6 Vital Tips to Compete with Your Big Retail Competitors

Dilshad Alam
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

Almost every year, 10–12 % of your business undergoes transformation. This trend is very vital to note, as in today’s world if you do not renovate your store at least 10% each year, then in just 3–4 years you will be 30–40% behind your competitors.

There are hundreds of examples that you get where businesses had to close down when the retailers were unable to put up with the changing times. For example, when Amazon presented Kindle and offered amazingly low prices, Borders Books tripped and ultimately lost. Blockbuster had to close down when Netflix flourished with its just one low monthly fee program with no late fees.

In the world of retail, “complacency” happens to be the danger word. Many retailers think that their store is immune to change and can stand the test of time. This is a fallacy that can render disastrous for your business. You must understand neither you nor your store is invincible.

You must mystery shop your competitors at least, once in every quarter, especially during the peak seasons and the holidays to know what their latest trends are. Here are some of the things that you should do to stay ahead.

#Start by Deciding Where You Stand in the Market Place — Send someone whom you trust to the public place near your store. Ask the people if they can recommend a great retail store. You should mention the kind of products that you sell, in this case. If your store’s name is mentioned on the top your business is doing great and you need to keep up whatever you are doing. If it appears in the middle you have scope of improvement and if it is not mentioned at all then it is better that you gear up before you need to close down.

#Make a List of Things You Need to Discern about Each Competitor — At the time of mystery shopping, you should carefully investigate the operational categories and then offer ratings on the scale of 1 to 10.

#Ask an Acquaintance to Mystery Shop Your Store — Your perception about the store can turn out to be very different from the customer’s perception. Once you start analysing your store after mystery shopping your competitors, it can be an eye-opener for you.

#If You Are Uncomfortable Ask Someone Else to Mystery Shop your Competitor’s Store — It is not that you have to do all these yourself. You can send one of your associates posing as customer to your competitor’s store. When he or she returns, ask the person to write down his or her experience in each part of the store and how they felt about it. This way you will be able to know where your competitors have outrun you and where you have won over them.

#Note Your First Impression — Try to judge how interesting the approach of the store is. How the store windows are? The customers do the judgement about a store within just 8–10 seconds. That is why the windows cannot be elaborate. Try to analyse what happens after the Decompression zone that is just 8–10 feet inside the store.

#Rate the Store Experience — Try to know whether it is just a place to purchase stuff or is it a fun place to go about shopping. Do the customers linger in one place or they just come and go? Where do they spend most time? Try to comprehend the store from their viewpoint.

The above are some of the ways in which you can keep pace and be on top of the retail game. The renowned retail businesses like Super 99 follow and staunchly recommend these steps to sustain in the cut-throat competition of today’s retail world.

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