What’s the best way to deal with your competition? Eliminate it. Here’s how wine shop owners can compete in crowded markets. [level-members]
Don’t get us wrong – we think competition is healthy, even desirable for your business. It keeps you on your toes and pushes you to think about what you do and strive to improve. It keeps you from falling into a rut. But that doesn’t mean we want to do things the hard way. And going head to head with one or more competitors is going to make things harder than they have to be.
So, you should do all you can to eliminate the competition. No, we’re not suggesting hiring any shady characters to engage in nefarious activities. We’re suggesting you should change the game.
Don’t play the same game as you nearest competitors. Carve out your own niche and build an unassailable position there. Leave the competition to their own games.
This can take any number of forms:
- Marketing – create a personality that positions you as a really fun and personable place to shop
- Services – Offer recipe matching services. Send us a recipe and we’ll have wine recommendations when you walk into the shop
- Amenities – if you’ve got convenient parking and your competition doesn’t, let the world know
- Product – Forget the mass market wines – stock interesting wines from lesser-known regions that are comparable to the big boys and offer better value
Whatever your angle might be, get an angle. The generic “wine shop around the corner” is a tough business to defend against competitors. Keep the competition from hurting you by carving out a niche and not trying to be all things to all people and you’ll never find yourself in a price war again.
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