Is Retail Dead?

I’m sitting here in LA on the morning of Black Friday (I guess my alarm clock didn’t go off at 4a.m. so I could canvas the scene and see for myself that this would be a mild shopping season) and thinking big things: When will the economy turnaround? When will we have no direct US involvement in war and see an overall decline in senseless acts of aggression? Is Retail Dead?

Ok, not sure about the first two, but the answer to #3 is "NO" – sorry for the drama, we need the ratings to drive ad revenues so it was suggested we puff up our headlines and leads.

Seriously, this is a real topic and a question everyone who relies on retail (starting with several thousand brand marketers) has or must ask themselves today and everyday. It really shook me when I rolled up to a Circuit City store and it had "Liquidation Sale: Everything Must Go" signs covering the windows. Then as I started and reflected at the signs I realized that just a few months ago this was a CompUSA store and a year or so ago it was a Good Guys store. Unbelievable I thought. But is it?

Retail is like any business, if you fail to innovate, keep pace with customers, provide unique value and running an efficient operation, you are road kill. And, when the economy tightens (a bit of an understatement given the events of the last few months) it truly tests the mettle of all operators to balance efficiency, value and innovation. But while those 3 operations hit the skids, chains like the Apple store, Amazon and Fry’s continue to pack people into their stores, grow and evolve.

So now you’re a vendor and looking to find the right partnership. Pick partners where you can meet your goals. Increase awareness, drive trial product experience, usage or just drive sales. (I know, how boring). Listen, retail is not just about sales, but it is about achieving goals and objectives, along with an acceptable ROI. Don’t lose site of that and you will find successful sales partners.

Ok, so what do you do? Who do you sign up to carry your product? Remember when you used to build a computer or software product and tried to sign everyone up to carry up – J&R to BJ’s, Walgreen’s to OfficeMax, MicroCenter to eBay. Today, that’s not so popular, or smart. But before deciding you need to consider the options:
Selective distribution or Exclusive distribution – Pick one partner or a few partners. Apple+BestBuy, Dell and Costco. The 3 sisters of the Office product variety, there are many options.
Alternative distribution – VAR’s, Awareness Channels that provide huge exposure, or funky places that can meet a variety of goals (i.e. Radio Shack, eBay, or a Company that I recently tapped to help a client build a web stores for its brand.

Yea, it’s crazy out there. Its tricky too but there is a strategy for you.