By Chris Cook
For me, not a day goes by without hearing about another addition to the wireless landscape. Whether a new phone, service offering application and/or network, we are barraged with a plethora of wireless offerings designed to improve our world. On the other hand, I hear little about innovation in the mobile electronics industry. Mostly products announced appear to be more evolutionary than revolutionary. I’m not saying we have no innovation, but the trends from our past that provided us with new digital innovations have been few and far between.
So what can we do to pull excitement from others to bolster our own presence? First, take a look at how you are presenting your store to the consumer. This presentation defines how you are perceived thus opening or closing the door to new business.
That said, are you taking full advantage when marketing the name Mobile Electronics? As I mentioned, consumers may be confused as to which products are for sale behind your doors. For me, the name is still synonymous with our industry and no explanation is required. However, from both the wireless industry and for many consumers, our name provides confusion not clarification. Take a moment to think about the wireless phone industry. Do you see a connection to our industry or do you view them as one industry? I tend to see them as one but also separate, with some overlapping areas. However the separation may be more confusion of each rather than an actual difference.
Let’s take the title for what it is and market and sell products that fit under this ever-broadening umbrella. If you have the ability to broaden your offering to include both wireless accessories and traditional car audio and video products then take advantage of the name and position your store as a one-stop shopping experience offering many ways to connect and enhance both traditional mobile electronics and wireless devices. By making the wireless connection with consumers you will add value to your marketing and hopefully draw more customers into your store!
By Chris Cook
Do you recall a time when selling brand names on the Internet was the exception and not the norm? When a call to your supplier launched an investigation of how this rogue reseller got their hands on your best sellers? Things have certainly changed as the Internet sales channel has evolved. Take a moment and Google your best sellers and you will probably find them readily available on websites like eBay.com, LogJamElectronics.com, BottomDollar.com and Yahoo Shopping.
At this stage, competing with those online retailers probably seems like a losing battle. It’s easy to get tired, and frustrated, with the situation when you’re competing with online resellers that seem to outnumber the stars in the sky. So what to do? Maybe call a hacker and have them shut down the Internet? Not likely, but at times a nice thought. I guess you are waiting for the usual advice to “offer good customer service and installation expertise” and everything will be alright? Not a chance. Although following that advice never hurts business, you need to look at this in a more proactive way.
First, do you have a Web presence? Is it a good one? You know, one you or your kids would visit and shop at? Have you ever thought of offering a best Internet price guarantee? Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, how would you compete selling products for less then you bought them for? Fine print helps because you can offer to beat any authorized Internet retailer (which certainly makes a difference to customers who want a valid warranty). The idea is to get customers in your store by letting them know (using your website) that you are the local guy willing to offer full service for Internet pricing on these products.
Maybe take it a step further by setting up your own e-commerce and or mail-order business using free or inexpensive software? We’ve provided you with a short list of e-commerce software providers at the end of this post. There’s no reason you can’t compete in the online world, too, while also promoting brick-and-mortar business and your installation expertise.
So let’s say you set up an e-commerce section of your site. How would you handle fulfillment? One way to handle this would be to use Amazon.com’s e-commerce fulfillment service to handle this for your business.
At the end of the month (or day) it’s how well you execute your plan to get customers in your store using any means possible (including the Internet). So log on, take a good look at your Web presence and see what you can do to break the logjam without making bottom dollar!
E-commerce providers:
Vendio (free to install and use, takes a percentage of Internet sales)
Zen Cart (free to install and use, paid support)