Retail is a hard-ball industry with serious competition. Without question, changing times require staying ahead of the curve. In the business world, making changes sooner rather than later is usually a good thing. If you’re a retailer looking to stay afloat and take it to the next level, here are 15 changes to make to avoid potential mistakes. 

Note: This is not financial, investment, or legal advice. Consult with a financial planner, investment specialist, business consultant, tax professional, etc., before making important business decisions.

1: Integrating AI Into All Areas of Business Management: Prioritizing business analysis is a must. Today, software programs with integrated artificial intelligence make possible things managers previously couldn’t accomplish. Now, with one person and an AI-backed program, a business can accomplish what a team of several people couldn’t before. Those who aren’t implementing AI into all areas of business management are behind.

For example, better bookkeeping is something some businesses overlook. Today, this is streamlined with technology. This is vital for legal and tax purposes, but also for proper business assessment. This directly influences internal perceptions and understandings of the health of a business.

Improved money management is important, especially in competitive markets. Alongside better bookkeeping, this elevates efficiency. Better money management can increase available funds to re-invest into necessary areas, such as inventory, store maintenance, business expansions, more employees, and other investments.

It goes without saying, but proper tax preparation is vital. This is not something to skimp manpower and resources. Of course, this process starts with high-quality bookkeeping. It continues with money management to ensure resources are available to make necessary payments. It concludes with hiring the right employee(s), or firm, to handle all tax filings the right way.

2: Setting Up Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software: Continuing with the AI train, it’s paramount to set up a customer relationship management (CRM) software tool. Installing a CRM assists with numerous tasks. A few of these include collecting customer data, marketing to buyers, processing payments, and completing orders. Simply, it’s too valuable not to implement.

3: Elevated Recognition of Employee Needs, Trainings, Etc.: Every employee is different, but it’s crucial for managers to recognize each person should be “coached” differently. Some require one management style, and others respond better to another. Be aware of that. If you aren’t, it just might run off high-performing employees — all because you were too lazy to manage them in the manner that optimized their performance.

Similarly, each employee displays varying training needs. Quit applying blanket-style approaches to everything. People are very different. So, outside of baseline HR and other training requirements, quit cramming everyone through the same programs. Instead, assess your employees, and personalize their professional growth.

4: Tackling Corporate Debt More Rigorously: Used properly, debt can assist with business growth. With a healthy application, this can help businesses move in a positive direction. However, debt can get out of hand, and quickly. And tackling corporate debt more rigorously is something every business should keep front of mind.

Pushing debt management to the back burner leads to continued debt, and more money allocated to interest payments. That’s money that could otherwise be spent on business expansions and positive growth. Of course, use debt when especially needed, but keep it under control, and eliminate debt as quickly as possible.

5: Improving Customer Service and Listening to Customer Feedback: Customers are crucial, and delivering on their needs keeps a company in business. Those that prioritize customer service often lead the pack. Of course, that requires money, manpower and advanced technology. These require resources, which follows better bookkeeping, business analysis, and money management.

Listening to customer feedback is another area of importance. Hearing what they have to say is valuable info, and it’s free. Think of it as focus groups from expensive marketing firms that you don’t have to pay for. Listen to customers. Sure, you’ll have to skim off some bad advice, but there will be nuggets of great info mixed in.

6: Anticipating, at Least Following, Customer Shopping Shifts: Business trends change. New technologies arise. Brands get hot or go cold. Product A usurps product B. Simply, customer shopping trends change. Retailers must keep up with these shifts, and if they don’t, customers will find what they want elsewhere. Businesses should never try to “force” customers into this or that product. Instead, through a firm understanding of market trends, provide what they want. It’s a much more fluid and natural shopping experience that provides better outcomes for all involved.

7: Establishing Seamless Omni-channel Shopping: A lot of businesses in the archery and hunting space are behind the times. They’re 5-, 10- or 15-plus years behind in how a modern retailer should be structured. Part of this includes establishing a seamless omni-channel shopping experience. Because of this, retailers should be providing integrated purchasing opportunities in-store and online. Of course, online often means multiple locations, including website, social outlets, and for some, even larger online retail spaces, such as Amazon. 

8: Investing in E-Commerce: E-commerce is a major part of modern retail. As alluded to above, this must be a part of your omni-channel business model. For most archery business models, this should be another leg on which your brand and business success stands on.

9: Providing Personalized Shopping Experiences: Retailers that can provide personalized shopping experiences stand to outpace the competition. This requires efficient and tasteful acquisition and management of customer data, though. For example, by knowing what products your customer buys, you can send them personalized advertising and coupon opportunities to get them back into the store. Personalized recommendations, dynamic content, and other targeted messaging can connect customers with what they need and drive more sales.

10: Delivering Interactive In-Store Formats: Retailers with boring in-store formats aren’t thriving in the modern market. No, the 21st century brick-and-mortar shopping experience must be just that — an experience. Don’t just stock shelves with product. Provide in-store attractions and activities.

Depending on the nature of these, some can even be monetized, or at least, used to advertise product. For example, consider augmented reality setups, virtual reality hunting simulations, arcade style hunting games, frequent archery events, and more. Maybe you even have stations (with nearby products to sell) with interesting themes, such as archery history, conservation history, archery technology explanations, and other fun or unique setups. Whatever the case, provide unique in-store experiences that customers can’t find elsewhere.

11: Making Niche and Diversification Decisions More Wisely: There’s no one-size-fits-all advice for businesses. That said, depending on circumstances and environment, some should be more niche-minded, and others should emphasize diversification efforts. It’s crucial for retail owners and managers to assess the situation and make business decisions accordingly. Wiser, market-minded choices typically lead to positive outcomes.

12: Implementing Digital Marketing Tools: Retailers must be more analytically minded. Study the intricacies of website and sales analytics. Dig into the numbers and pull from these important trends and decisions to make. Reallocate funds to focus on more important areas. Make moves based on numbers and projections.

Of course, being analytically minded should span across all sectors of business, but especially online sales and digital and social media marketing efforts. Use available tools to maximize growth, such as Google Ads, geofencing, geotargeting, and more.

13: Maximizing Social Media Tools: Social media is an integral part of retail. Of course, it’s used as a marketing tool. Your own social media platforms should establish consistent and compelling messaging. Your business should also have a team of influencers (local, regional or national depending on the number of store locations or online retail reach).

14: Losing the Middleman (Sometimes): In the past, it was completely and totally necessary to work with middlemen. This included distributors brokering deals between manufacturers and wholesalers. Then, wholesalers worked with retailers. That’s how retailers have long obtained product. The manufacturer handed off to wholesalers that distributed to retailers.

With the arrival of drop-shipping, e-commerce, and other more streamlined options, fewer middlemen remain in the game. Those with an established, or even growing, online retail presence can benefit greatly from drop-shipping, among other avenues.

Of course, it’s still important for retailers to work with wholesalers, especially smaller stores with less buying power. Without sales volume, you don’t have the power to go over the head of distributors and wholesalers. 

That said, when ordering enough product to meet manufacturers’ minimum order requirements, cut out the middleman and order directly from the source.

In some situations, it might be possible to become the wholesaler and retailer. Much like Sam’s Club, you’d sell in bulk, but for some products, and with the right customer base, that might work just fine. For others, it won’t.

Without question, middlemen still provide value to retailers. Overall, these can increase retailers’ exposure to more products, better inventory and increased convenience. 

But when retailers can buy directly from manufacturers, it’s almost always advantageous to do so. Manufacturers can get a little more money for their product, and retailers can price their products lower or enjoy better profit margins. Overall, this benefits the manufacturer and the retailer, as they can split the profits otherwise eaten up by distributors and wholesalers.

15: Establish Your Own Product Lines: While not everyone has the capacity to act on this, those who can, should consider establishing their own product lines. Those who manufacture and sell their own products can focus on a direct-to-consumer mindset. This allows you to prioritize your own product over competitors, even if they’re still in store and on display. This also allows you to control advertising messaging, packaging appeal, customer contact info (phone number, email address, etc.), customer programs, profit margins, and more. Overall, if sales take off, it translates to more profit margins.

Sidebar: 8 Ways to Bolster Store Appeal

Retailers have numerous ways to improve their store appeal. Implementing as many of the following as possible can increase store traffic, elevate customer morale, boost sales, and more.

1. Get Your Windows Right: The windows are the eyes into the store. Poor windows, or window management, doesn’t invite customers in. Instead, it directs them to the nearest competitor. Therefore, make windows bright and inviting. Use these to attract customers, not turn them away.
2. Grab Attention at the Doorstep: Retailers must captivate customers at the doorstep. Set the mood before they even enter the store. Then, keep the momentum going as they enter and start the shopping process.
3. Make Signage Compelling: Signage is important and grabs the attention of existing and potential new customers. Exterior signage should be captivating, compelling and inviting. Interior signage should offer much of the same, but also steer customers in the directions you want them to go.
4. Chart the Shopping Route: Part of a proper store layout includes a practical shopping route. Oftentimes, customers enter a store and naturally want to turn right. Then, they’ll travel the store counterclockwise. Your store layout should include a shopping route that facilitates typical trends and natural movements.
5. Keep Customers Moving: As customers move along the primary shopping route, it’s important to keep them moving along. While temporary stops are the goal, you ultimately want them to keep moving along. This allows them to see more product, and hopefully, buy more stuff. This moves inventory and boosts sales.
6. Create Great Pitstops: While it’s good to keep customers moving slowly along the shopping route, it’s also important to create brief pitstops along the way. These can be the interactive stations mentioned above. These might also be compelling, in-your-face endcaps or side-stacks with eye-catching displays and inventory.
7. Keep Things Fresh: It’s important to keep staple items in the same locations. This allows repeat customers to find what they need. But it’s also good to keep things fresh. Change things up. That said, do so with seasonal and less-important sales items.
8. Create Store Events: Finally, create an ecosystem of store events that revolve around your retail brand. Some of these can be singular events. However, when you establish a network of interactivity, this keeps customers on a carousel with your business at the center of it.

Photos by John Hafner