I have been a retailer for over 25 years running a once multi-million dollar kids furniture and accessory store. Which qualifies this title of "Five Ways To Help Your Retail Business" just a little. This retail business not only grew me up in business, but opened BIG doors as a brand and marketing consultant. It did help that I studied Advertising and Graphic Design at the Seattle Art Institute.
When the Internet hit in the early nineties, I was first in line to pay over 25K to have this beautiful website. This fancy website cost me thousands every month to keep it up to date with all the latest and greatest kids' products. Then one day I noticed that one of my main bedding companies was not only selling online the same products I was displaying in my showroom, but they were undercutting the "suggested retail" price. They also had a zip code finder to find a "store in your area." Thus competition was no longer in your neighborhood, but across the nation and with your vendors. I quickly recovered by designing and selling my own bedding and scaling down brands. However in my innocence one of my bedding companies invited me to come to their factory and talk about consulting opportunities with their bedding and brand. Even with an NDA in place, they ran with it and opened up a custom kids bedding collection. Bold enough to even use my own content. I could have gone after them and sued, but I had better things to do, like try to keep my business afloat. It seemed I was steaming ahead of my competition by creatively changing, branding, and merchandising in ways that kept my customer's coming back, and loyal to my business.
If you are a retailer and reading, this is all too familiar. Only since that time, we have all been trying to reinvent, hang on, build out, change, and try to keep our heads above water. No margins will ever cover your staff, your showroom space, and your overall expenses when facing the giants of online selling. After all we are now the free showroom to every brand in America who has sold out to the online giants. All your selling efforts, showroom space and merchandising are simply providing the online giants more revenue. Congratulations if you are still making your margins and still in business when most have become the showroom and staff to these online giants.
I am sitting in a small community in Oregon writing this at my desk in that retail shop. No more staff, no more buying, no more plans for merchandising all the new products that once hit my backdoor. I am surrounded by the final pieces of inventory. Clothes, Stepstools, Lamps and so much more marked well below wholesale. After 25 years, and having just turned 50 I am focusing more of my time with family, and my work as a consultant. I have been making my margins, and turning a profit in this now small boutique. In the past few years I have had countless retailers contact me and ask me how I am able to survive in this retail market. It seems that last years efforts are no longer working and at the end of the day if retail is your bread and butter it's time to get knew knife to spread that butter.
There are five things I have done that have helped my retail business. It's not a secret, but if you are hanging on and love what you do, here are some things you can do to start helping you and your company.
1.Find your customers' in the social space and start building relationships with them.
a.Online media, shopping, and your sales depend on this.
b.Your customers are on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snap, etc, etc.
c.Ask your customer's to share their experience in your spaces and places
d.Have a post card that every customer gets with each purchase asking them to share on your social platforms. (You do have social platforms, right?)
e.Build relationships with your customers around the products they love.
2.Invest in winner purchases- Are the big online giants stealing your sales from your best products? Well steal theirs.
a.Bring in some key winning products and know what the big online giants are charging then advertise something like, "We beat out the big guys so you can shop here."
b.Then build more revenue with pick up items that you know the big giants do not carry. If you are carrying carseats and you know the online giants sell for less, then invest in that number one carseat and surround it with all kind of swag for the carseat. I did this with the Phil and Teds brand. Target is now carrying this once high end boutique brand. I sold for $20 less than Target and then all the add in swag covered that loss.
c.Winner, winner chicken dinner. You do win when your customer's come in with that phone app to show you a price and you can not only sell under the online giants, but you have this cool swag to go with it.
3.Delivery of Goods- If Dominos can deliver pizza; don't you think you can deliver the products your customer's need now?
a.Get a call service in place NOW. More than ever people are still people and need people. Imagine being a brand that you hear a real voice at the other end of the phone who is, "Happy to delivery to you".
b.Set up two days a week that you send someone out with a car load of goods to be delivered. Imagine what it will mean to that customer, who is working all day. Home delivery is not new. The big online giants have monopolized free delivery, yet we the retailers still have to pay shipping to get products in our stores.
c."Give'em A Pickle" -Longtime Portland resident Bob Ferrell passed away this last year. Owning restaurants and ice-cream shops. He wrote a book called "Give'em A Pickle." Meaning offer something for free. It makes all the difference in the world. Customer services in the long run costs you nothing. What are you giving your customer's? I gave every customer a little wooden delivery truck. In bulk these cost me $1.00 each.
d.If your customer's are calling they are looking at the online giant's pricing. They have learned all the features of the products they want. Yay you get to deliver and make a customer happy.
4.Invest in local products-Imagine if you set up modern day Trunk Shows & Pop-UP Boutiques in your showroom.
a.This allows you to get to know your local talent.
b.In seeing their products it allows you the opportunity to order in bulk at a later date.
c.Supports your community. After all don't you want the community to support you?
d.Bonus is that these vendors are so honored to be in your store that they invite all their friends and you expand your business awareness.
e.
5.Be Unique in your store message.
a.What are you doing different that makes people want to shop in your space?
b.Offer a weekly event or product specific sale, which you share on all your social platforms.
c.Stop email spamming. Remember when we all got so excited when we could actually email our customers. That now lands in a spam box. Pick up paper and pen and teach your staff the art of a handwritten thank you. 
After 25 years I may have learned a few things. One thing is for certain customer service is more important than ever before. Surviving this retail environment is going to take creative efforts that may take you out of your comfort box. I moved two years ago to a small resort community to spend the second part of my life. If this post helps keep one retailer open I have done my job.