Is retail dead?

[AllyNE]

I am in the process of hopefully starting up a retail shop.
I have been doing my homework for a long time now and I have changed from my original business idea.
Everyone I speak to seems so negative about starting any kind of shop or cafe.
It's not really comments about the business I am planning but just about retail in general. Apart from one girl who started a boutique 18 months ago and is so positive all I hear from everyone else is comments like..
"Retail is dead"
"It will be really hard work"
"A shop is so tying"
"Everyone shops online now and people will use the shop to try on and then get it cheaper online"

Is this really the hard reality of retail or do some businesses actually make a profit?

 

[mhall]

It's as dead as the internet !

 

[Mayor]

If you cater for people that like shopping, and hate mail order, you're on a winner !

 

[Billmccallum]

Reality is that if you have the basics right (product, placement, promotion & price) you can succeed.

My wife has just signed the lease on her first unit and plan to open in January.

 

[deniser]

Having been in retail for the least 10 years and watching shop comings and goings I would hazard a guess that 90% of all new independent retail ventures will fail within three years.

Maybe I am not in the right area but that's what it looks like from where I am standing.

Those 10% who get it right though seem to be thriving but no-one can tell how a business is actually doing by looking at the shopfront.

 

[warnie]

I am in the process of hopefully starting up a retail shop.
I have been doing my homework for a long time now and I have changed from my original business idea.
Everyone I speak to seems so negative about starting any kind of shop or cafe.
It's not really comments about the business I am planning but just about retail in general. Apart from one girl who started a boutique 18 months ago and is so positive all I hear from everyone else is comments like..
"Retail is dead"
"It will be really hard work"
"A shop is so tying"
"Everyone shops online now and people will use the shop to try on and then get it cheaper online"

Is this really the hard reality of retail or do some businesses actually make a profit?

Just be different to what's out there, make coming to your shop an event that people will tell others about. Focus on quality and service and not just price, anyone can, and are competing on price alone selling everyday goods at low margins and wondering why it's all going wrong.

I genuinely believe that the money is out there, you just have to think a little differently to the herd to relieve them of it.

 

[Mayor]

Having been in retail for the least 10 years and watching shop comings and goings I would hazard a guess that 90% of all new independent retail ventures will fail within three years.

I have seen similar, over a similar period of time, however they all seem to have certain things in common - poor research, over high expectations that customers will like what they wish to sell, and often an unwillingness to adapt to the requirements of their clientele. Turning up at 10.00am, throwing open the doors and expecting fivers to fly into the till just won't work. I think retailing has a great future, it may just be a bit different for some of us.....

 

[cjd]

Small retail still works - and works well - in some very limited circumstances.

The first is unatainable which is where the freehold is owned and has been for a generation so that the mortgage is paid off.

The second is where the business has been established for a decade or so and everyone in the locale kows what it iis and what it does and has the occasional need for it.

The third is the business that opens in a 'lifestyle' area at the right time - that is, before it's recognised as a 'lifestyle' area.

After that it becomes very, very difficult and I really wouldn't want to attempt it.

 

[jamjam11]

I also really want to get into opening up shops, not just around England but also around the world. My company Tobots right now is a supply shop although i not happy with this type of business and currently building it up, I also have my CtoC online business coming soon into many parts of the EU.
I believe in adding layer of protection to businesses that need to stay open for at least 2 or 3 years to get established. You might want to think about adding a layer of cover.

For example, do you have an online shop in the UK? Most people are shopping online and it doesn't cost the earth to get into this. Location Location Location is so important. High street or side street? And what someone else said to, "product". Good luck.

 

[antoine82]

This is a tricky question.

I think that most of the shops that sell stuff you can buy online are bound to fail in the medium term. Let's face it, buying things on Amazon is cheaper, makes life so much easier and gives you more free time to do something else! With all their costs (crazy rents, silly buiness rates, inurances, utilities...), retail shops just can't compete.

Having said that, when all the streets will be REALLY dying and all the units will be empty, maybe the landlords and councils will realize they have been charging way too much and the costs of running a shop will decrease. It will be then the time to open a shop because there will always be a demand for nice and skilled retailers. So I truly believe that retail will survive in the long term but there are very tough years ahead...

 

[deniser]

Having said that, when all the streets will be REALLY dying and all the units will be empty, maybe the landlords and councils will realize they have been charging way too much and the costs of running a shop will decrease. It will be then the time to open a shop because there will always be a demand for nice and skilled retailers. So I truly believe that retail will survive in the long term but there are very tough years ahead...

Where I am there aren't many empty shops because there is always someone willing to come along and give it a go thinking that they can do it better than what has gone before. They come, try it for a year or two and close only to be quickly replaced by the next person.

All these people who give it a go are probably losing their life savings on a very risky gamble and possibly getting into further debt.

It's not just a question of money. People just do not want to shop in small independent shops. They prefer the multiples who offer a better shopping experience. And they do this by employing skilled buyers, skilled merchandisers, having up to date computer system, having much more buying power, strength of branding, better locations and generally knowing how to retail. It's this which is almost impossible for the indie to compete with quite apart from products and prices.

 

[threenine]

it's a complete fallacy that buying stuff on amazon is cheaper. Over the past few months I have managed to track the same products sold on Amazon even cheaper from a multitude different sources. One example is Gaggia coffee machine, Amazon was the most expensive, I was however able to Find it cheaper at John Lewis, with a guarantee. I purchased it in store!

I think in reality, in current climate now one solution wins. What I have seen and experienced is that Multi Channel retailing is how most survive and make profits. So they are not dependent on anyone channel to make sales.
Therefore the successful guys have A Physical Store, An Internet Store, an Ebay store, a Mail Order (surprisingly), market stalls, etc.

It is a case you have to fish where the fish are. You have to target your customers where you'll find your customers.

If you talk to any failure, they will give you many reasons for their failure, talk to a winner and you'll find there are many reasons for their success. You decide who you want to listen too!

 

[The Byre]

What I have seen and experienced is that Multi Channel retailing is how most survive and make profits. So they are not dependent on anyone channel to make sales.

+1

I have been talking to a young man who has just turned 23. His father had a shop with a modest TO of about £150k. The young man started at the tender age of 16, buying old stuff and doing it up and then selling it on-line. His father wanted him to go to college and study something like business studies. He had other ideas.

The son heard that you could buy cheaply, if you actually go to the manufacturers in Rumania, Bulgaria and China and talk to them one-on-one. He saved up and bought his chosen products a container load at a time and built an ebay shop and good website. He rented a larger unit and allows people to buy and collect, so he has three retail streams - look on-line and come and collect, ebay and his own website.

Last year he had £1.2m TO and this year he has already topped £2m.

 

[SillyJokes]

I wonder if shop owners need to become 'closers' more in that they let people leave the shop having tried stuff on when they should be sealing the deal. Perhaps they don't see selling as part of running a shop. They could be scared to sell, worried it will frighten customers off. But what customers? They aren't customers if they leave without buying.

I watched someone on an adjacent stall to me at a fund raising afternoon watch 5000 people walk by her stall with out once attempting to call attention to her tasty and reasonably priced cakes. She packed up early and left while there were still loads of cakes left and people milling about, lots of whom would have happily parted with a couple of quid for a teatime treat, but she was too scared to walk into the crowd and hawk her goods.

Meantime, my daughter and I were calling out, inviting people on the stall and getting loads of extra business we didn't even expect. Hurrah for community fundraising

 

[Ashley_Price]

It depends on three factors:

1/ Stock levels
If you don't have the item in stock & the customer wants it now, then points 2 & 3 don't matter.

2/ Customer service
Why should someone come to your store over shopping online? Why do many people still frequent music and book shops instead of simply buying online & downloading immediately? You have to offer a level of service that customers won't get online. Of course, that depends on what you're selling, but will customers be able to browse in your shop (I still can't get into browsing for items online, if I am shopping online it's because I know exactly what I want, and I can't get it locally)

3/ Convenience (partly linked to point 1)
Okay, I bought my DVD player from a shop round the corner from my office yesterday. I got it home and then found out they don't generally come with HDMI cables. So, I'll be going back to the shop this afternoon to buy a cable. The player was cheaper online, but I wouldn't have got it until tomorrow (it was too late for next day), then found out it didn't have the cable, so be going to the shop round the corner from my office.

As it happens, I said about this on another thread a few minutes ago. See HERE

I also wrote a blog post back in 2008, about businesses in a recession, which would also be appropriate. See HERE

 

[threenine]

It depends on three factors:

1/ Stock levels
If you don't have the item in stock & the customer wants it now, then points 2 & 3 don't matter.

2/ Customer service
Why should someone come to your store over shopping online? Why do many people still frequent music and book shops instead of simply buying online & downloading immediately? You have to offer a level of service that customers won't get online. Of course, that depends on what you're selling, but will customers be able to browse in your shop (I still can't get into browsing for items online, if I am shopping online it's because I know exactly what I want, and I can't get it locally)

3/ Convenience (partly linked to point 1)
Okay, I bought my DVD player from a shop round the corner from my office yesterday. I got it home and then found out they don't generally come with HDMI cables. So, I'll be going back to the shop this afternoon to buy a cable. The player was cheaper online, but I wouldn't have got it until tomorrow (it was too late for next day), then found out it didn't have the cable, so be going to the shop round the corner from my office.

As it happens, I said about this on another thread a few minutes ago. See HERE

Summed up into basics!

Every customer is different, because their Needs, Wants and Desires can be different with every purchase.

It's classic faux pas to assume, that every customer wants to buy stuff from Amazon or whoever because it's CHEAPER, that is totally not the case, and this strategy is followed by 1001 of the race to bottom price brigade!

It is such a cliche to say that your Customer Service is better! With everybody saying that you would think customer service levels in the UK wouldn't be as dire as they are!

 

[Ashley_Price]

It is such a cliche to say that your Customer Service is better! With everybody saying that you would think customer service levels in the UK wouldn't be as dire as they are!

I never said you should say it. It's like everyone says their business is fantastic it just becomes white noise that customers ignore. (I actually have a well-worn story of how I got a major new client by telling them, publicly on Twitter, how rubbish our level of service was.)

You shouldn't say it, you should prove it. If you provide excellent customer service, you won't need to tell anyone about it, your customers will do that for you.

 

[threenine]

I never said you should say it. It's like everyone says their business is fantastic it just becomes white noise that everyone ignores. (I actually have a well-worn story of how I got a major new client by telling them, publicly on Twitter, how rubbish our level of service was.)

You shouldn't say it, you should prove it. If you provide excellent customer service, you won't need to tell anyone about it, your customers will do that for you.

Just to re-iterate I never said YOU said it, I meant the Royal You, if there is such a thing!

 

[Ashley_Price]

Just to re-iterate I never said YOU said it, I meant the Royal You, if there is such a thing!

I didn't know you knew about my royal lineage.

 

[deniser]

I wonder if shop owners need to become 'closers' more in that they let people leave the shop having tried stuff on when they should be sealing the deal.

Did you see the documentary about Liberty last night? It featured their star sales assistant who had been there for 40 years. She worked in the furniture department and by the looks of it, didn't let anyone leave without buying something!

 

[threenine]

I didn't know you knew about my royal lineage.

It's amazing what you can find out on the tinternet!

 

[emmylou74]

Is retail dead? Of course not! But it has changed there is no doubt about that.

This is my 3rd Christmas for my B&M shop. I have learned loads of what works for me and what does not. Is having a shop hard work and tying? I guess it is. But I love retail so for me its fun. Although there are days......lol!

What I have found is that anything I bring in that can be bought straight from the manufacturer or a distributor online will not sell not even when I drop the price right down to next to nothing to get rid of it.

The products that I make myself works for me. So a mixture of B&M, online and selling to other businesses is what works for me. And it has to be what I have designed and made as well.

Sometimes you just have to go with whats right for you. If I spoke to anyone about what I do they would roll their eyes and says don't do it. But this is not their dream or vision so how could they possibly know whats right for me. Just find the confidence to go for it. Be willing to be flexible and change, and find whats right for you.

 

[Mayor]

Did you see the documentary about Liberty last night? It featured their star sales assistant who had been there for 40 years. She worked in the furniture department and by the looks of it, didn't let anyone leave without buying something!

The 70 year old lady that got someone to part with just under £400 fior 3 cushions ? Fantastic. She was really enthusiastic about the product and the shopping process. Our best sales assistants are the ones that enjoy shopping themselves, they understand about catering for desire as well as need.

 

[jamjam11]

This is a tricky question.

I think that most of the shops that sell stuff you can buy online are bound to fail in the medium term. Let's face it, buying things on Amazon is cheaper, makes life so much easier and gives you more free time to do something else! With all their costs (crazy rents, silly buiness rates, inurances, utilities...), retail shops just can't compete.

Having said that, when all the streets will be REALLY dying and all the units will be empty, maybe the landlords and councils will realize they have been charging way too much and the costs of running a shop will decrease. It will be then the time to open a shop because there will always be a demand for nice and skilled retailers. So I truly believe that retail will survive in the long term but there are very tough years ahead...

You got a good point, although there is always the NEW. What i mean by the NEW is the fact that your not talking one county, one currency, haaa this falls into my whole ideology of socialism holding back SOME people. While others progress forward in business cause there looking at the whole world, or even the EU. Like here is my point in a nut shell..

open a shop in India:

Why?

Cause shops are doing better there than England, and there doing better than internet sales in England, its a win win..

Haa but we have kids and family in the UK.

OK great. Yea can't move. No such thing as private education.

The point i trying to pull out of my ass here, LOL The world is not all the same, what does not work here, does elsewhere!!

Can you dig??