talk small, hear small, eat, sleep and breathe small. Because when you’re trying to connect with a small business, you must understand everything about those who run them.
The first generation that can say that they were actually born with the world at their fingertips is coming of age—and marketers are striving to keep up with their latest shopping habits in hopes of trying to reach them this holiday season. This generation, born after 2000, doesn’t know a world without smartphones, tablets and social media.
Consumers are bombarded these days with loyalty programs from every direction. The average household has 29 loyalty memberships across retail, financial services, travel and other industries. Loyalty perks continue to evolve. A free dessert or 5% off the toilet paper you were going to buy anyway isn’t cutting it any longer. Customers are beginning to resent having to use a merchant card to enjoy the cost break. True loyalty comes from learning who your customers are, building a relationship with them and encouraging them to share their experiences with their family and friends. And companies like Sephora, REI and Nordstrom are doing just that—mixing up their programs to drive loyalty.
NYTIMES.COM
Large grocery chains such as Whole Foods have jumped on the local food bandwagon by finding niche local food suppliers. But it’s not always easy for these small stores to expand at the rate needed to meet Whole Foods’ unforeseen order sizes. Some local businesses even choose to reject Whole Foods’ requests in fear that their product quality will suffer. But when local businesses do accept the call to the big leagues, Whole Foods is patient with companies trying to meet these large order requests.
Virgin Atlantic’s “Virgin StartUp” has assisted British Foodpreneur winners Cauli Rice, Harry Brompton’s Iced Tea and Double Dutch by providing the platform to successfully launch into the international market via US retail giant Target. The brand products are a rice alternative, alcoholic and nonalcoholic tea, and premium soft drinks and mixers, respectively.
Free Wi-Fi is great for customers, but it’s not always beneficial to the small businesses that offer it.
We invited Lori Feldman, founder and chief diva at The Database Diva, to tell us her story.
The ShopKeep Small Business Index (SSBI) reports that small business owners have broader concerns other than switching to EMV card readers. Though they are optimistic, many have worries as the holidays approach. Read more
In April, Staples launched a content-heavy program featuring a sponsorship with ABC’s Shark Tank. Their new tag line and positioning Make More Happen is about helping small businesses and entrepreneurs succeed broadly, just as their product assortment has broadened way beyond paper and toner. Read more
