By Bruce D. Murdy

In today’s retail environment, every minute you spend, every penny you invest, must show a return on investment. Competitive growth and aggressive pricing can eat into your existing business silently and relentlessly if you aren’t in a constant state of evolution, change and occasionally revolution of your brand and your retail experience.

Retail is like the Wild West in many ways. New people move in and stake claims on your territory, and if you don’t fight back, they’ll grab it and own it.

So what do you do? Constantly assess your entire marketing model, making sure you’re using every asset, every opportunity to your advantage.

Recently at a large annual marketing summit for manufacturers and retailers at which Rawle Murdy was invited to present, we were regaled by the success stories of Target. Actually, they were quite humble and introspective about the way they go to market, but they know what they do well. And they were delivering a message to suppliers at this meeting.

They were asking manufacturers to stop spending time coming up with solutions to business problems and spend that time digging deeper for customer insights into a product. Share those insights, and Target will come up with the retail solutions. Interesting message, and interesting approach.

However, most retailers are not in the enviable position that Target has worked hard to achieve. But how do smart but smaller retailers thrive in the competitive environment today?

Here are a few tips that may help:

Clear brand: Make sure that your “brand” is crystal clear and emphasizes your particular point of difference. Highlight what you do that’s better and different than your competitors. If your “brand” is interchangeable with those you compete against, think about how to differentiate through product, process, attitude, etc.

Store experience: Does your store experience communicate your “brand” as you want it to? Is it interesting, entertaining, educational? Walk through your store, or have trusted friends help, and see through a customer’s eyes what your brand really looks like, and what messages your retail environment sends.

Customer care: This is one of the biggest challenges in retail, but you’ve got to get it right whether you’re the only employee or you have 100 or more. Do you really send the message that you’re customer-centric? Even the best don’t always get it right. I recently had a bad customer experience at Starbucks, which has great staff training. It is a reminder to me that you’ve got to make sure your customers have an enjoyable experience each and every time they visit.

Contemporary customer experience: Do you have customer-care programs that you haven’t thought about in years? Everybody does. And if they “feel” old-fashioned, they will reflect on the brand. Make sure every opportunity to “touch” your customers is fresh, current and sends an up-to-date message.

In-store brand strengths: Do you carry well recognized regional/national brands that would drive customers to your retail environment—especially ones that only you have? Use those brands, and the significant marketing budgets that they have, to leverage your retail environment. They may be products, processes, “back of the house” programs. Use whatever you have that competitors don’t have and customers will recognize it as a benefit.

High tech and high touch tools: There are so many customer retention management tools available today that help you to identify your best customers and keep in touch with them regularly, in meaningful ways. Programs like UPromise or our local Greenbax program provide you with data while giving customers an incentive to shop your store. These are more than just the old-fashion punch cards; these programs are a bonus to consumers and, beyond that, an essential bonus for you as a retailer.

Every day there are actions you can take to make sure you keep marketing your retail establishment. These suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg. Keep marketing in mind every day and consider some of these suggestions, and you’ll stay ahead of your competition.

Bruce D. Murdy is president of Rawle Murdy Associates Inc., a Charleston-based marketing, advertising and public relations firm. E-mail him at bmurdy@rawlemurdy.com.

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