The Article (see below) as appeared in The Sun, 4th November 2010, clearly sums up what the shoppers think about our “dying” High Streets – based on the Nation Wide Survey that was initiated by Nigel Botterill of thebestof – Championing local businesses
One may be too hasty to blame National Chains, Supermarkets, out of town Shopping centres however I have seen some really good, high street Businesses while Championing thebestof Businesses in the NW London ....
Here are some points that make some of these High Street shops that I know, very successful ....
Signs – These are well designed logo by a qualified graphic designer who understand High Street. These are cleaned at least once a every week –
Windows – Cleaned regularly by a Professional window cleaner. Also the window display is changed every week – some even hire a window dressing specialist to do this.
The Welcome – Get themselves and all their staff trained by the Retail In-Store Training Company that also teaches Them NEVER to say “can I help you?” . The Supermarket staff simply cannot compete with this type of personal welcome.
Merchandising – Firstly, they go out of their Way to see what the nearest supermarket sells and then go out of their way to boycott those items and get innovative alternatives. (e.g. one Coffee Shop, next to Tesco only keeps Bottled coke because Tesco sells canned coke) This way customers keeps getting new innovative goods that are cleverly & expertly selected by the shop-keeper. This way no one cannot compare the price with supermarket –
Package – place various items that complement each other together – offering this cheaper than buying separately – plus the customer does not have to work hard putting these items together. This brings in high Average order value - hence adds to the bottom line.
Special Offers - Keeping customers/prospects informed through Tweeter, Facebook, email, etc... and some even use tools provided by the thebestof ...like email weekly broadcasts, door drops, online and offline campaigns.
Social Media - engage people by Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc... they also hire services of specialists social media mangers
Testimonials - Have a System for getting testimonials to upload on other people’s web site (like thebestof) rather than their own making the testimonial far more believable –
Connect – themselves with the other like minded business people for reciprocal trade.
I have witnessed Two Estate Agents on the same street - One Highly Successful, while the other in intensive care.
In my opinion its about positioning to be different, Innovative, Fun, Interesting, etc... hence I believe the Business Owners have to take the responsibility for making their own businesses successful.
Also, the Local Boroughs and Councils spend too much funds on delivering courses for business-people however not practically helping them to be innovative in their strategic marketing .... These courses are generally led by failed entrepreneurs or ex-bank managers, etc... rather than successful entrepreneurs -
Clear Lack of Practical Business Acumen within some Boroughs and Councils have also lead to punitive parking restrictions & regulations.
