The retail sector is hurting due to the growth of e-commerce, decreased spending on consumer goods, and high debt levels following “going-private” transactions, among others. In his Retail Merchandiser article “Navigating the Retail Meltdown,” Jeffrey Pomerance, head of the Transactional Practice for SulmeyerKupetz, outlined strategies that retailers can implement to not only survive the retail meltdown but actually thrive and grow.
In the article, Pomerance advised brick-and-mortar retailers to recognize their competitive advantage against e-commerce giants: “Physical stores, when part of a multichannel effort to generate sales, allow potential buyers the ability to feel and touch products that online retailers are unable to offer.” He also recommended that retailers “servicize” their products, manage cash intelligently rather than simply cutting costs, revisit the company’s capital structure, manage inventory, revisit their leases and embrace technology.
Pomerance concluded the article by noting that price is not the only point of competition that brick-and-mortar stores have against internet juggernauts like Amazon. “Executing on the strategies outlined above, amongst others, can actually give a brick-and-mortar retailer a winning advantage over its online competition and generate profitability,” he wrote.
