Straying from the consumers’ beliefs can be dangerous!

Amazon is one of the best-known brands in the world. They are known for online shopping with fast, and FREE, delivery.  They are not known as a store where you walk in, make a purchase, and walk out, brick-n-mortar shopping.

Amazon tried its hand at brick-n-mortar and had 68 stores across the U.S. and the U.K. This includes its Amazon Books bookstores, its pop-up shops in various markets, and its 4-star stores where customers could shop popular and highly rated products across Amazon.com.  In March of 2022 (5 months ago), Amazon announced it was closing all 68 stores and transferring its attention to touchless/cashless grocery stores called Amazon Fresh. After all, online grocery sales, BOPUS, and home delivery were the wave of the future.

Not so fast!!  Amazon recently announced that it is putting its U.K. Amazon Fresh expansion plans on ice. While the US stores remain open, there are very few success stories to be told. Stay tuned.

So, if one of the largest, most well-known, and most powerful retailers in the world can’t succeed at brick-n-mortar, is it a sign that brick-n-mortar is dead? The answer is an emphatic NO!

In fact, according to Forbes, brick-n-mortar stores grew (18.5%) faster than e-commerce (14.2%) in 2021. Keep in mind that brick-n-mortar retail sales make up 87% of all retail compared to 13% of e-commerce.

It’s not that Amazon is not good; it’s that they are not nearly as strong in a segment that is not their core competence, which is e-commerce.

The moral of the story is to be good at what you are good at. If your competency is customer service, be known for it. If it’s in better quality, faster service, most knowledgeable, best guarantee, be known for it!

Trying to be something you are not, regardless of how good or well-known you are, can be a dangerous and costly journey.

Once you know what your “competence trust” is, focus on it and exploit it.

If you would like help in uncovering and exploiting your “competence trust”, click here to reach out to your media rep at this station. They are trained to help uncover your “competence trust” and other areas of your business that will help you stand out in your business category!

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