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| ABOUT | ||
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| SMALL BUSINESS TRENDS brings you daily updates on trends that influence the global small business market. | ||
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Anita Campbell, Editor |
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| Past life: CEO, corporate executive, tech entrepreneur, retailer, general counsel, marketer, HR ... (more) | ||
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Small Business Trends Radio Tuesdays, 1:00 PM Eastern U.S. time on Voice America network Click to listen November 1st: Torsten Jacobi, CEO of Creative Weblogging, joins host Anita Campbell. Sponsored by Six Disciplines. Show details. |
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Friday, August 20, 2004 | |
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Selling Against Wal-Mart | |
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The biggest challenge facing small retail outlets in the U.S. is "competing against Wal-Mart." At least, that's what a colleague said at lunch today.
He recently left a position as head of marketing for a distributor of specialty dry goods and craft supplies for small retailers. In that role he'd spent a large portion of his time identifying which locations had nearby Wal-Mart stores, analyzing and comparing the product lines carried by Wal-Mart, and then determining the product mix most likely to sell successfully. Offering a larger selection, and carrying unusual or higher quality products, were key ways his retailers competed against the big guys. Andrea Learned, in her Learned on Women blog, has a piece that echoes this refrain. She points out that Wal-Mart is taking an ever-growing share of the grocery market away from supermarkets. But the Wal-Marts of the world fall down in the area of customer experience. They can't match the warmth, the niche focus, the customer service of smaller local retailers. -- So while the headlines scream that Wal-Mart is driving small retailers out of business, I think the less obvious -- but equally important -- story is the way Wal-Mart is forcing a change in the nature of small business retailing. The smart small retailers know they can't beat Wal-Mart at Wal-Mart's game. So they change the game. Increasingly small retailers are becoming niche-focused. They strive to create a memorable, pleasurable experience for the customer. They offer levels of personalized service that the Wal-Marts simply can't match. |
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