According to recent research, consumer confidence level is at its peak, real disposable income levels are growing and consumers are willing to spend more on non-essential items. Retailers should grab this opportunity and cater to niche markets.
Differentiation
For an independent retailer, the key to success is ‘differentiation’. Small retailers may not be able to compete with the products and prices of big stores but they can specialize in customized and unique items instead of mass produced products. For example, an independent technology retailer should focus more on providing a specialized service through skilled professionals rather than trying to compete on the scale of products sold.
Today, many shoppers are showing their support for independent retailers. Hence there is a big opportunity for them to flourish in the current market.
Flexibility
Another advantage that small retailers have is that they can be very flexible. Responding to changes in customer demand is much easier for small retailers. These changes often occur in terms of geographic locations and for a big store to respond to them a lot of procedures, such as permission from head office (which is probably in a completely different location), are required. Due to such challenges, small businesses find it easier to keep up with their customers.
Small stores should go digital
Small stores can directly compete with large stores by using the same technology that they do. Although there is a big myth about LED signage being too expensive for small stores, it is high time that this perception changed simply because it is not true. Investing in digital signage is much cheaper than you think, and the returns are massive.
LED Signs
As discussed above, small retailers can succeed by differentiating their products and responding to customer demands. Unless customers know about how they are differentiating their products and responding to changes, their business won’t prosper. LED signs are the perfect approach to provide that information in today’s tech savvy world. These screens can be effective in a variety of settings and can be designed to appeal to a wide range of audiences; general public to extremely niche markets.
Providing information with LED signs
Several small businesses have already seen and thereby invested in the benefits of LED displays. Incorporating them into the marketing efforts of their business has given them huge returns. These LED signs have multiple ways of being applied into the real world.
- Retail stores can use them for advertising seasonal sales, promoting new products and informing customers about special offers and discounts during particular shopping hours.
- Restaurants are using LED signs with sharp, clear and bright colors to display images of their tempting food items and daily offers to attract customers to come inside. Even if a customer is not really hungry, resisting delicious pictures of pastries and doughnuts is quite hard.
- Educational campuses are using LED signs at entrances and many other locations around campus. These signs are used for informing those in and around campus regarding the events and activities taking place. Whether it is a ticket sales promotion for an event, an alert for a new course of study, or a reminder about fee payment deadline, LED signs are very useful on campus.
As you can see, creating awareness of business offerings for retailers is very simple and effective with LED signs. With time, increased awareness will transform into more products and services being sold for the business.
Incorporating social media into LED signs
As a business, you have to create an online voice for yourself. Social media is the best way to do this.
81% of independent retailers use some form of social media and 54% of them are active on a daily basis. 37% said ‘brand awareness’ is a key aim with social media.
Being on the digital radars of the public is only possible with the use of social media channels and incorporating social media in your LED sign investment takes the business one step further. Real time content can be displayed from the store’s social media platform as a way to encourage customers to engage in conversations. If they see their posts being displayed, they will want to participate more.
LED signs can also be used to display real time product reviews from social media networks. Promotional content from particular brands sold by independent retailers can also be marketed through LED signs. This is a very simple technique for small business to adapt to the world of multiple channel retail business and to match strategies used by bigger retailers.
