On Monday, I drove past one of the many empty retail locations in Knoxville. It used to be the local Gander Mountain. Today’s it’s a reminder that while we’re all facing challenges, today’s brick and mortar retailers face tough jobs even on their best days.
So what helps some retailers succeed while others that appear equally or better equipped, fail?
For some, it’s a unique focus or particular area of expertise. Reading Sporting Classic’s list of 2018 Award of Excellence Winners this morning, I noticed Double Guns of Nashville as their “Sporting Lifestyle” winner.
That’s a perfect example of the store that knows its customers. That’s likely because owners Terry Hetrick and Barry Rich really are their customers- experienced shotgunners.
I’ve never visited, and I’m decidedly not a member of the shotgunning crowd. At SHOT Show, I had my first opportunity to shoot a really high-end shotgun. It was as close to magic as I could have imagined. I “get” the attraction, but doubt I’ll ever have the means to “get” one of the shotguns. A five figure shotgun (where the five figures go to the left of the decimal point) makes me queasy.
But a visit to a store that focuses on the shotgun “experience” is definitely on my radar - not just to ogle, but to see how they make their store work.
I have visited one small gun store that’s undergone one of the best renovations I’ve ever seen.
North & Co. Firearms of Morristown, Tennessee is a small store in a small town that recently got a new owner- and needed a new image.
North has created a welcoming vibe, featuring attractive trophy and gun displays, comfortable chairs, a coffee table full of shooting and outdoor magazines, and new products displayed in vintage ammo boxes. Like Double Guns of Nashville, it’s now a destination - with an inviting feel.
As destinations go, it’s nothing on the scale of Bass Pro Shops or Cabela’s, but those two “blended” giants face their own issues.
But “blending” may be one solution retailers of all sizes can embrace.
Successful retailers outside the outdoor space have realized there is no longer a “divide” between online and in-store.
Nike’s 23NYC Studio uses the SNKRS app to appeal to “sneakerheads” - their hard-core customers. They’ve making their store product into app content.
They hide hints to a stash of their highly-coveted limited-edition shoes inside the SNKRS app. “Sneakerheads” look at app, then visit a geo-fenced area inside the store and use the app to locate the sneakers. They then buy them in-store.
We experimented with geo-fencing at our Starlight 3 Gun event, but we never considered of using it to drive on-site participation.
It’s another example of using innovation to drive expectations - and purchases. It seems today’s outdoor industry has been over-focused on “innovation” and has taken its collective creative eye off “purchases”.
Here’s some more “hints” to success we’ve seen in evolving brick-and-mortar strategies:
There are plenty of other good ideas out there. Why not steal a page from the groceries now offering drive-up shopping and offer to pre-package ammo, targets and cleaning supplies for customers?
Don’t know if I’d go so far as to advertise “drive-by” restocking, but it might be the wrinkle that gets price sensitive customers to see the value in your store over another.
Convenience adds value.
Anyone who’s spoken with me much knows I’m no fan of the experts and their “tribal cult models”. They build “followings” but fail in driving measurable results - called sales- for their clients. But...I’d be all-in on an idea that converted someone’s “cults” into customers.
Making creative commercials for national customers over the years, I learned it’s far easier for them to pay for creativity out of profits instead of cash flow.
But creative experiences that drive sales...that’s a concept anyone could get behind.
--Jim Shepherd