Saturday, August 4, 2012

Retailers - who your customers are?



Do we have any idea what has been the biggest change in our companies’ customers base in the past recent years?

Customers in today’s marketplace have more choices than ever. Just look around our offices or residences, a rapid growing number of convenient stores open 24 hours a day.

Is the marketplace changing only because of fierce competition or what force has actually changed it?  Different industry or even different segment of an industry will have its own force of change.

It is important to better understand our customers and what they really want. It is also important to know what they buy, how they buy and why they buy?

However, it will be helpful to understand how the daily life routines changed in the society. One single dominant factor is the impacts of Internet.

Internet has had revolutionary impacts not only in the way people find information but also in life style. Ten or fifteen years ago when more and more women started working in the offices or factories, change in the stores operating hours also started because those working women didn’t have the usual time to shop as before.

Now with the opportunities to do various businesses from home using the Internet, even more women engaged and busy in business rather than at home just raising families and have ample time to shop on the normal hours.

Have we thought of that impact to our business and thus what innovative actions we should take in order to grab new potential business opportunities?


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