What’s
the store’s worth?
Building
equity — what retailers are re-storing to!
In
the fight to retain customers, building retail equity is
crucial. If you are a store manager or owner, maybe it is
time you consider building the retail equity of your business.
What are the strategies that you can use?
Brand
your Store:
In
the competitive environment of retailing, it is important
to build a brand around your store. FoodWorld and Shopper’s
Stop have already become brands in consumers’ minds.
A brand name associated with a store will provide a trigger
for shoppers to seek out your store. The Gap and IKEA have
established their store offerings as brands. Similarly,
retailers must decide what they want to be known for. They
have to position themselves in a market (which means being
able to understand how consumers perceive your store and
how you want them to perceive it)
Having
a wide variety of brands is crucial for building retail
equity, but over and above this a retailer has to be able
to provide something extra which directly and/or indirectly
enhances the shopping experience of the customer. Today’s
customer has the technology, the choice, and the inclination
to construct personal assortments. The “push”
model of consumer marketing and interaction is being replaced
with a “pull” model, in which consumers customise
the purchasing space to meet their own needs.
Get
Brands with strong Equity:
The
equity of the store is dependant on the equity of individual
brands. If a brand stocked by a store is found to be consistently
defective, the store will take a substantial part of the
adverse reaction from its customers. So, marketers should
keep those brands, which have high equity and are high in
demand. To illustrate, Lawrence & Mayo retails Bausch
& Lomb products. Both the Ray-Ban sunglasses and contact
lenses of Bausch & Lomb are associated with quality.
This association increases the retail equity for Lawrence
& Mayo.
Integrated
shopping Experience:
Customers
entering a retail store have a set of expectations and the
store has to consistently exceed them, not just meet them.
This can be achieved by creating an integrated shopping
experience. Why does FoodWorld have fast-food outlets in
its stores? It completes the shopping experience! Customers
don’t come to FoodWorld expecting to eat there, but
it is able to meet an unstated demand.
The
store has to start communicating with the consumer indirectly.
They have to position the shelves and place the product
on the shelves to trigger the consumer’s mind. These
are silent salesmen, urging the customer to purchase, and
enhancing:
a. Brand recognition
b. Category recognition
c. Retail Equity.
Managing
your categories:
A
store has to manage its category of products. A grocery
store like FoodWorld has different categories for fresh
vegetables, processed foods, groceries, toiletries etc.
that should be managed effectively. To illustrate: books,
chocolates and magazines are placed near the cash counter
to trigger impulse purchases. Items which would appeal to
children, are stocked on shelves at almost floor level.
Customers are given unrestricted access to cold storage
shelves.
10
tips to improve the retail equity of a store:
1.
Have efficient and friendly staff who are able to educate
the consumer while he makes his purchase decision.
2.
Stock major brands. The kind of brands that are available
enhances retail equity.
3.
Make shopping convenient. Shopping should be a pleasurable
experience and not a tedious activity.
4.
Communicate with customers! Building relationships with
customers is synonymous with retaining them. Loyal customers
become apostles for the store.
5.
Maintain a positive ambience. The physical shopping environment
is a critical factor behind increased retail equity.
6.
Proper visual merchandising can enhance the shopping experience
and can increase sales.
7.
After-sales service, (combined with a guarantee for quality
and flexible exchange offers) help trigger decisions to
purchase.
8.
Provide good parking facilities. The customer’s experience
starts before he makes an entrance into the shop.
9.
Accept as many brands of credit cards as possible.
10.
Understand the consumers’ psyche right from the time
he/she enters the store till they leave!
Retail
equity is built over a period of time, by understanding
what your customers expect and delivering it consistently.
As the rest of the world goes online, it has become a bigger
challenge to build strong retail equity.
Related
Reading:
1. “ Who will Own the Consumer of the 21st Century?”
(1368)
Jeffrey K McElnea,
Brandweek, 13 March 2000
2. “Turning Retailers into Brands” (1367)
Faye Brookman,
Discount Store News, 22 March 1999
