How to thrive as a business in the retail landscape
In Episode three of WNA Trailblazers, we hear from retail industry expert and thought leader Dominique Lamb, who dives into the world of retail. She offers plenty of fantastic insights and actionable tips for retailers which are relevant no matter what type of business you’re running.
1. Create an experience for the customer
Gone are the days when the customer would be satisfied with the ‘plain jane’ bricks-and-mortar retail experience. It’s time to think about how can you make the customer experience memorable and unique?
Enhancing the consumer’s experience comes down to how comfortable you make them feel. Connecting, paying close attention and finding common ground with the customer will go a long way towards positive online reviews, word of mouth referrals, repeat customers and ultimately, business growth.
Creating a memorable experience for the consumer can also include the little details such as curating the music in the store or having a particular scent wafting through the venue.
2. Brand Storytelling
Brand storytelling is a powerful marketing tool, with the ability to effectively trigger emotions in your audience and establish an emotional connection.
‘Whether you’re telling stories in store because you’ve got somebody that can tell those stories physically, or whether you’re telling those stories online, about who you are, why you do it and why it’s important, it’s about bringing your demographic along for the journey.’ – Dominique Lamb
It’s no longer enough to throw facts, statistics and testimonials at your audience. Your business messaging needs to be wrapped in a story that transports your audience, simplifies information, and most importantly, provokes an emotional response.
Use storytelling to share your business history, challenges, success and value propositions. This is where the real magic happens!
3. Build a supportive value-based community
If there’s anything we can take away from our time in isolation, it’s that humans thrive on community and interaction. A community is all about personalisation; how you talk to your demographic and knowing exactly what they want.
People in your brand community are emotionally invested; they will buy from your company, digest your content and tell their friends and family about your business.
Dominique explained a fantastic example in the episode – the story of a woman who’s operating a homewares store in Wagga, as well as an online store. She has grown an online community which is called The Huddle. Off the back of that, she’s now running tours for female founders to Wagga that sell out in 25 minutes.
Dominque also highlighted Julie Mathers, CEO and Founder of Flora and Fauna who has built from the ground up Australia’s largest retailer exclusively selling eco-friendly, vegan, cruelty-free and sustainable products online. She successfully formed a large community of followers within Facebook groups and other vegan platforms. She used those platforms to determine what products she would stock by understanding what her community wanted and promoting her commitment to environmental sustainability. Julie’s ability to build a supportive values-based community has earnt her the prestigious Top Ten Ranking in e-commerce for four years in a row.
4. Define your point of difference
At end of the day, it’s about value proposition. What makes you different from your competitors? What is your point of difference?
It’s crucial to create a point of difference that makes you memorable, unique and drives a wedge between your business and your competitors to make the choice an easy one for your customers. If your customer cannot differentiate between you and your competitor, they will make a choice based on price and not on value.
‘You could all stock the same thing, but people are going to shop with you because you’re either faster, they like your service, and most importantly they trust your brand. Whatever that point of difference is, it all comes down to who are you and what your brand stands for; your brand’s identity. Knowing and being really comfortable with what that means and living and breathing it. I think that really does make a difference with a brand.’ – Dominique Lamb
To hear more insights about the retail industry, and connect with WNA Trailblazers, LISTEN TO EPISODE 3 AND SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
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