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Jan 22 2012
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retail, business, small business, independent retailers

Retail Reversals and Rallies

Laurel Tielis

What’s greater than an electric company’s power surge and more forceful than a hot flash? The power of the people combined with the power of the purse.

With social media, consumers have a voice. And whether it’s the fight against SOPA, the Occupy movement, or retail arrogance, what they’re using it to say is, “I’m mad as Hell, and I’m not going to take this any more.”

Brands that don’t get It, will get it where it hurts. Look at Netflix, Bank of America, and Verizon. Not since the Three Stooges has there been anything so dopey. But while the Stooges were funny, these companies are sad.

As for Amazon, nobody likes a bully–whether it’s in the schoolyard or on the business playing field, Amazon showed it didn’t care at all about the little guy, which was an opportunity for everyone else to say they did. 

Successful Companies Understand Consumers Count

Today, the companies that will be around tomorrow, understand that  it’s a conversation between brands and consumers. Businesses can no longer make decisions without taking consumers into account.The Internet, and social media, make everything visible. There are no secrets. Everyone knows who’s naughty and who’s nice, and they respond accordingly.

That said, companies can make mistakes and learn from them. I think these two “retail rallies” have the potential for customer engagement and retention.

Some Retail Rallies

Target missed the mark when it overpromised and underdelivered on the Missoni collection. But now it’s back with The Shops of Target, a new promotion set to begin May 6th, where the retailer will be teaming up with five small businesses from across the country for a six week run. This is a win for customers who will be able to purchase special items, its a win for the boutiques, whose products will go out to an enormous audience, and it’s a win for Target–if the company executes it properly.

Walmart is also showing that it understands how to engage and retain customers. It made a good start when it brought back layaway for the Christmas season, and now it’s got a great promotion underway called Get on the Shelf. The company has created a contest open to anyone with a product that fits its product categories. Contestants need to submit an online video, and voters will select the three winners. Their products will be sold at www.walmart.com. The grand prize winner will also have his/her products sold in selected stores.

It’s an enormous opportunity for small business owners, it’s a great way for Walmart to position itself as a champion of the little guy, and it’s fun for the rest of us.

If  you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can heIp. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2012 Laurel Tielis

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Jan 08 2012
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business, entrepreneurs, retail

You Can Quote Me on That

Laurel Tielis

Keeping your Twitter stream relevant and fun, your website up to date, and your newsletter entertaining as well as informative, is less of a challenge if you take advantage of the wit and wisdom of others–especially celebrities. And yes, you can quote me on that.

You might be surprised at just how many well-known names have talked about business, retail, stores, and shopping. Take billionaire Warren Buffett: “I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me.” What an opportunity for anyone involved in the menswear business or any image consultant to comment on that, and ask their followers to help the poor guy.

One of my favorite lines, and perfect for anyone in home furnishings or design is Oscar Wilde‘s reputed death bed quote: “Either this wallpaper, goes or I do.” (I’ve also read the quote as “Either this lamp goes, or I do.”) In either case, it gives you an opportunity to have some fun with you followers. You can ask them for their favorite quotes, or for what they would most like to change in their homes, and so on.

Rita Rudner offers some sage advice that’s useful to anyone in the jewelry business or in the bridal industry. “I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage,” Rudner says. “They’ve experienced pain and bought jewelry.” Follow up by asking questions like, Hey guys, What would make the shopping experience easier for you?

Cameron Diaz is clearly a foodie. According to the actress: “I can spend hours in a grocery store. I get so excited when I see food, I go crazy. I spend hours arranging my baskets so that everything fits in and nothing gets squashed. I’m really anal about it, actually.”

Groceries, supermarkets, and gourmet shops should find food for thought in that remark (not to mention therapists!). Even better, it’s too long for one tweet, so you get the opportunity to send half off at a time. You can play up the fact that at your store packers do a great job with all items, but especially fragile ones. Or ask fellow tweeps what foods feed their fancies?

Stand-up comic Jay London weighed in with “I saw a stationery store move.” Anyone who makes or sells paper products can play off the joke–I’ve seen a house fly, a horsefly and a dragon fly–or take advantage of it to talk about the best-moving items in their business.

Parenthood star Lauren Graham shares these thoughts about shopping: “These days,” she says,  “I have to be extra nice in stores. It never fails that whenever I look as bad as I can possibly look or I am sort of cranky because the store is out of something, that is precisely the time when someone one will recognize me and say: ‘I really like your show.’” Would that all customers get Lauren’s message about the importance of being especially nice in public, and that all merchants take the time and put out the energy to keep shoppers sweet!

Got a quote you’d like to share? Can I quote you on anything in the business world? Tell me, and I’ll pass it along.

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker, writer, or  consultant? Get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com.

You can also connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2012 Laurel Tielis

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Jan 02 2012
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business, entrepreneurs, independent retailers, retail, small business

Retail Moves from Bricks to Clicks and Back Again

Laurel Tielis

SAN FRANCISCO–Arkadi Kuhlmann, President and CEO of ING Direct, was in Union Square last week to launch the online bank’s new 17,000 square foot cafe, its eighth brick and mortar outlet.

While you can”t make a deposit or a withdrawal, you can grab a cup of Peet’s coffee, take advantage of the Wi-Fi, and enjoy face time with others.

Not only that, the bottom level of the three-story space is set up so that small business owners and non-profits can host meetings, free of charge, for as many as 40 or 50 people.

Why move from clicks to bricks? Isn’t business going in the opposite direction? As Kuhlmann put it, “People feel very disconnected; there’s a need for connection.” It makes sense, and it works out in dollars. ING has found that deposits have increased by about 10 percent in the cities where they have a physical presence.

Understanding the consumer is the secret of doing business today. People want what they want, where they want it, when they want it. The easier you make it for them, the more they’ll do business with you. If your goal is a successful business you need to be available instore, online, and via mobile.

Arkadi Kuhlmann, ING Direct with blogger Laurel Tielis

This is a good lesson for independent retailers, who have been resistant to selling on the Internet. And to be fair, getting started has been expensive and time-consuming.

Luckily though, as it’s become more important to have a website, it’s also become cheaper and easier to acquire one. In addition to eBay and Etsy, which have been around for a long time, but are clearly not right for all retailers, there now are a wealth of inexpensive ways for small business owners to sell online.

If you want to easily and inexpensively create a storefront with the look and feel of your four-walled store check out Goodsie.com, Shopify.com, Storenvy.com, and Weebly.com. If you’re interested in joining with other small business owners in your area, there are sites like UrbanSwipe.com in Albuquerque, and Shoppista, com, which I wrote about last year, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Got merchandise you’re ready to move at a discount? Sales site LittleIndependent.com can help. If you’re in the bridal business, take a peek at NearbyRegistry.com, scheduled to open this year.

If you started with bricks, it’s time and past time to move to clicks; and as ING Direct has shown, clicks profit when they connect in person. Success today means taking advantage of every possible place and manner to sell your products and services.

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2012 Laurel Tielis

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Nov 13 2011
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business, independent retailers, retail

Holiday Sales are Bullish at Pet Shops

Laurel Tielis

It’s a funny old world. Retail analysts are predicting that holiday sales will be more ho-hum than ho ho ho, and a lot of Christmas giving will be self-directed. But there’s a major exception; polls are showing people are planning to spend more this year on gifts for pets.

Many of these are the same folks who are concerned about high prices for commodities–from filling their gas tanks to putting food on the table–but they’re not cutting back when it comes to their feathered, finned or  four-legged friends.

And savvy pet shop owners are taking advantage of their desire to cater to their “best friends,” by  offering premium products. So while well-known pet food brands are far from suffering, for everything from puppies to guppies, people are willing to pay more.

As a retailer, what can you learn from this?

People want to feel good about themselves. One way they do it is by giving themselves small treats, like buying a daily latte. Another way they do it is by taking care of others.

And as much as people pay for pet products or presents, it’s still a small sum in the face of the cost of presents for people. Plus, pets are non-judgmental, so it’s easy to buy for them. They don’t point out that something is the wrong size or not their favorite color. Heck, they don’t even care if their holiday gifts don’t arrive on time.

Christmas Gifts photo, Kelvin Kay, en:user:kkmd

 If you’re buying for your pets, you don’t have rush the season. There’s no need to push back from the Thanksgiving table to head to a store to make a purchase. You can show solidarity with store employees, who won’t have to work on a holiday on your account. Prices are pretty consistent year-round, so you don’t have to wait for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday.

You can do your Christmas shopping any day, and kick back and enjoy the holidays themselves. Those are my thoughts on the upcoming retail holiday season. How do you feel about it?

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail eporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis


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Oct 23 2011
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entrepreneurs, independent retailers, small business

Power Up Your Small Business with Publicity

Laurel Tielis

Want to bring more business in? Get the word out. Once you become publicity-savvy, you can gain visibility, credibility, and profitability without having to open your wallet.

Publicity beats advertising because it’s free. If you’re an entrepreneur or an independent retailer, “free” is probably one of your favorite words; “easy” and “effective” are most likely others. Today, getting publicity can be all three–free, easy, and effective.

Getting Publicity Has Changed

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, or about one dozen years ago in real time, getting publicity was a challenge. To attract the attention of a reporter you had to draft a press release, then mail or fax it off, and finally, follow up with a phone call.

Or, you reversed the process and made a phone call, most often reaching an answering machine,  left a message which frequently didn’t get returned, and then sent off a press release.  As the gag line went: With advertising you pay for it, with publicity you pray for it.

Then along came the Internet, and prayers “paid off” for publicists. Today, getting a company’s name out is a whole lot easier.

While being quoted in a major newspaper, an important trade publication, or on the air, is still a major hit, there are lots of other ways that a small business owner can get free attention and more business. Not only that, you have easier access to reporters and bloggers.

 Easy, Effective, and Free Ways to get Your Story Out

1. Follow a reporter on Twitter and when you have a story idea that would benefit readers, viewers or listeners, send a tweet. Sadly, you can’t send a direct message to someone unless they’re following you, but happily you can get anyone’s attention using @ and following with their user name.

2. Add a comment, and your web address, to online stories. It takes just a minute to sign in, and once you do you can get your name, and your targeted message,  in just about everything, including major publications like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

3. Read a blog, and respond to what’s been written. Tell the author why you agree or disagree with the post. Stay on point, and if you have doubts about what’s been said, be pleasant in raising them. Again, almost all blogs accept relevant comments. For example, even if you never finished high school, you can post pertinent comments to blog posts on the Harvard Business Review.

4. Join the conversation on social media sites. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a fan of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Goggle Plus, or even all of the above, participate and you can get your name out and build your business. Heck, you can even  get rich and famous by working social media. Lift a glass, for example, to Gary Vaynerchuk, who shared his passion with wine to one and all online.

5. Speak up. It’s great if you have the time, and the chops, to stand in front of an audience and share information. But even if you don’t, you can still ask questions, or answer them, at lectures and conferences you attend. Make sure to say your name, and the name of your company, before you start. And once again, keep to the subject, then let people know about it everywhere you connect with others.

I find being patient, persistent, and pleasant pays off in useful publicity. How do you promote yourself

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis

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Oct 16 2011
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business, entrepreneurs, independent retailers, retail

Make it a Party for Your Customers

Laurel Tielis

Want to create a WOW experience in your retail store? Here’s how two small businesses in my area took advantage of the easy and effective theme, It’s our birthday, but you get the present! to surprise and delight their customers, and build their businesses.

Baker and Banker, a perfectly-named eponymous bakery and restaurant in San Francisco, celebrated its first year in business by offering everyone, no purchase necessary, a free slice of chocolate birthday cake with a Guinness cream frosting. Delicious  and healthy! What, you haven’t been reading about the benefits of chocolate?

Every year on the day it first opened its doors, Four Barrel Coffee offers customers free drinks. This year, I got to take advantage of it. Lots of coffee companies offer free coffee on occasion, but what made Four Barrel’s offering super special was not limiting the size or kind. Everything they regularly served was available. How could you not like that?

Birthday Cake by Will Clayton

Will everyone who celebrated at these businesses turn into a customer? Of course not. Did doing so help each raise its profile? Yes, and I can prove it. I read about the promotions online, which meant they got publicity. I’m writing about it, and you’re reading it, which means there’s more publicity.

I also got to sample their wares, and liked what I had. Which means they’ve got one convert. And all at a very minor cost–after all,this is their core business.

Birthday celebrations are a great idea–they’re fun and they offer an opportunity for a business to show generosity. That’s always important, but it’s even more important when so many people are feeling a lack.

It’s no secret, as I’ve written before, when the economy goes sour, people seek sweetness. You as a business owner need to provide it in terms of customer service, and a little extra loving, in terms of munchies doesn’t go amiss. And isn’t it better than running an ad, or getting involved with a daily deals site?

These businesses are in the food and beverage arena, but you  don’t have to be to use your business’s “birthday” to reach out and bring business in. Order a sheet cake, brew some Joe, and get the word out through social and mass media. You’ll get the gift of more attention and more sales.

Generosity creates excitement and opens the door to increased business. What are you giving to others, and what is it bringing to you?

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis

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Sep 19 2011
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business, retail

Retail Readies for Advent of Tight Pockets at Christmas

Laurel Tielis

It’s not a fashion statement, but an economic one. According to a survey commissioned by the London-based global news agency Reuters, American shoppers will be holding on to their wallets this year. More than four-fifths, or 82 per cent of the people asked, expect to spend the same or less on Christmas gifts.

That’s no surprise when income, adjusted for inflation, is back at 1996 levels; almost one in six Americans is now living at the poverty level, and even the affluent, who led a short-term run back to higher sales, have had their confidence in the economy shaken.

But it’s a major disappointment for retailers, for whom the holiday season is usually a make-or-break time in terms of profitability for the year. So in an effort to avoid a Bah! Humbug Christmas, Kwanza, or Hanukkah, big box retailers have already begun stocking stores with holiday merchandise.

Don’t deck the halls before Halloween

While that might work for chain or department stores, small business owners have neither the space nor the inclination to deck the halls prior to Halloween. But, independent retailers could take a tip from those mass merchandisers like Walmart who have listened to customers and brought back layaway.

They can do the same, and go them one better, by starting a Christmas Club for shoppers. Not the kind of club that was a staple at banks for years, where people deposited small sum of money each week in a Christmas account, so that when it was time to go shopping, they could afford to do so.

Create community and engage your customers

But rather, form a club where you bring together shoppers at your store once a week, or once a fortnight, to create community and engage your customers. You can promote this through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn; write about in your newsletter, post it on your website, and reach out to local media through a phone calls or a press releases.

Keep it simple–serving coffee and cake, wine and cheese, or beer and pretzels–and offer ideas that will help your customers with their holiday buying. If you partner with other retailers, you can have a moveable feast, going from store to store each week.

You might invite a financial adviser to talk about how to maximize wealth (or at least to aid your customers in holding on to what they already have), bring in a personal shopper to help them mix and match new items with things they own, a la consignment store or thrift shops, or provide shoppers with information about how to keep products looking or working their best.

The more you do now to bring in business, the more you will benefit when the holidays actually roll around. And you’ll do it without creating buyer fatigue, but rather by assisting people in the spirit of the holiday.

What are you planning to do this year to keep registers ringing and make it a merry Christmas?

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis

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Sep 15 2011
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business, retail

How to Get Help in Your Retail Business

Laurel Tielis

While the use of many four-letter words has become more common, both in the business world and in people’s home lives, “help” is one that isn’t used often enough.

“I need help” is something most of us are reluctant to say. But clients, customers, contacts, and connections  are not only willing to help, for the most part, they’re eager to assist. Helping others is a great way for us to feel good about ourselves.

If, for example, you need help finding seasonal employees for the holidays, or interns to  contribute to your store’s growth while they learn about business, these are the people you should reach out to first.

Take These Steps to Bring in More Help

Start by reaching out to your customer advisory board for people they know–they’re familiar with your business and show they wish it well by their ongoing support. Then, create customer engagement by turning to your e-mail contacts for advice and suggestions on the kind of help you need in your store and the best people to provide it.

Put the word out as well through social media–Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other sites you work with. Especially now, when so many people are unemployed or underemployed, you should receive a plethora of temporary staff recommendations.

Here’s How to Make it Sticky

To make it more fun, and stickier for your business, you can also involve all of the people to whom you’ve reached out, in the selection and hiring process. No, not by a vote or a poll, but rather by planning an event or a party and inviting them, as well as the job candidates. This will give you a great opportunity to see how someone you’re thinking about hiring interacts with others.

Get hopping, since this is a great time to do it. Labor Day is just a memory, and Halloween is in the future. Keep it simple. You can plan a presentation, or let people know you’re hosting a wine and cheese (or sparkling cider) gathering some evening, or a coffee and cake get-together one morning.

Are you mining your contacts for the help you need? Are you getting the assistance that will best benefit your business? Help is available.

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis

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Sep 12 2011
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business, retail

Socially Responsible Retailing from Walmart and Patagonia

Laurel Tielis

Patagonia has long had the reputation of being a socially responsible company. Walmart not so much. But this week, I think they’re telling a similar story. Each company is offering buying choices that positively impact on its core customer, as well as the community at large.

Shopping’s no fun when you’re out of funds

Walmart, in response to cash-short customers, has given them an early Christmas gift by bringing back layaway for the holiday season. Shoppers concerned with higher prices across the board–food, gasoline, energy–told the retailer they are more comfortable paying cash.

Layaway features a small setup fee, and a down payment on items; there are no interest charges. Over time, customers pay for the goods in full. This beats buying on a credit card, then struggling to pay off charges and sky-high interest rates. Shoppers have learned that easy isn’t best, when it comes to credit.

So while Walmart’s reason for bringing back layaway may not be socially responsible–the retailer has been struggling with falling sales for nine consecutive quarters–the result is. As the 2008 recession showed, the economy benefits when people only buy what they can afford. Will Walmart make money from the layaway plan? Probably not directly, but they’ve already reaped a huge bonus in the form of positive publicity.

Buy from Need–Not Greed

Founder and owner of the outdoor wear-and-gear company Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, is asking customers to pledge to reduce, repair, reuse, and recycle its products to help the planet and increase sustainability.

Clearly, this is a one-off in retail. Many companies offer lifetime guarantees for their products, but Patagonia has gone one step farther. Rather than resist reselling, it’s helping customers to do so. It has partnered with eBay to open an online marketplace called Common Threads Initiative. Customers reselling genuine Patagonia products get a badge on their posts, and are included in a new section of the company’s website called used clothing & gear.

Is Patagonia making it better for everyone? I think so. And in doing so, it’s building a better business.

What do you think? How do you show the world at large, and your customer base in particular, that you are an ethical and socially responsible business?

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Connect with me at LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter @laureltielis.

You can also get in touch at Ask Laurel (one word) at laureltielis.com. For easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis

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Sep 08 2011
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business, retail

The Other Kind of Retail Shrinkage

Laurel Tielis

I’ve been thinking a lot about retail shrinkage. Not in the traditional sense, where it refers to employee theft, shoplifting, paperwork errors, and supplier or vendor fraud, but instead about how almost everything in retail is getting smaller.

Lately, small is a big story in retail. We’re seeing downsizing across the board. From department stores to big box stores, the trend in business is contained and convenient, rather than outsized and out there.

The growth of smaller sizes goes beyond retail outlets; it extends to portion sizes in food, packaging fewer items in a container, sizing in apparel, and even the screens we use to make purchases.

Upscale Stores Downsize to Attract More Business

Department store chain Neiman Marcus began opening a line of small outlet stores last fall called Last Call Studio, to take advantage of the aspirational shopper and attract a larger customer base.

Bloomingdale’s is in the process of opening three more outlets, all about one-fifth the size of its regular stores, bringing its total to seven, while parent company Macy’s is deciding whether that’s a strategy it too will follow.

As for Saks, it’s gone big-time with smaller stores.There are now more Saks Off 5th outlets (59) than there are Saks Fifth Avenue stores (46), and five more outlets are scheduled to open.

J.C. Penney’s, on the other hand, is trimming down its business differently. The mid-range chain is eliminating its 19 outlet stores as well as its catalog business.

The World’s Biggest Retailer Trims its Store Size

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, opened its first drugstore-sized Walmart Express this June, in a Goliath vs. David effort to take on dollar store discounters. It’s also testing the small store concept in urban markets.

As for giant packages, Walmart now sees the value of smaller ones, as cash-starved consumers are purchasing everything–up to and including toilet paper–in more modest amounts.

Bigger Bottoms Translate to Smaller Sizes

It’s a numbers game with clothing sizes. As customers get larger, manufacturers have changed measurements. Vanity sizing is now a standard way of doing business. If you’re curious about how big it is, research shows that a size 14 in the 1930s translates to a size 8 in the 1960s and a size 0 today!

And then there’s portion sizing. It’s smaller as well. From cans of tuna to chocolate bars, prices have remained the same (or increased), but the portion size has become more petite. This is probably a good thing when you think about clothing!

Screens Get Smaller

There’s even a move to smaller sizes in the way customers make purchases, moving from online to mobile. So far, only a small percentage of sales are made that way, but it’s a number that’s bound to increase as retailers make it easier to shop by phone, and customers get more comfortable with the concept.

What are you trimming, eliminating, resizing, or recalculating to  grow your business?

If you want more ideas about bringing in business, I can help. I’ve been a retail reporter at Women’s Wear Daily and Home Furnishings News, a columnist at the Miami Herald and a correspondent at People magazine.

I’ve also handled the marketing and public relations at major corporations and small businesses. Need a speaker or a consultant? Get in touch at ringupmoresales@gmail.com. Or, for easy and effective ways to bring in more business, read Ka-Ching! How to Ring Up More Sales.

Copyright © 2011 Laurel Tielis


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