Beating the Big Box Stores Through Localization

I originally wrote this as a comment on the First Thing Monday blog. I kinda took off with it and wrote a fairly lengthy comment. When I was previewing it, I thought it would make a decent stand-alone post, so I copied what I wrote, posted the comment, and then pasted the comment text here. I tweaked it and added to it a little to flesh it out. First Thing Monday is a blog by Megan Casey, now of Seth Godin’s Squidoo.

There’s a one significant area where traditional supermarkets and smaller stores (especially boutique stores) can beat larger chains: localization. I think localization is the best differentiator. Smaller retail operations should know their customers, their likes, dislikes and habits, and not in the rewards card tracking sort of way, but in the more old-fashioned chit-chat kind of way. Blogs can help with this. Your nearest Wal-Mart or Whole Foods isn’t going to have a blog, but a small store can. Even though we think of the internet as a global phenomenon, it works quite well in a highly localized fashion.

Another way to differentiate locally is to get really involved in local community matters and sponsorships. Local people right view such measures with distrust when they come from large chains, because they know it’s all a PR move. On the local level, however, it’s all about maintaining relationships.

Finally, one of the most important ways to differentiate through localization is to nurture relationships with local vendors and stock their products (or produce, as the case may be). Supporting the local economy counts in a big way towards supporting the local community, as well. One thing global economics does is break the connection between economy and community. Local economics strengthens the connection between economy and community, thus proving true that “markets are conversations.” Tying blogs back into this again, a small store with its own blog should link to the websites and blogs of its vendors. People want to know where the stuff they buy comes from. They want to know the story behind the product or produce. You tell that story with your blog.