Unfortunately, the previously mentioned statements describe most retail stores. There isn’t much difference in the competition and you. Running a profitable store is difficult. Smart Retail Store Owners look for any advantage. Store Owners have a tendency to think short-term instead of long-term.

The key to having a profitable store is to make it stand out for all the right reasons. You can keep your everyday pricing and perform this goal. Just be aggressive with ad pricing, plenty of special events to get a steady stream of customers in your store. Use superior customer service to WOW them and keep the customers coming back.

Advertising has only one purpose. It is to get customers to visit your store. Store Owners are too worried about gross margin %. You can’t gross profit margins to the bank. Good ad items with the right discount should result in a steady volume of customers through the door. Most customers buying ad items will buy other items at full retail.

If your retail is at least twice your cost, the minimum discount should be 20% off. Having one good item at 50% off can increase your sales and profits. If you only have a 5-10% off discount, it will result in no extra traffic. Worst yet, your store will get the reputation of a poor pricing store. This will cause your business to struggle in the long term.

Special Events can be a great traffic draw also. Some of them are free or low cost. They could be as simple as having medical tests, costume events, special sale events, free training courses and hundreds of other possibilities. Special Events are made to get customers to visit your store before a competitor.

Some large companies have success withholding free training on many topics. You can build long-term loyalty and even get extra short-term sales from the free training classes. Use your imagination to come up with an event to have customers remember your store.

Once you get the customers in the door, use superior customer service to keep them for life. Most store owners placed a higher opinion of their customer service instead of the customers. It is easy to take a customer’s money and give good service. The key is how the retail store owner handles the problems (Opportunities). This includes:

Out of Stocks & Out of Sale Items
Refunds / Exchanges (Most small stores have poor policies with this issue).
Customer Not Satisfied with Product or Service
Matching Competitors Pricing

The typical store owner thinks short-term here. The owner should be making their decisions on the long-term effect on their store. The goal is to make the customer so happy; they will tell others about your service. You cannot pay for word of mouth advertising. Try to make the customer happy within reason. It does hurt here to bend and perhaps even take a small loss.

I have done many consulting projects. I have not seen any client or competitor being different from the other in a positive way. This is an opportunity to make their store stand out. Some of the stores were well managed, but did not take advantage of separating them from the competition.

If your competition is killing you with price, make sure your customer service is unforgettable. Being different from the other stores could result in huge profits for you.