In an economy that is wreaking havoc on so many small businesses, many are looking for ways to keep their businesses alive or growing. Often it’s about a product or repackaging or offering a different size or selling it as something that could also be used for … it could consist of modifying
At a tractor supply store in Northern Virginia that sells all kinds of products for outdoor work or pleasure, like gardening, for example, people buy horse mats for yoga routines. Steel tanks for watering cattle (minus cattle) are being transformed into swimming pools. In some cities, small retail stores that have struggled are turning parts of their stores into micro fulfillment centers for e-commerce. With so much shopping online, it is sometimes worth it for a business to have a location where they can store a limited amount of product that can be shipped and delivered to the customer’s home in a couple of hours rather than a couple of days, or just used as pickup locations.
Product changes or other modifications
The price of cocoa used in the manufacture of sweets has skyrocketed in the last decade. To do? Raise prices to cover increased costs? Or insert air (or other ingredients) as a filler to use less cocoa and help keep the price the same. An example: chocolate has sometimes been “infused” with air or other ingredients that carry labels like “healthier”, “fewer calories”, “guilt free”.
Haagen Dazs, due to the cost of the premium ingredients that are included in its ice cream, reduced the size of its pint containers from 16 ounces to 14 ounces, keeping prices the same. Hardly anyone noticed because they never studied the label closely enough to have a “Wait a minute! A pint is not 14 ounces” moment. All they cared about was ice cream.
“New and improved”
New and improved can sometimes be a risky strategy. One of the most important new and improved strategies to fail occurred in 1985 when Coke introduced the new and improved “New Coke.” Among Coca-Cola fans, World War III almost began. New Coke lasted less than three months before Classic Coke returned. Both new and improved. But they were smart enough to see the error of their forms and began adding Classic Coke in different flavors with different sweeteners, thus creating new products for their line without risking their main brand.
One lesson to be drawn from all of this is that there may be a way or ways to alter, change, recreate, rebrand or other things about your product or service that will continue to keep customers buying. If manufacturers can adulterate chocolate, which carries so many health, spiritual, mental and other benefits that are essential to civilization, what can you do with their offerings?