{"id":24192,"date":"2023-10-25T16:33:52","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T16:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myventurepad.com\/?p=24192"},"modified":"2023-10-25T16:33:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T16:33:53","slug":"is-wfh-killing-retail-irl-4-ways-for-brick-mortar-retailers-to-stay-competitive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myventurepad.com\/is-wfh-killing-retail-irl-4-ways-for-brick-mortar-retailers-to-stay-competitive\/","title":{"rendered":"Is WFH Killing Retail IRL? 4 Ways for Brick & Mortar Retailers to Stay Competitive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The work-from-home trend is old news by now. If you operate a brick-and-mortar retail store, you don\u2019t need to be reminded how the sudden shift to remote work upended the calculus for businesses like yours.

Whether you\u2019ve figured out a new normal or you\u2019re still working toward that equilibrium, you know you need to adapt to survive. Luckily, you don\u2019t need to look far for inspiration. Brick-and-mortar success stories are surprisingly plentiful amid the work-from-home washout, and new ones are written every day.

Let\u2019s take a look at four strategies that have worked well for independent retailers that depend on in-person, real-world transactions. Chances are, you can adapt at least one or two to your own retail operation.

1. Invest in Pop-Up Stores & Experiences

<\/strong>Novelty sells, especially for consumers spending more time at home than before. They\u2019re primed to respond to bespoke, one-time (or limited-time) opportunities to experience something new and different.

Pop-up retail certainly qualifies as \u201cnew and different.\u201d And it\u2019s far more practical for smaller retailers to invest in thanks to new resources like xNomad, an international pop-up retail platform that global executive Lorenzo Bonfiglio has helped expand into the U.S.<\/a> Another advantage: Once the upfront work of developing a concept and planning the execution phase are done, there\u2019s not much left for the operator to do.

2. Draw in New & Returning Customers With Events (Not Just Sales)

<\/strong>Your retail environment is not simply a place to store stuff for sale. It\u2019s also a gathering place, a community hub, somewhere for likeminded (and not-so-likeminded) people to gather and interact.

In short, it\u2019s an events space. Or it can be if you make it so. Think creatively; with adequate resources and a full calendar, there\u2019s no real limit to what\u2019s possible.

3. Leverage Rewards Apps & Other Shopper Incentives

<\/strong>Getting customers into your store (or onto your website) is only the first step. Once you have them where you want them, it\u2019s your job to maximize their conversion potential.

Third-party rewards apps can help. They\u2019re especially helpful for incenting customers that don\u2019t have rewards credit cards, and they typically offer better returns (albeit more narrowly targeted) than those anyway. Better yet, they\u2019re free to consumers, reducing friction and (hopefully) offsetting any potential cost to you.

Don\u2019t lose sight of the basics either. For example, if you\u2019re struggling to make your legacy payment processing solution work in the new normal, look around for user-friendly, scalable, reasonably priced alternatives like Lightspeed<\/a>. Any reduction in worry around core operating functions like these counts as a victory.

4. Build a Bespoke App for In-Store Marketing and More

<\/strong>Third-party apps are great, but why not invest in an app of your own? Driven by rapid AI advances, the low-code revolution means basically anyone can become an app developer, including store owners who can\u2019t tell Javascript from Python.

The beauty of having your own retail app is that it can be purpose-built. It can do whatever you want it to do within reasonable operating parameters. And as long as you abide by the policies of the third-party app stores you offer it through, it leaves you beholden to precisely zero third parties.

Retail Isn\u2019t Dead \u2014 It\u2019s Just Changing

<\/strong>No one in retail has a crystal ball. Not even leadership at Amazon or Target or Walmart (and maybe especially not them<\/a>, these days).

However, it\u2019s plain as day that the retail space is changing rapidly and that true equilibrium is a long way off, if it ever returns. That means it\u2019s up to the individual leaders and teams at millions of retail enterprises to develop and implement strategies that they believe give them the best chance at success in the coming years.

Some of these strategies will fail. Others will succeed. External forces and blind luck will, as always, play a role. But those who take the fact of change seriously \u2014 who acknowledge that there\u2019s simply no going back to the way things were \u2014 will be more likely to succeed.

Will you count yourself among them? There\u2019s only one way to find out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The work-from-home trend is old news by now. If you operate a brick-and-mortar retail store, you don\u2019t need to be reminded how the sudden shift to remote work upended the calculus for businesses like yours. 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