Celebrating the uniqueness of independents and their advantage over multiples

Price is one of the main issues cited by independents as a major disadvantage when competing against the multiples. So it is great to hear of the success stories coming through.

Take The Wine Shop, new to a village location in Winscombe, North Somerset www.thewinetastingco.com They immediately recognised a need to differentiate from the well-established Co-op a few doors away. They needed to avoid any opportunities for price comparisons to enable it to establish its own identity and reason for being.

Differentiation for The Wine Shop has come in many forms. First, they stock unique brands, which are neither mainstream, big branded conglomerates, nor predictable, this takes away the immediate opportunity for direct price comparison.

Then comes the village network, writing recipe cards with recommended wines for the butcher, link deals with the fish and chip shop for Valentines Day and now combining with the florist for Mothers Day, makes for a thriving and unifying offer.

But the shop also recognised the importance of creating an experience, a hub, and an enjoyable destination. This has taken several routes so far. First, the themed wine tasting evenings (paid for), these provide the opportunity to demystify an often-confusing category and they are popular, sociable and fun occasions.

To create a further occasion, the proprietor takes great advantage of supplier samples, invites the community to come to taste and score on a number of key attributes. Now the customers are having a direct influence on what is stocked, enriching the experience for the community and encouraging first timers into the store. People are already thinking about their purchase decisions in a different way, what they like comes first, rather than what they can get for a set amount of money.

Retailers have always had to work hard, competition has always existed in one form or another, and this hasn’t changed. But what has changed is the way that people shop and therefore the way that retailers have to work, leveraging social media and local networks to shape the way that people shop in a local area has immediately given a differentiator to the multiples in this one example.

Wishing continued success to The Wine Shop and all those who benefit from her existence!

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This post was written by Dawn Odoi