I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s only the truth which I speak, that being that if you are an electronics retailer, your shop’s days are numbered on this earth! Think corner-video-shop-store during that golden period when the transition to faster internet met the transition to digital video formats and the compression technology to go with.
By no means is this an attempt to put you off in any way – I mean as long as the sales keep rolling in, you’re still good to go, right? And the fact that the same number of people walked through your doors today to complete a purchase as those who walked through your doors yesterday gives you an incentive to do the whole thing all over again tomorrow, doesn’t it? As long as your sales, minus your overheads such as the small fees you pay for the merchant services you use, equals profits at the end of the day, at the end of the week and at the end of the month, you have a reason to keep opening your doors for business every morning, do you not?
The thing about paradigm shifts in the tech world however is that they tend to happen suddenly and by the time established players in the market catch a whiff of the change that’s happening, it’s far too late. These types of changes happen a bit too quickly.
Again, all is not lost and this is not an attempt to make you feel bad as an electronics store owner. It’s just an attempt to open you up to the process of change you should start to effect in your own store. Embrace the imminent change that’s inevitable, while at the same time milking the cash cow you’ve got for everything it has left.
Like a rock band whose members are showing signs of ageing, why not look towards the likes of the format in which Clover Point of Sale units are evolving as a hint? – Plan your “final tour” so to say and then put measures in place to keep profiting from your “royalties,” a practical application of which idea is for you to plan a mobile tech road show through something like hosting a pop-up video game tournament. While everybody is caught up in the excitement of the main event, which would be something like the mentioned video game show-down (with prize money), why not extend the pop-up setup to include a mobile electronics store? Mobile POS systems are to be included so that people who would otherwise never set foot in your permanent store location have a chance to buy from you on the spot. I mean the best POS system should be comprised out of a number of different components, some of which must be mobile and portable. If yours doesn’t, perhaps it’s time to get a new one – perhaps it’s time to get one which demonstrates your anticipation of what’s to come in the future.
While planning and implementing your last hoorah, start making plans to transition into a digital electronics store through which you perhaps don’t have to buy and physically house your entire inventory. That’s the future of electronics sales.
