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The Herman Trend Alert
September 8, 2021 The Demise of Bricks and Mortar Retail---Part 2 Friends, this Herman Trend Alertis Part 2. Today, I will cover why so many malls have closed and how many more will. I also cover the repurposing of malls, why Amazon is actually launching physical stores, and what retailers can do to keep their doors open.
How are Malls Doing?
Repurposing Malls
Amazon Working Countertrend
Not the End of Bricks and Mortar Retail Keep your overhead low. One way to keep your overhead low is to hire students part-time---especially if your local college or university has a retail merchandising program. Teach them your business, and they will enthusiastically become your cheerleaders in the community. Use streetfighter marketing tactics. Written by my friend marketing consultant Jeff Slutsky, Streetfighter Marketing Solutions was a book published for retailers. Though it was written back in 2007, the book details how retailers can be successful using nontraditional, highly targeted forms of marketing and advertising---many of which can still work today. One quick insight I can share from the book is to look for other non-competing retailers who serve the same market and exchange coupons. You will each attract new customers. Create online sales. Just because you have a local bricks and mortar store does not mean that there are not people in other parts of the country who will want to buy the products you are selling. Recognize the value of social media. Social media has emerged as an extremely powerful mechanism for marketing, whether your retail business is local, regional, or national in scope. Get Experiential! The title of my new book is Experience Rules for a reason. It really does! Once we get to a comfort level with going back into stores---masked or not---develop in-store experiences to give people a reason to frequent your store. Depending on the type of business you have, get creative. If you are a restaurant, consider having cooking classes. If you sell artists' supplies, consider a master class by a respected local artist. And these experiences do not have to be classes, they could be a book reading or a brief presentation by a local expert and a lengthy Q and A. Special thanks to The Week, one of my very favorite publications, for bringing this important topic to my attention.
Next Week's Herman Trend Alert: Where Do We Go from Here?
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