Global Resources Offers Advice for Retailers on Edge in the Ecommerce Era

CHICAGO - April 17, 2017 - PRLog -- 2017 has not been a good year for retail businesses. Most recently, Payless ShoeSource, the formerly popular low-cost shoe retailer, filed for bankruptcy this month. So far in 2017, nine big retailers have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to new reports. Last month, Moody's compiled a list of almost 20 retailers that are in financial distress. The list included well-known brands like Sears and J. Crew.

Veteran consultants at Global Resources are aiming to assist small, locally-based retail outlets to stay afloat in the current, highly distressed environment. One of the main reasons traditional retail brands are failing is because of the onset of ecommerce retail. Consumers are preferring online shopping to in-store shopping. Buyers are attracted to budget or off-price sites, which traditional retailers cannot match in terms of price.

Global Resources consultants are offering general advice for retailers to stay afloat.

Adopt a niche: Trends are largely indicating that businesses with a narrow focus are the entities that are most likely to be successful in 2017. Having a niche makes it easy to focus the marketing message to the target audience. Niche companies do not come into direct competition with retail giants such as Amazon either. Consumers are also seeking more specialized services, which only companies with narrow focuses can offer.

Build an online store: To survive the coming years, retail businesses must gradually move sales online. It's very important to build an online store that caters especially to the target audience. Online stores with a niche focus, as mentioned above, are the ones most likely to thrive. Consumers also expect elevated security protocols, speedy services and multiple payment options when shopping on the web. Buying habits are shifting to online and handheld devices. Retailers that keep up with these changing patterns are the only ones that can survive.

Design a mobile app: A significant percentage of consumers are now using handheld devices to shop. Already, companies like Amazon and eBay offer mobile apps with easy one-click shopping options. Small retail businesses must also offer loyal customers the option of shopping via an app to prevent losing them to a bigger retailer.

Focus on selling locally: Rather than target a large, generic audience, small retailers can find success more reliably by focusing on local customers. Local customers can be limited to a town, city, state or a country. Retailers that offer localized services—such as language support, no currency conversions, free or cheap shipping and locally sensible marketing—can very likely remain profitable regardless of the grim outlook for major retailers.

This advice comes from Global Resources consultants who have years of experience in the retail industry. In addition to the above general advice, retail companies can obtain customized company reviews and highly specific set of recommendations to implement from Global Resources. Additional information is available at GR-US.com (http://www.gr-us.com/).

About Global Resources:

Global Resources LLC is a full-service general management consulting firm and business development group that provides services mainly to privately held small and medium-size companies in North America. We help companies maintain positive cash flow, control costs and accelerate profitable growth. We create plans of actions for companies to meet their goals, produce results and succeed for years to come.