Sound ADvice | The Genuine ScLoHo aka Scott Howard

Brick & Mortar vs E-Commerce

by Scott Howard | Jan 18, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Web World, Sound ADvice

“Extra – Extra, Read All About It!!! Brick-and-Mortar stores are dead! E-commerce is the way everyone will shop in the future. Extra – Extra, Read All About It!!!”

If you read the retail industry trades or e-commerce newsletters and blogs at all, that chant has been thrown around for the past decade and the COVID era has made it even louder!

But is it true? To paraphrase Mark Twain, “Rumors of the death of brick-and-mortar retail are greatly exaggerated”

Although e-commerce shopping continues to grow rapidly, brick-and-mortar stores are still holding up well versus online retail sites, as many people still prefer the in-store shopping experience where they can see and try out products before committing to a purchase.

Here are some facts:

In 2020, e-commerce made up 14% of all retail sales.

Brick-and-mortar makes up the other 86%.

Total e-commerce sales in the US in 2020: $759.47 Billion

Total Brink-and-Mortar retail sales in the US in 2020: $5.6 Trillion (that’s Trillion as in 12-zeros, 000,000,000,000). Source: Forbes.com

Further proof that brick-and-mortar is here to stay is that Amazon has announced it is opening brick-and-mortar stores. These large department-like stores will be roughly 30,000 sq ft.

It’s not Amazon’s first venture into retail. Amazon, which dominates the online shopping space, made its biggest bet in brick-and-mortar with the acquisition of upscale grocer, Whole Foods, in 2017.

What does this all mean? There is good news and bad news. The good news is.. despite what the e-commerce trade magazines would like you to believe, brick-and-mortar is going to be around for a while. The bad news is.. competition is going to get even tougher for existing retail businesses. Amazon is no slouch!

While there is no denying that e-commerce is and will continue to grow, there will always be local brick-and-mortar retail stores lining our main streets. However, as competition continues to increase from all fronts, the key to survival and continued growth will be your ability to evolve!

In the Six Ways to Compete with E-commerce, tip #2 is: Offer Online Services. They say, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”. The six most popular reasons consumers shop via e-commerce are lower pricing, free delivery, wider selections/variety of options, comparison shopping, no sales pressure, and convenience. With the exception of Amazon, most products found on e-commerce sights are not less expensive. It’s simple, the “convenience” of shopping online is having products delivered to your door. Keep in mind, the word FREE is key in delivery. Companies that offer free delivery (Amazon Prime) tend to be much more popular than those that add a fee.

If free delivery is not an option, BOPUS (Buy Online Pick Up at Store) may be a viable option.

The game’s not over and if you are keeping score, as of the end of third quarter 2021 (latest statistic via Statista Dec 3rd, 2021), the score is brick-and-mortar 87% vs e-commerce 13%. Yes, e-commerce grew from 13.5% in 2020 to 13.8% in the second quarter of 2021, but then fell slightly to 13% in the third quarter of 2021.

The more the world changes, the more consumers demand. To stay ahead of the ever-changing competition, as business owners we need to continue to evolve. To see Six Ways to Complete with E-commerce, click here.

Note: The statistics provide are from sites via the internet and are from non-e-commerce companies. If you visit enough e-commerce sites, you will find conflicting data which provides more favorable results for their subscribers.

I have one more important fact for you to consider and that is the reliability factor of measuring your advertising R.O.I. attribution.

Those in the web world like to push the falsehood that online is 100% trackable. Having spent significant time working in the e-commerce world, I understand what they are saying, because it is common practice to put tracking codes on the links that we see in email or online. But there are other significant factors that influenced us to click on those links such as brand awareness, reputation, word of mouth and other things that aren’t trackable. If anyone tells you that digital marketing is better than other forms for those reasons, please be skeptical and you can even reach out to me for an unbiased but informed opinion and insight.

Brand Building For 2022

by Scott Howard | Jan 4, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

When you own and operate a business and you live and breathe it, often, it’s difficult to see when things change. As they say, sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees.

When is the last time you had a Brand Health Check-Up?

Only politicians can succeed without delivering on their promises, and only weather forecasters can make mistakes every day and still keep their jobs.

Unfortunately, you are neither, so you have to build your business and your brand by delivering on every promise and accurately forecasting how your customers prefer to be served and sold.

Some business owners mistakenly think that a brand is built simply around their business name, location, industry, employees, and their marketing. But your brand is the sum of everything your customers and prospects hear, see, feel, and experience when they do business with you.

Your brand is who you are, what you do, and how you do it! Reputation management is an ongoing, continual task, and regular check-ups are necessary.

Brands are the sum of the impressions you create at every customer touchpoint; from your advertising to the way you answer your phone, the cleanliness of your buildings, vehicles, and bathrooms, your warranty and return policies, to the way you empower your staff to resolve customer conflicts.

Does your business need a health check? Do you have a clearly defined mission and is it evident at every customer touchpoint?

Click here for our free Brand Health Check to ensure that you are walking the talk.

Talk to the Expert

by Scott Howard | Dec 14, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice

Some consumers make purchase decisions based on relationships and some make them purely on price. They are referred to as either Relational or Transactional customers.

If your business sells on price alone, this information may not pertain as much to you. If you would like to sell more on relationships, pay close attention and heed this information.

Chris Lytle, the author of The Accidental Salesperson, says “If you become known for what you know instead of what you sell, buyers will come to you for help and advice instead of the lowest price.” The good news is, they will pay more for your knowledge than they will for just the product!

Chris goes on to explain “To become known for what you know, you have to actively market your knowledge instead of your product.”

A group of hugely successful auto parts stores created a strong market position with the DIY category by promoting and exploiting the knowledge of their employees. They had employees that loved Ford, others that knew Chevy, Chrysler, or Dodge inside and out. Even some that were more knowledgeable about the older “muscle cars”. This knowledge took the focus off of the price and put it squarely on the fact that they had people with the knowledge, and they had the parts.

As they say, knowledge is power, and the more knowledge you are perceived to have, the more people will look at you and your company as the “experts”.

In Eight Ways to Market Your Knowledge, the author suggests that you have an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website. Monitor the questions your customers are asking and publish your answers clearly in layman’s terms. Allow your prospects and customers to ask questions online, and always be prompt in posting your answers. Most importantly, take credit for your answers and make sure the public recognizes the answers came from you.

Click here if you want me to deliver all Eight Ways to Market Your Knowledge.

Your Supplier Wants To Help Pay For Your Advertising

by Scott Howard | Nov 30, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice

All of your suppliers have a vested interest in your success, and most of them have access to extraordinary marketing funds and resources beyond traditional co-op to help you sell more of their products.

With the end of the year rapidly approaching, it’s your chance to make a “Last Dash for Cash”. Don’t think it’s too late. Millions of co-op dollars go unused every year. The main reason is that seldom does anyone ask for these funds! If you don’t access those funds, you are literally throwing money away, or worse yet, your competitors will scoop those funds and use them against you.

In our How to Leverage Your Suppliers’ Marketing Muscle, tactic number one is “Tender your Next Ad Campaign”. Present a written proposal for submissions for marketing support from all of your suppliers outlining your proposed advertising schedule and investment, along with any special displays, promotions, demonstrations, or other exposure the winning bidder will receive.

Many business owners believe their hands are tied to rigid manufacturers’ restrictions if they use manufacturers’ co-op advertising funds, but seldom is this the case. The “squeaky wheel” oftentimes gets the grease!

If you are an appliance dealer, for example, and you sell GE and Whirlpool, your GE representative has a vested interest in you featuring GE versus Whirlpool in your ad. If you make a presentation to GE outlining the kind of campaign you propose to use to sell more GE products without using the standard GE script or ad copy that the manufacturer supplies, it will generally be approved by their office because they don’t want your campaign to feature their competitor.

Still, other businesses opt not to leverage their suppliers’ marketing muscle because it takes time and effort. In today’s competitive environment you need to take advantage of every competitive edge you can.

It may be too late in the year to go through the process of preparing and presenting a full-blown marketing campaign, but it’s not too late to simply ASK.

The old saying, “Ask and ye shall receive” still works, especially at the end of the year when manufacturers have unspent funds.

Make a Last Dash for your Cash and Good Luck!

Click here to retrieve our FREE How to Leverage Your Suppliers’ Marketing Muscle.

For the past several years, I have been working with a wholesaler that has created additional coop funding with their largest supplier and it pays for 50% of the advertising they do on my radio station in the form of product credits. It’s really a no-brainer for the dealers to do this.

Another company that I work with has me submit scripts and get a approval number which takes just a couple of days and they also get free money for their advertising on WOWO.

Contact me and we’ll help you see what you qualify for in coop funds for the year ahead.!

The Ten Busiest Shopping Days for Christmas 2021…Are you Ready?

by Scott Howard | Nov 9, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice

The top 10 busiest shopping days typically account for about 40% of all holiday shopping visits to physical stores. (2019 was 46.5% of the total season’s brick-and-mortar traffic whereas in “2020 COVID”, the busiest shopping days accounted for 35.2%). Source: Forbes online, Sept 28, 2021.

As we approach Christmas 2021, here’s what consumers will be facing:

It will be more expensive than any year in history
Supplies will be more limited than ever
Shop early or lose out

If you own a retail store, you have heard all the doom and gloom about people spending money online or through e-commerce. That was certainly true in 2020. COVID caused a huge push to e-commerce, but they are excited and ready to return to Brink-n-Mortar shopping in 2021.

While e-commerce will continue to grow, so will Brick-n-Mortar. Estimates suggest that total US holiday retail sales in 2021 will rise 2.7% to $1.093 trillion, while the season’s e-commerce sales will rise 11.3% to $206.88 billion. Even with the increase in e-commerce, that still leaves 81.1% for Brick-n-Mortar, or $886,120,000,000.00. (That’s $886.1 Billion Dollars)

Businesses that are well planned and run well-executed events and promotions can help garner more than your fair share of the holiday shopping pie. Knowing when the shoppers are ready to shop and being ready for them is paramount to getting that fair share.

Stores that plan in-store special events and then promote them will see greater store traffic and greater sales than those that simply sit back and “hope” people stop in. Getting them into the store at key buying times can and will make all the difference.

Are you ready?

According to Forbes magazine, here are in order what are expected to be the 10-busiest shopping days for 2021:

Black Friday, November 26
December 18, Super Saturday – last Saturday before Christmas
December 23, Thursday before Christmas
December 11, two Saturdays before Christmas
December 26th, Day after Christmas
December 22, Wednesday before Christmas
November 27, Saturday after Thanksgiving
December 4, 1st Saturday in December
December 21, Tuesday before Christmas
December 19, Sunday before Christmas

If you would like help in planning any of your marketing and/or advertising events for this holiday season, it’s not too late. Give me a call and I will have someone from my team sit down with you and help come up with creative ideas to help you have a successful 2021 holiday shopping season.

Customer Trust Builds Customer Loyalty

by Scott Howard | Oct 26, 2021 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, Sound ADvice

In last week’s article and podcast episode which featured material from my SoundADvice newsletter, I mentioned that when all things are equal, the decision we use to determine who we purchase from is based on… perception! And that perception is, who’s better, who’s more “trustworthy”, and who’s more reliable!

The internet has changed the way your customers buy. Before most purchases, they go online to learn more about you and your competitors. Successful marketers today know the route to higher closing ratios and sales is built upon stronger customer relationships. And those relationships are built upon trust.

“Trust” is defined as, confidence in a person or thing because of the qualities one perceives in them. Your advertising, your website, and your front-line people can create the qualities your prospects perceive in you and cause them to choose you over your competitors when they go online.

If your customer count and page views are not reflected in your sales, you need to examine four key areas:

Does your advertising pre-sell customers and build realistic expectations?
Do the expectations match the actual shopping experience?
Does your website answer the questions your customers are asking?
Are your front-line salespeople competent and confident?

The powerful four-way marketing of credible advertising to pre-sell your prospects, matching expectations with actual experience, combined with helpful websites/Facebook pages and knowledgeable salespeople to improve your closing ratios will increase your sales.

In the Twelve Trust Techniques, Technique Number 3 is Be Real – Turn Weaknesses into Strengths. Every business has a “perceived weakness”. Don’t be afraid to share the weakness and turn it into a strength. People will trust you more when you share an inadequacy.

Click here to review our Twelve Trust Techniques to create a pre-need trust and preference for your website and your salespeople.