As online sales volumes continuing to soar across the globe, you could be forgiven for thinking that the age of the traditional retail space is now a thing if the past. This is far from the case, however, as retail outlets and corporeal shops still represent a viable medium for shifting merchandise and generating revenue. In fact, the majority of business owners now look to combine the best of both worlds, and the use their online presence to drive traffic and trigger in-store purchases.
How to Establish your Offline Venture
With this in mind, what practical steps can you take to successfully establish an offline, retail space? Consider the following ideas: –
1. Understand your Products and Market
As a starting point, it is important to remember that you will have a limited retail space from which to sell your products. You therefore need to be selective when creating an inventory of stock, and chose a product range and target market that complement each other perfectly. This will not only enable you to utilise your retail space to its fullest and create an optimised layout, but it also offers you an opportunity to effectively manage your stock-holding going forward and minimise the amount of capital that you commit to inventory.
2. Invest in a Temporary Retail Space
The biggest issue facing start-up entrepreneurs is cost, as they are often forced to commit to initial expenditure before they have had an opportunity to generate revenue. There are creative solutions that enable retailers to negate this risk, however, as companies such as Neptunus offer temporary retail spaces that enables businesses to trade without being forced to a long-term commercial lease. These spaces, which are available in various sizes (and accessible through customisable, short-term contracts), enable firms to reduce their business overheads and test the popularity of individual products.
3. Pay Attention to your In-store Layout
Once you have an inventory of stock and a temporary retail space, the next step is to organise the layout of your store so that it appeals to potential buyers. This is something of a creative art form, not least because there are numerous myths concerning consumer behaviour and the techniques that have been designed to optimise the amount that customers’ spend during their visit. Rather than become consumed by advanced retail and psychological theory, you would be better served by creating a logical and uncluttered layout that optimises floor space and leaves appealing impulse purchases near the check-outs.
Takeaway
The brick-and-mortar retail shops seem to decline in popularity. However, indie retail shops are thriving, especially on a local level. This could mean one thing: People want ‘experience.’ People want to go to a retail shop because of the whole experience – the warm greetings, the unique ambience, and the sense of community.
Cover photo credit: Mosman Council / Flickr
