Every small business deserves to thrive. On the very basis that local businesses help their communities by stimulating the local community while also giving that neighborhood a uniqueness to its identity, they deserve to all be protected. Unfortunately, small businesses are just as, if not more, likely to go out of business as an upstart or even an established company. It doesn’t matter if you offer an essential service, like food, either. If you don’t have your local community supporting you, your business won’t last long in this world.
That’s why it’s so important that you draw in your customers every day. Working on giving your customers multiple ways and reasons to shop with you is essential. Grocery stores are already essential, and they sell products that are purchased on the regular. On that front, you’re already ahead of the gift shop or clothing boutique.
The issue is the competition. If your business were the only one around, you’d be booming. Since there are big box brands out there that offer everything all in one place, points, deals, and a huge parking lot so you can drive, it can be hard to entice customers back to their local main street.
The good news is that there are ways to do this. Not only will making these changes help your business thrive due to an increase in customers, but you can also work on improving your stability by diversifying your income streams. Start with just one or two ideas to begin with, and then add as you go. With a little help, creativity, and dedication, you can revamp your grocery business to become a community staple again in no time.
Sell Dry Goods in Bulk
One of the easiest ways to stand out from the big brand stores is to offer a bulk foods section. Even just a few classic ingredients and spices in bulk can go a long way. Bulk foods are popular as a budget-friendly option but are also very popular amongst those who prioritize values such as environmental sustainability or organic eating.
All you need is a small section of dispensers to buy bulk products. You can even offer many wonderful bulk organic spices from around the world to cater to a diverse community. Give people the option to refill their at-home spice jars, and they will come.
All you need to make this happen is a scale and a few signs so that people know to bring you their containers first to be weighed and then tagged. This way, they don’t pay for their own container when checking out.
Upsell Opportunities
The best part about selling products in bulk is that you can then upsell. Stock a variety of beautiful or practical dry food containers and put those right next to your bulk food section. Those with the budget who want to transform their pantry so it’s organized and beautiful will buy those containers to bring home their spices. Since most won’t buy all the possible containers their pantry can hold at once, you can expect a slow, steady stream of extra income just from selling beautiful containers or bags.
Get Your Grocery Store Online
The world is digital, and there are a lot of benefits to being online. Thanks to the many powerful, automated website builders out there, you can quickly put together a stunning website with minimal coding experience. In fact, you may never have to check in on what HTML codes to use at all, thanks to the front-end design tools that most website builders today offer.
Once your shop is online, you can start advertising your store. While it can be a lot to put up every single product you sell in-store, it can be very beneficial to put up a small, essential collection online. You can even pre-pack items.
For example, you can have breakfast packs that have everything needed to make pancakes with toppings and have a drink on the side. You can have an essential shop option. These can even be customized. For example, you can offer ten possible items out of fifteen for the essentials shop. This way, your customers can select what they want, and you don’t need to keep a huge selection of stock in the back for delivery.
To deliver, you have a few options. You can hire a delivery person and get an electric cargo bike, for example, to deliver your products to your local customers. This, of course, is a big investment. If you want to prove the concept before investing, you can first set up an account on one of the food delivery apps. Then, while you workshop your food delivery approach, you can use that data to create your website and own personal delivery service.
Make Your Space a Community Hub
You want people to come in again and again. You want to become a third place in your community. This means that the community can come in and spend time with you. Of course, your options will be limited to the amount of space you have available. If there’s no space inside, for example, you can set up some small bistro tables and chairs outside. If you have the means or opportunity, you can even add a to-go window outside so that you can get customers to come up to your store without necessarily going in.
Regardless of your approach, you will need to give your customers a reason to be there. You can add a café, host events, have special sales, and more. It may seem overkill to go through and offer all of these, but those events and incentives are just what customers are looking for when it comes to going from a well-off grocery store to a small business success story. If you have hopes of actively growing your business, then you need to go above and beyond, and these community space ideas are just the way to make sure your business constantly stands out on your main street.