To survive as a traditional retailer, your prices must be competitive. However, if there are already businesses out there offering the same products as you specialise in then be careful. Usually, established retailers will have a regular and loyal customer base, and if the only way you can attract them to your shop is by cheaper prices then you would really be better off not taking on the additional costs and risks that go with a shop.
On the other hand, if you are a specialist operating in a niche area of the market then you’ll obviously be able to charge more for your products as you’ve brought them to the high street. But here again you need to be cautious. If your products are also available online via your competitors be careful that your shop isn’t going to be used as a showroom for someone else’s online business.
This is exactly what I experienced in our shops when I took on a product that had previously only been available online. Much to my disappointment and frustration, I discovered that we had plenty of prospective customers coming to our shop to see and try out this particular product, but they didn’t buy.
After some investigation I discovered that the company who were supplying us with the product had slashed their price to encourage more online sales. Needless to say we stopped stocking any of their products. Some years on these same distributors are now finding sales difficult as their products are now no longer available in most shops because they have become too unattractive for retailers to sell.
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