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Casual Articles - Third Place Retailing - The New Battlefield
It has been often noted than small businesses are the driving force behind the large number of innovations that contribute to growth of a national economy through employment creation, investments and export. But the fact that they don’t have the money or the bandwidth to carry out strong marketing programmes has always kept them in the dark corner of an economic society. Comprising nearly two thirds of the enterprises in India, small businesses have never been given the opportunit
Find out how a writing and blogging campaign can help you to achieve uncommon results.Are you using the power of content-rich articles and blogs to deliver more bang for your buck?You should be!Traditional advertising is expensive and often fails to deliver the desired results.I've been there and done that. I have sunk countless dollars into advertising that literally did not do diddly squat for me or my business. In essence, the only one who benefited was th
Is this an opportunity to go head to head with Starbucks? I think not. I believe a Starbucks consumer will remain a Starbucks consumer and will not shift to McDonalds, but as Starbucks philosophy states; there is a retail opportunity for businesses that develop a ‘third’ place.
What is a ‘third’ place? Consumers spend time at home, their first place; at work, their second place and then often have a favourite third place.
As a “Brit” the traditional third place for “blue” collar males was the pub. For many Generation X it may be the gym. For many baby boomers it is Starbucks.
One of the keys to success is that if you have a retail opportunity to develop a third place and succeed, you can start developing premium priced products. I believe part of McDonalds’ strategy is to strengthen their third place in the minds of their target market.
“Third” Place Retailers
In the UK 60% of people who visit their local garden centre bought a cup of coffee. Garden centres intentionally or unintentionally have developed a “third place” for their target consumer. Restaurants and bars are an obvious third place for another segment of the market place. Third place retailers can include furniture companies (IKEA in some locations) farmers markets and specific shopping centres.
What makes a retail organisation become a third place in the consumer's mind? They are retailers who really understand their target market and make that target group feel like they are in a home away from home. They select store graphics and furniture that make their customers feel at home, plus they inevitably provide a refreshment offer. Why go to this much trouble to make the customer feel at home? Consider Starbucks, where their target customer visits them on average 18
What Does a Truck Crash have to do with Your Business? Recently a tanker truck crashed on the Bay Bridge in San Francisco spilling its load of gasoline. The gasoline ignited and the fire collapsed a portion of the Bay Bridge. Repairs will take 4-6 months and the commute to work for 1,000’s of workers has been severely restricted. San Francisco’s authorities are strongly recommending public transportation and Working from Home.Does your company have the tools for employees to wor
What is a ‘third’ place? Consumers spend time at home, their first place; at work, their second place and then often have a favourite third place.
As a “Brit” the traditional third place for “blue” collar males was the pub. For many Generation X it may be the gym. For many baby boomers it is Starbucks.
One of the keys to success is that if you have a retail opportunity to develop a third place and succeed, you can start developing premium priced products. I believe part of McDonalds’ strategy is to strengthen their third place in the minds of their target market.
“Third” Place Retailers
In the UK 60% of people who visit their local garden centre bought a cup of coffee. Garden centres intentionally or unintentionally have developed a “third place” for their target consumer. Restaurants and bars are an obvious third place for another segment of the market place. Third place retailers can include furniture companies (IKEA in some locations) farmers markets and specific shopping centres.
What makes a retail organisation become a third place in the consumer's mind? They are retailers who really understand their target market and make that target group feel like they are in a home away from home. They select store graphics and furniture that make their customers feel at home, plus they inevitably provide a refreshment offer. Why go to this much trouble to make the customer feel at home? Consider Starbucks, where their target customer visits them on average 1
Like any business, a home business needs to be nurtured in order for it to be successful. You can't just sit back and hope that it is going to take care of itself, and that the single action of having a website and submitting it to search engines to allow potential customers to find it is going to do the trick.No matter what you may have been told, there is no business that is going to make money for you without you having to do some work to make it happen. Yes, they teach you ab
One of the keys to success is that if you have a retail opportunity to develop a third place and succeed, you can start developing premium priced products. I believe part of McDonalds’ strategy is to strengthen their third place in the minds of their target market.
“Third” Place Retailers
In the UK 60% of people who visit their local garden centre bought a cup of coffee. Garden centres intentionally or unintentionally have developed a “third place” for their target consumer. Restaurants and bars are an obvious third place for another segment of the market place. Third place retailers can include furniture companies (IKEA in some locations) farmers markets and specific shopping centres.
What makes a retail organisation become a third place in the consumer's mind? They are retailers who really understand their target market and make that target group feel like they are in a home away from home. They select store graphics and furniture that make their customers feel at home, plus they inevitably provide a refreshment offer. Why go to this much trouble to make the customer feel at home? Consider Starbucks, where their target customer visits them on average 1
When you are totally cash strapped yourself, it is pretty darn difficult to maintain sound judgment when someone tells you that they know how to make extra money. You might know that whatever making extra money ideas that they have could be pretty much a hair-balled get rich quick scheme. But then, part of you wants so much to believe in it. After all, people do get lucky right?You might be down on your luck, working for minimum wage in a gas station, but this cannot be all that
What makes a retail organisation become a third place in the consumer's mind? They are retailers who really understand their target market and make that target group feel like they are in a home away from home. They select store graphics and furniture that make their customers feel at home, plus they inevitably provide a refreshment offer. Why go to this much trouble to make the customer feel at home? Consider Starbucks, where their target customer visits them on average 1
Here in the Jean's Restaurant Supply Service Department, we have compilied a list of service and preventative maintenance tips to help your restaurant succeed in it's business venture. Your heating, cooling, cooking and food preparation equipment is a huge investment that should be kept in good, clean, operational order. Commercial Ovens: Wipe out spills from your oven cavity daily- this will cut down on rust and corrosion in the o
“Third” place retailers also realise that it is more than the visual graphics. The look is important, but equally important is how the customer feels and that relates to customer satisfaction, not customer service. Customers want to feel they are individuals and to be treated as such. This means team members need to be trained in customer service, but also have an understanding of the customer as an individual and what pleases them as an individual.
Lovemark Loyalty
Some retail consultants use the term “lovemark loyalty” for organisations that have achieved this business success. A “lovemark” is a brand that the consumer loves to own (BMW, Starbucks, Virgin and Burberry all aim to be lovemarks.)
Customers can fall in love with the product, but not the store. To fall in love with the store it has to be a “love zone” in the customer's eyes. In other words the people employed have to genuinely care about the customer, the product and the store environment.
Many may believe this to be self explanatory, but I recently purchased my ‘lovemark’ car. When my wife and I went to the show room to pick the vehicle up, the ‘love zone’ customer service was a long way off the mark. My wife was ignored and we were left waiting, without an explanation, for twenty minutes. I was also advised they would contact me within one month to check on their customer service, three months later, I’m still waiting.
The key to success is that as the perceived image of your product increases, the standard of customer satisfaction from your team members also needs to increase. It is a real challenge and often misundersto
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