DOING BETTER BUSINESS GTW
is a logistical challenge but it will keep your customers coming back to discover those new products, not just dropping by when they need something. Big clothing chain retailers like
GAP or ZARA even change their merchandise more than 10 times a year instead of the more usual two for the classic summer and winter collections.
Build your own brand Always keep in mind that you are not only selling brands in your shop; your shop has its own brand too and this is an important asset of your business. Your name is what people come to believe in for a genuinely great shopping experience. Build brand notoriety by, for
example, labelling products like individual ammunition boxes with your logo sticker. Why not give a free sticker
featuring your own logo with every purchase? If customers love coming in your shop, they will also like to show they’re shopping at your place. Customers can actually be proud
to shop somewhere. T ere’s no better advertisement than a happy customer with your logo sticker on the back of his car or gun case. If you believe your brand is up to it, consider off ering own-brand
want to spend time in your store; the longer customers stay in a shop, the more they will buy. Magazines, beverages, a big-
screen television with hunting/ shooting videos all help to make people feel at home. A good example of this shop
hospitality is the big ‘patron’s table’ in every Dutch gun shop where
shop for other complementary businesses. Together with a car dealer, for example, you could present a new 4x4 at your gun shop, providing the car dealer invites his clients as well. T is way both you and the car
dealer get new customer contacts, thereby further building both businesses. Remember to host
customers. Asking them what they want to do and handing them the best solutions for those needs.
It’s important to have a dialogue with your
merchandise to leverage your own shop further. Shooting vests, caps, T-shirts,
ammunition… all can be branded with your own shop logo. T is gives further notoriety to your shop and will also keep people talking about you.
Hospitality is key To build a great shop, you have to create a living, breathing retail environment, not just a space where people can exchange cash for goods. Customers like to be entertained and feel special. Make customers
every customer is invited to sit down and have a coff ee.
Host regular events Regularly hosting events is another way to create a living store environment and keep customers coming back. You can organise shooting
competitions if you have a range nearby, product launches, exhibitions of gun/wildlife-related art and classes for customers. When hosting classes, you can even earn extra money by charging them a fee for it. You can also host events at your
events at regular intervals, keep reminding your customers of these events in your shop by e-mail and in newsletters.
A people business Whalin believes retailing is, fi rst and foremost, a ‘people business’: “People enjoy shopping most where staff are friendly, knowledgeable, attentive and genuinely care about customers having a pleasant shopping experience.” Treat your customers just as you
would like to be treated yourself. It’s also of key importance to have
your staff realising this too. Invest in your staff to become more and more knowledgeable but also to keep gaining sales skills and focus on the customers. Unless you sell fi shing gear next
to guns, you really don’t want a staff member to believe a Mauser K98 is a fi shing reel and not a rifl e. Staff knowledge is power. Every one of the businesses in
Retail Superstars was built and has sustained its growth with an absolute focus on the customer. Repeat customers and word-of- mouth advertising fuel the growth of each of these businesses.
Got any crazy ideas? Aim to please your customers but also aim to stand out from the crowd with your shop. Keep trying new things without fearing failure. To survive and thrive, you
have to keep reinventing yourself continuously. T ere is no such thing as an impossible, crazy idea. Just go and try it on the shop
fl oor. Keep asking yourself: “What do the best retailers do that we don’t do?”
GTW
* To fi nd out more, visit www.
whalinonretail.com/superstars
www.guntradeworld.com 55
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