Best and Worst of Retail in 2012 part 2

By Adam Creamer
Agilence, Inc.

As 2012 comes to a close I looked back on the year that was and came up with the best and worst of retail in 2012. It is, of course, in list form because everyone loves a good list this time of year. In part 1 of this four part series I discussed the best of mobile technology and the worst of credit card scams. In this, part 2, I cover the best of social media and the worst of strategies. I’m willing to bet that many of you will disagree with me on the strategy part, but read it through and think about it because it does make sense. The next two parts are still to come, so keep checking in for additions! Read part 1, part 3, part 4

Best: Pinterest

Is your company using Pinterest? If you answered no, why not? Pinterest is designed to share ideas and products. They also recently created pages specifically for businesses. So what’s all the hub-bub about, you can do this stuff on Facebook and Twitter, right? Yes you can, but Pinterest does it in a beautifully simple way that makes the whole experience feel more personal. I can’t tell you how many people I know who have boards on their Pinterest accounts that are titled “things I want.” Many of these items currently link to third party sites, so why not supply the content yourself and link directly to your site? Pinterest is quickly becoming a place where people get ideas for what to buy – second only to Facebook in this category but expected to surpass Facebook at some point next year – so why not join in?

Worst: Price Matching

I’m sure most of you reading this have just gotten a little confused or angry, but hear me out. Price matching is a great way to draw in customers, but as I mentioned in a previous post it is not a strategy, or at least not any more. Almost every major retailer has offered some sort of price matching this year, and when everyone uses the same strategy it’s no longer a strategy. I’m not saying that price matching is a bad idea (because that’s not true), and by all means include price matching in your plan, but your strategy should be something different. A good example of this is Target. They include price matching in their plan, but their strategy was to partner with Neiman Marcus. Like I said, price matching is a good idea, just not a good strategy because it no longer provides a competitive advantage.

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All of us here at Agilence would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! We hope that 2013 continues the resurgence of the economy and the growth of retail. And as always, allow us to keep an eye on your stores in the new year.