With recession hitting the global economy in a bigway, it seems that much cannot be done to escape the crisis bites. Or, isthere?


Financial problems are growing in an alarming rate even for bigretailers and suppliers. Small and medium sized retailers see their cash flowsdrying up. Businesses are scrambling, to make sales, and seek for ways toenhance business processes and performance. Suppliers who provide products to big garment manufacturers and retail chains are getting burnt. Summing upwith the issues of the crisis bitten industry, the ultimate scenario is; shortageof merchandise, cost cuttings, shut downs, and layoffs.

Marketing the way through Recession:


Shopping is now, on the verge of undergoing a sea change. Theamount of disposable income in the hands of over leveraged consumers is less.As the economy stagnates, businesses are under the responsibility to developsales, and management strategies' to generate revenue.


  • Sustain the current customers: The best way to ride the tide of slowdown, and keep the business afloat is to concentrate on the current customers, and fulfilling their needs. This would be a better choice than cutting down the market research budget. More attention must be paid to what shoppers are requesting, snapping or complaining about.
  • Maintain the Advertising costs: It is the general tendency of the business to cut down the advertising costs during recession. But, advertising during a slump, when the competitors are cutting down can actually improve the market share and return on investment. The ratio might at times even prove to be better than during good economic times. To minimize the costs, the frequency of the advertisements can be curtailed.
  • Adopting price tactics: Consumers would prefer to shop for products with the best deals. Offering the products at an affordable and inconspicuous price will lift the consumers' spirits, without pressurizing them.
  • Focus on the Market share: Having a proper understanding of the cost structure of the business will aid in saving money with minimum consumer impact. Retail giants like Wal-Mart has a strong market position, and productive cost structure in the industry will gain more market share.
  • Additional Services: An effective approach to increase sales during a downturn is to give something extra to the customer. Offers should be customized to meet the specific requirements of the customers. This can be either in the form of a promotional item, an extended discount or otherwise.


Strategies of Retail Giants:


As the pangs of recession crunch deep into the retailindustry, apparel retailers are facing a slippery slope. Individuality andinnovation needs to be utilized to employ creative tactics to enhance thecustomer understanding. Retailers are now offering exclusive merchandise, andmore focused customer service. Retailers are now ordering for limited number ofapparels, leaving the customers with limited brands to choose because they haveunderstood that, they cant get out of the apparels that they have orderedmonths before. They prefer to order less number of apparels in each size ratherthan risking to have more inventory left over.


Collaborations will come into vogue between retailers andprominent designers. This will give the retail outlets, a unique identity, andalso make sure, that garments available in their shops are not sold in multipleoutlets. Consumers will also get more attention from the sales staff.


 

Target, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot will be winnowing their brands. Levi Strauss, the denim specialist which has recently acquired 73 stores all over the US has declared that it will continue its investment in brands, despite currency fluctuations and declining sales.


Wal-Mart is attempting to drive the quality higher, and lower the costs through its sustainable product index. The company is planning a survey focusing on climate, material, and natural resources. Based on the survey, a common database will be developed, which will analyze the global supply chain. The index thus developed will be a single source of data that will evaluate the sustainability of the products. This would revolutionize the shopping experience of the consumers, by putting the product information about the sustainability of the apparel.


Apparel retailer J. Crew Group Inc has instigated cost reduction programs to bring efficiency in areas of supply chain, and store operations. In high end stores, the era of putting a hefty price tag for luxury good seems to be over. High end shops such as Coach, Saks, and Neiman Marcus will be having more mid priced merchandise in their store racks. Sears and J.C. Penney are planning for self-service computers in their stores, which enables the customers to browse collections, or buy out of stock apparels. It facilitates the shopper to see every item available in the shop, and check if the desired apparel is available in the store or, online.


Higher consumer expectations will be an integral part of the future of retail industry. Adopting appropriate strategies will help the business to not only increase their sales figures during the slump, but also to maintain the level of customer satisfaction, and thereby expand their business arena in the long run. Implementing basic and predictable marketing tactics will help during the recession, and aid the business for the upcoming challenges in the future ahead.


References:


1)       http://www.morebusiness.com

2)       &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(2018)%>" target="_blank">http://walmartstores.com

3)       &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(2018)%>" target="_blank">http://www.starnewsonline.com

4)       &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(2018)%>" target="_blank">http://www.allbusiness.com