I have a retail shop that sells various merchandise. I was approached by a vendor to put in a Bitcoin ATM machine. I’m considering it, but not sure about it since I’m not up on the latest trends.
From, Jason C
Hello Jason,
Anytime you are going to consider new currency, especially if you are not familiar with how it works, can be scary. Make sure you do your research on Bitcoin so that you not only understand how it works, but how to make it work for other areas of your business. There may be other expenses associated with your business that you can offset once you start taking this form of payment. This has the potential to help strengthen and grow your business in the future and help cut your cash/credit expenses down. This also shows a younger generation of potential customers that you are willing to make changes to better serve their needs.
Dear Chad,
The cost of doing business is going up, which means it’s been getting harder and harder to compete with the big boys like Amazon, including online shopping. Many retailers have recently closed because they don’t have the consumer support that they once had several years ago. My question is, how do us small guys in the off-line retail business compete? Price wise and getting people to shopping local?
From, Sylvia M
Hello Sylvia,
Unfortunately this is only going to continue to get worse for small retailers. E-commerce will be the key to most businesses success in the coming years and beyond. With e-commerce you are able to reach a much broader audience that will only entice more customers and their potential buying decisions. E-commerce helps on loss prevention and fraud for a business. Look at some of your distributors. You might even get away with more flexibility on having a large inventory which may help to lower your pricing so that you can stay more competitive with that of your competitors. No different than you have had to compete with brick big box stores and mortar stores such as Walmart, Target and Meijer. You have to bring that same level of energy to the table and then some when dealing with online shopping. I also recommend that you work on strengthening the message behind your companies mission statement. This will help you standout and be seen amongst that of your competitors. While some of the pricing may be hard to match or beat, figure out creative ways to get that average ticket up to make up for some of those items you may not be as profitable on. Create custom campaigns that cater to your clientele basis. This is your chance to show why you are worth that extra 10% up-charge.
Dear Chad,
Is handing out flyers still a thing or is it all digital now? I don’t see many flyers out there like I used to. I’m thinking about doing a flyer to promote my business, but can I get enough traction from it and is it worth the cost?
From, Nick R
Hello Nick,
Our society is vastly changing, We want everything now and easily accessible. Brochures, flyers and rack cards can still be useful, but only if you are in front of the right people. As we go into the winter months I would recommend having digital copies of each of your promotions to easily send out to any marketing mailing lists you may have curated over the years. These can also be beneficial to share on your social platforms and website. Keep in mind that when printing anything there is a cost involved so by utilizing the same format in digital the sky is the limit to not only your reach, but also the number of copies you have. This can literally save you thousands of dollars that can be repurposed into other channels of marketing.
