Retail stores are very common in the economic marketplace. Businesses in this sector offer a variety of goods and services designed to meet the needs of consumers. Once your retail business is established and stable, it is important to look for ways to improve it. The question is, how do you expand a retail business? Well, you need a lot of planning and effort if you are thinking of retail business expansion. Let’s consider how to grow a successful retail business.
04 Ways to expand Retail Business
- Own store expansion
It is certainly no surprise that opening new retail stores in different locations is one of the best ways to grow your business. However, retail chain stores expansion requires a lot of work and a significant investment, so it must be carefully considered. You can’t simply duplicate your existing store when you expand your locations. Even though you want to capitalize on a successful formula, a new location means a new customer base. Not everything that works in one city or neighborhood will necessarily work in another.
Your operations and store logistics, however, should remain the same across all of your locations. Make sure you stick with the same procedures, policies, communication channels, multi-location POS, payroll, customer service, etc. This allows you to quickly compare KPIs from one store to another or across multiple stores. The streamlining of procedures at all locations also makes onboarding and training more efficient and straightforward.
- Franchise model
Franchising your business involves creating a repeatable and teachable business operation system, and then selling franchises to entrepreneurs who will own and operate their own versions of your business. Franchising may be a profitable option if you’re trying to grow revenues, expand your brand image or retail brand development, and open multiple locations, without committing the capital and operational management time that come with company-owned units. However, there are substantial up-front costs, as well as a lot of legal paperwork involved in the process. Moreover, franchises can only be successful with certain types of retail businesses. In order to succeed, you need a superior product or service that is in demand, and operations system that is teachable to others, and a business concept that can be easily replicated in multiple locations.
To become a franchisee, you must commit to the time and money required to build a franchise system, prepare, submit, and register all legal documents, hire staff to manage franchise sales and marketing, and create a support network for your franchisees, including the development of training programs and advertising campaigns. To say it all, by choosing the right retail business strategy, planning properly, and having sufficient startup capital, franchising can transform your retail business into a larger enterprise.
- ECommerce model
Business around the world has been transformed by e-commerce. In the current digital age, it is more important than ever to have a strong digital presence to expand your business. Despite the fierce competition in this market, consumers continue to prefer online shopping. Existing brands are now selling products online by listing them on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. Many entrepreneurs are now establishing their own online stores or websites since they realize the benefits of e-commerce. Traditional offline retail stores can switch to e-commerce to increase sales and business profits in every way possible.
There are many benefits of adopting e-commerce business models for your existing retail business. E-commerce has relatively low operating costs compared to traditional brick-and-mortar businesses as you can save up on rent, staff, and land. The visibility of online stores allows you to sell in multiple locations without any geographical limitations. Hence you can reach out to more audiences at the same time. Even the customer experience with e-commerce is smoother as orders can be placed anytime from the comfort of the home and it gets delivered right at the doorstep.
- Omnichannel model
Online grocery shopping has reduced the customer’s need to go outside in their daily hectic schedule lifestyle, but offline shopping has its own perks as well. Therefore, the best way to cater to the consumer may be a combination of both, referred to as the Omnichannel Approach. The idea is to provide customers with a customer-centered shopping experience in both offline and online modes by combining the advantages of both! With the right management, an omnichannel format can provide the best customer experience between integrated in-store visits and online facilities.
Nearly one-third of e-commerce decision-makers in Europe and North America believe omnichannel strategies are very important, according to Statista research. As customers’ expectations grow, omnichannel retailing is essential to meeting those expectations. The ease of digital shopping, curbside pickup, and touchless checkout contribute to an enhanced shopping experience and also an increase in sales. UC today conducted a study that found almost 90% of consumers wanted an omnichannel experience. However, in order to truly offer an omnichannel approach, your brand experience needs to be consistent everywhere you sell your product, so you can meet your customers wherever they are and build relationships that can help you retain those customers.
About YRC Consultants
With expertise in retail business management, YRC is known for helping retail businesses grow and become big brands. We focus on the right strategies and procedures to make your retail business successful by emphasizing the hybrid business model for your retail business expansion. Our team of industry experts can help you with expansion strategies, market research, franchise model development, SOPs, retail business plan, omnichannel retail, and e-commerce retail business.
If you are thinking of giving your retail business an edge or an upper hand over your competitors, we can be the guiding hand for you. We make sure that we provide services as per the needs of our clients and as per their business needs. Hence, you can count on us for the reliable planning and implementation support if you want to modernize your traditional retail business. Let’s not delay any longer, contact Your Retail Coach today if you want to expand your retail business. For more information, please refer to the video here,
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