Our high-street is closing down. It can’t compete with the ease of online shopping and the price and accessibility of mega-stores. What does it do to fight back?
It must do everything that the mega-store and online can’t do, and do all of those things really well.
The local store should say hello. If you visit again, it should know your name. It should play on its specialist nature and the idea that it can talk to you. When was the last time you want to Tesco’s or B&Q and it said hello?
Take a wine shop for example (mix with any other store – camera, bakers, travel agents, etc), it is no longer about being an off-licence, stack em’ high and sell em’ cheap, but an experience.
The wine merchant should welcome you in and make you feel interested in wine, no matter what your expertise. There should be social events, training courses, tastings and access to wines you would never find in the supermarket.
Wines could be ordered according to your event, food you might be preparing, style and country of origin.
On leaving the store, you should feel upbeat, maybe having learnt something or a new friend made. You will look forward to returning.
This experience can also be cemented online; the local store is not restricted to merely bricks and mortar. It can do both, and that is something online and the mega-store will never quite be able to do.
Photo courtesy of Belfegore.
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