The what?
Historically, there has been one sacred rule in retailing that we have lived by – The customer standing in front of us is the most important thing I have to handle today.
I wrote that sentence and immediately shook my head at its irrelevance in today’s business world. In fact, over the years, the way our customers can find us and want to shop with us has increased significantly with new options popping up all the time. And whether we like it or not, it’s up to the brick-and-mortar retailer to keep up.
Traditional methods have ranged from customers calling us on the phone or someone placing a catalog order, but these days we can get product and pricing requests via email, Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn, Instagram, or our store website.
In my own business, we had a communication pivot during the pandemic because we didn’t have enough phone lines, so we installed a chat function at our busiest locations. There have been times when I’ve felt like I couldn’t keep up with all the requests and thought to myself, “can’t they just walk in the door and talk to us?”
Ultimately though, I saw the need for multiple options as an opportunity to increase our revenue if we were willing to create an atmosphere of adaptability – one where new forms of technology would go hand in hand with good old fashioned aisle shopping. The proliferation of online shopping in our sector has made it imperative to treat the digital shopper with the same care and importance as their in-store counterparts.
The goal, of course, is that by embracing this mindset, our digital AND in-store sales will increase.
The so, what?
We all want to compete, so whether we like it or not, we must figure out how to wrangle all of the communication and commerce options, take control and make them work for us. I asked one of our store managers what he likes about the increased number of online shoppers and his face lit up. “I like everything about it,” he said. “Not only is it easy money, but it often gets new customers in the door which gives us the opportunity to sell them more things.”
A. Customers want to find you, so be visible.
- Do you need additional communication channels?
- Do you need to carve out space to hold on-line orders before a customer picks them up?
- Do you need special signage to let your customers know where to go to pick up their purchases?
B. Customers want to be able to see your inventory.
- Is your inventory visible in real time both in person and online?
- Is your inventory relevant to your market and have you identified holes you can fill? I believe there are ALWAYS holes we can fill.
Incomplete or inaccurate inventory clouds a shopper’s visibility that could lead to the loss of a sale. Just like a customer who walks in expecting to find something and doesn’t, they will walk out. An online shopper who doesn’t see what she’s looking for can easily leave our site and go visit someone else’s.
And in today’s world, that means their shopping power has increased dramatically. She doesn’t have to hop in a car and drive across town for what she’s looking for. She can literally (er, virtually) surf online in stores around the world while she’s working from home, watching her children nap, or meeting with a handyman. It’s up to us to be there for her.
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO),In 2021, four in ten (40%) enterprises in Ireland had e-Commerce sales. www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-isse/informationsocietystatisticsenterprises2021/e-commerce/ They categorise an e-Commerce sale as a sale conducted over computer networks via websites, apps, or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) of goods or services.
These numbers will just keep increasing whether we’re on board or not so why shouldn’t independent hardware stores have a piece of that pie?
The now, what?
- The best plan of attack is to actually make a plan.
The independent hardware store culture has always been “helpful”, and that’s not going away. In fact, our secret weapon in today’s competitive landscape is that we are indeed still helpful.
So, in the virtual shopping world, if we can apply our helpful policies to create raving fans who shop with us online or communicate with us other than in the store, we are already winning.
2. Figure out your pain points.
- Do you need additional communication channels?
- Do you need to carve out space to hold on-line orders before a customer picks them up?
- Do you need special signage to let your customers know where to go to pick up their purchases?
In addition to needing solutions for these points, we quickly realised our customers were shopping online for larger items that we don`t typically carry. The first day a garden shed came off our delivery truck, we had a minor panic attack. Not only did we need to figure out where to put it, but we needed a plan to get it out of the store or to possibly deliver it immediately.
As a consequence, we did three things:
- a. We created a space to exclusively store eCommerce orders.
- b. We increased our delivery marketing to let customers know we can, and will, take big items directly to their doorstep.
- c. We standardised delivery procedures like drivers’ uniforms and scheduling.
Subsequently, categories we thought would never be online purchase targets have seen large volumes of orders successfully fulfilled – from gallons of mixed paint to patio furniture and lawn mowers. This is ever evolving, expanding, and exciting to watch.
3. Put someone in charge!
You may want a store manager or assistant manager to be responsible for your eCommerce orders and communications in the beginning, but just like helping in-store customers, this should be a team effort. Everyone from cashiers to sales associates can and should play a role. Your program will become stronger and more profitable if the efforts are shared by the entire team.
4. Measure the outcome.
We track sales and plan for growth each year, but we also measure response time. Our goal is to have our online orders responded to or acknowledged in fifteen minutes or less. Again, just like a customer who can walk in and get immediate satisfaction, an online shopper also expects instant gratification. The cash they are spending is just as significant to us, why shouldn’t our helpfulness to them carry equal weight?We recently acquired a store which boasts almost 18% of their revenue from online sales. Once they get over their jealousy, I hope the rest of the chain runs to catch up.
A key takeaway is that the bottom line should be a bigger bottom line! Most of us don’t have the luxury of widening our aisles in-store, but we can expand our digital selection and communication channels.
These two improvements alone will strengthen our playing field and prepare us for the next decade of brick and mortar AND online business.
Sometime around 2016 one of my teammates came to me and said, “You know Gina, this place is known
as `Recovery Hardware’ in the community”. That little phrase jumpstarted a book by the same name that tells so many beautiful stories of the people that helped grow our business. If you’d like to read more about them, you can order the book Recovery Hardware by Gina Schaefer at www.waterstones.com
