In honor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and other big shopping days, here’s an opinion on the retail industry, trends, and sticking with it.
“What goes around comes around” is an old saying meaning things eventually return to their original value after some sort of cycle (and it’s a hit song by Justin Timberlake).
How long ago was it when every pundit and everybody you spoke with was saying “retail is dead?” Other comments included the Internet passed retailers by, the cost of stores is too high, people don’t want to shop, they want to get a package at their door, etc.
Guess what? A Wall Street Journal headline was, “Retail Stocks Roar Back On Consumer Strength.” The S&P Retail exchange-traded fund was up 16% this year at the time of the article and many major retailer stocks were up 30-50% this year (and are bouncing around like all other stocks). On September 4 The Seattle Times had a business section headline of, “Retail trends drawing shoppers into stores.”
Retailers seem be figuring it out. They took a hit, regrouped, found where they can shine, and appear to be doing so. Some of their tactics are new and some are the same as before including racks of clothes, fitting rooms, private brands, personal assistance (think Nordstrom not Walmart), etc.
Think about this in regard to your business. You can jump onboard with the latest greatest software, marketing program, manufacturing scheme, etc. but I’ll bet there are things you do the same way as before (or come back to them), because they work.
I recently spoke with the owner of a company that bids on jobs. I asked if they used any industry software or ERP system to bid. The answer was no, they use Excel and Access, because it works for them (to me working means the bids are right and they make money on their jobs). I’m not sure how time-efficient it is, but it works.
I remember from a past business life an industry leader talking about a marketing program and saying something like, it worked so well for so long we decided to do something different. If it works, keep doing it, but always look for ways to do it better.
“There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things seem difficult.” Warren Buffett