Lean6 - YellowVision Advises Retail Stores To Keep Doors Open
Several retail stores are closing their doors day after day. Brick and mortar (B&M) retail is finding it difficult to compete with the continuous growth of online shopping. Online stores have less overhead allowing them to sell similar or the same items for less. B&M companies need to stop trying to compete online while doing a balancing act with unnecessary overhead. B&M need to reevaluate their value. What do B&M's have that online shopping does not provide? They have physical locations where people can get out the house, socialize, and touch, smell, tryout the products before purchasing without shipping and handling or waiting for the product to arrive. B&M's need to capitalize on these attributes. The point is to reduce the overhead not eliminate brand presence; this will only push loyal customers to alternatives.
Instead of closing the entire store, downsize size it to a tenth of the size. This will reduce overhead, while maintaining brand presence. B&M's need to reinvent the business model. Instead of the outdated department store model, shrink operations down to a shoe store model so loyal customers can still experience the product prior to purchasing. Also customers can purchase immediately without waiting for shipping or paying more for an item to have it shipped express. B&M's need to concentrate on presence, convenience, and product availability.
Don't let go of all the workers, the new model has positions readily available. Share the new positions with the workers and find out who is on board. Cashiers and warehouse personnel will still be necessary on a smaller scale. The new positions include at-home delivery, and not your normal delivery service. Bring the B&M experience to the customer. Give the customer "options"! Customers love "options" Hence why women love shoe stores. Chipotle business model (where the customer gets to customize their final product) is popular. People love customization. take the Dell computer business model for example. Salespersons will keep track of purchases and bring similar items and or same items for re-purchasing to up-sell the customer. The salespersons need to be trained not to be pushy. Let the product speak for themselves, just have them available.
The next position would be an Internet department that will give online giants a taste of their own medicine. Internet positions need to be available to ramp up customer service, keep the overhead down by allowing work from home program with flexible hours by using the Uber business model to increase availability and global sales. The other Internet department will focus on a marketing campaign that would start taking away customers from the online competition with advertisements such as "are you tired of waiting for that new dress?" get it now, when you need it. Let us bring the shopping to you!etc.....You get the point. I can go on for days and explain each area in detail. The bottom line is "stop closing your doors". People still enjoy malls. In summary downsize real-estate, change the business model, maintain brand presence, provide customers with a customized shopping experience.
