Retailing after the recession

Your business has survived the worst of the recent financial crises. Almost all your retail outlets still continue to operate though the staff strength has been reduced to half. Your organisation has made the necessary adjustments and realignments, weeded out the poor performers, eliminated the loss making brands, cut down on the marketing dirhams and lived to tell the story. Good.

You may have weathered the storm but are you doing enough to ensure that you are still in business? As we approach the recovery phase, what is it that we as retailers need to do to take our business to a new high.

Here are a few suggestions:

Don't believe in the green shoots story

Do you remember the recent earthquake in South East Asia? Most major earthquakes are followed by after shocks. Mild tremors that have the potential to create as much damage as the main one. While many experts across the industry have been screaming that the worst is over, many retailers will be tempted to step on the gas. One needs to stay focussed on the current challenges while anticipating mild tremors in the short term

Create value for the customer

Many retailers continue to run around in circles trying to get away from the current tsunami. Many are struggling to survive thus pulling all plugs to stay afloat. Not many times in the past have we faced this tremendous challenge to create even more value for the customer. Senior leadership across organisations in Dubai needs to foster creativity among its people and look at every possible way to add value. Every 'extra' will go a long way to built customer loyalty as against the easier route of discounting the price even further. Many of the retailers in Dubai are in fact in a precarious position today because they chose to take the price route when the crises hit us. In the longer term, customers remain loyal to retailers who treat them as special and do that little bit extra.

Manage your inventory

Nothing costs more than money these days. I know of a few organisation that either survived or perished the recent conditions entirely based on the way they managed their inventories. Review your buying and product ranging policies. Focus on the high margin and footfall drivers. Put in place very effective policies to drive inventory turns. How is your organisation structured to manage this key area that many times gets the least of your attention.

Underestimate the competition

It is important to track and monitor the competition effectively. You will be surprised with the results. Many competitors are probably on the brink. It is the time to clean up the desk and put together a completely new strategy to tackle the competition. The competition is vulnerable. The competition is reeling. Dig deeper into those pockets and wait for the opportunities. In the next few months, we will be confronted by numerous and exciting opportunities to take over competition and quickly ramp up growth. If we have not prepared our organisation for this scenario, we will have let go of a kind of opportunity that comes only once in several decades.