is going on for small retailers all across the world, where owners are struggling to compete with online giants like Amazon, attracting customers to actual brick-and-mortar shops.
In the initial phases of the online shopping boom, retailers had managed to survive, particularly in places like here, where digital service penetration was low. That’s changed now, and retailers are worried.
Many local stores have also created their own online presence, but it is the success of some which have focused strongly on customer engagement that should serve as examples.
Their success is a reminder of the importance of the human touch and its value compared to having to stare at a screen and shop far from having any direct contact with the products or being face-to-face with a clerk who could help or answer any questions that may not be on the online “FAQs.”
But for retailers, good business means drawing people to its shopping centers.
And that is becoming increasingly hard, with online shopping websites selling everything from toys, electronics, games, books and more, becoming a Goliath-like competitor of brick-and-mortar retail.
The demise of many local stores only shortly after they open are indicators of the challenges faced by small business owners.
One local sporting goods retailer calls Amazon an “800-pound gorilla.” He’s right. Having a store in a local shopping center is not going to change that.
But it may require those smaller retailers to burnish their specialized inventory and their focus on ways that customers prefer and need, and can’t necessarily find online.
Many local retailers have found ways to compete with Amazon, including creating their own online presence.
But their strongest foundation is often the connection they have created and grown between their businesses and their customers. Smart businesses value and foster that loyalty as their best weapon in defending themselves against increased competition.
In some cases, local businesses have been responsive to their own communities’ interests and needs, devoting themselves more to services that customers can’t find online.
In this changed age of how commerce works, that old proven and successful strategy that has been built on independence, hard work and knowing and serving their customers still holds value.
Comments can be sent to imlisanenjamir@gmail.com
