Retailers, turn the habits of your buyers into your purposeful difference

Create a club.

You love what you sell. People love what they buy. So create a club.

Help people realise how often they buy your product. Share the pain of shopping for that product every week, month or year. Let your customer feel like they’re part of a community, a select bunch of believers.

Maybe they pick your product up from their local shop. Maybe it’s part of their weekly grocery delivery. Wouldn’t you love to own that relationship, rather than the middle man?

Logistics aren’t difficult. Give people control. Allow them to opt-in and opt-out as they wish. It’s a great way to keep your buyer’s active. To learn from their buying traits. Own that connection.

James Coffee Co. do a great job – roasted on a Monday, dispatched to you on the Tuesday. They push the convenience factor. The idea that you can have your coffee as and when you want it. It’s unStarbucks.

The knack is empathy. Show your buyer you’re giving them one less thing to worry about. Let them know that they’re a VIP to your business. Share your business inside out. Show the process and share the thinking behind the process.

There’s so much scope and it concerns me how so few product manufacturers ignore the opportunity of social-driven business through the subscription business model.

I know what happens.

You get swamped by the immediate tasks of the business. I owned a guitar shop for 5 years. It’s my big regret not setting up a replacement string subscription service. Guitarists dropped into a shop ever month to buy their new set of Super Slinkys. They had their preference and it rarely changed. I can now look back and see how valuable a subscription service would have been. For every guitarist that took time out of their day to visit the shop (and who wouldn’t want to?) there must have been a dozen with rusty strings waiting for a string to snap before replacing. They would have benefitted most? How? Through my website educating them about the drastic tonal difference between new and old strings (I won’t bore you now). I never realised the chance to add that offering to the business model and it still frustrates me 7 years later. I’m now older and wiser. Yes, I should move on.

I bought printer toner today. I would have saved 25% if I’d have bought 4. £400 is a big commitment for printer tone. But, I will spend it eventually. Why not help me compute how often I change toner and offer the same discount if I staggered my purchase thorough a subscription? You then have a loyal buyer. Even for a product as dull as laser printer toner, I’d still probably recommend you on to friends.

You may find selling 12 things easy than selling 1 thing. It may purpose your marketing so you’re focusing on the long-haul rather than the quick-win. It may help your business as you make future buying decisions.

Explore the opportunity. Repeatedly.


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Ian Rhodes

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First employee of an ecommerce startup back in 1998. I've been using building and growing ecommerce brands ever since (including my own). Get weekly growth lessons from my own work delivered to your inbox below.

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