The Six Layers of Retail You Need to Focus On in 2024

In the ever-evolving landscape of retail, navigating the complexities of the market requires a strategic approach. We’ve done a ton of research, and have discovered there are six layers of retail that businesses must delve into to form the foundation of a successful and sustainable retail enterprise. We dig into each layer on a molecular level in Retail Bootcamp. Want to learn more? Click here to enroll in our signature course!

Layer 1: Business Foundations

Establishing a solid foundation is crucial for any business to thrive. This layer sets the habits to become disciplined with your time and your money.  2024 is the year to narrow your focus and master the less is more concept.  We believe when you target everyone you reach no one.  Establishing solid business foundations, systems and processes and disapline is the key to getting everyone rowing the boat in the same direction. In this layer in Retail Bootcamp, we focus on four key areas:

1. Company Vision: Clearly define your business goals and values.
2. Branding: Craft a unique brand identity that is recognizable to your customers.
3. Mindset & Productivity: Maintain a focused mindset, and enhance productivity.
4. Operations and Processes: Develop efficient systems and processes for smoother operations.

Understanding your evolving customer base is essential. Tailor your business to meet their changing needs, make your brand stand out, and consistently align your offerings with the feelings you want to evoke in your customers.

Layer 2: Products and Profit

Achieving sustainable growth requires a meticulous approach to product offerings and financial management:

1. Financial Management: Implement disciplined spending and prioritize a solid pricing strategy.
2. Inventory Management: Ensure optimal inventory levels and focus on customer service to build trust and loyalty.
3. Profit Planning: Adhere to the Profit First rule, prioritizing profit to run a lean and scalable business.

The Rule in Profit First is to pay yourself first – this mean you run your business on the cash left over after your profit.  Doing more with less is a great way to become disciplined in your spending.  We learn quickly what we WANT vs NEED when the bucket of available funds is less.  Take your profit first and learn to run a leaner more scalable business with what is left over. 

There is no scarcity in the market – we all have plenty of opportunity to “BUY” something from someone.  However, there is a scarcity of businesses that care about their customers, operate on ethical values, and are gratful for the business they receive. 

Layer 3: Team

A cohesive team is the backbone of a successful retail business:

1. Define Company Values: Establish core values to guide hiring, reviewing, and firing decisions.
2. Hiring for Culture: Focus on hiring for cultural fit and training strengths to improve productivity.
3. Mindset and Culture: Foster a culture where employees align with and vocalize core values daily.

In Retail Bootcamp, we aim to focus on hiring for culture and training strengths.  We have seen retailers and wholesalers hire for talent but the employees culture and values don’t align with the business.  This creates immediate problems.  We will focus on getting the right people in the right seats to improve productivity and reduce disruptions in the workplace. 

Layer 4: Sales Strategy

Revitalize your sales approach by focusing on merchandising and strategic sales channels:

1. Increase Sales: Find new customers, increase frequency of purchases, and raise average order value (AOV).
2. Building Trust: Emphasize customer trust, social validation, and creating curiosity in the market.

In 2024 customers are inundated with products – they don’t know who to trust. We aim to focus on building customer trust, social validation and increased returning customers in our teachings in Retail Bootcamp.

Layer 5: Content Strategy

We teach the difference between content planning (mapping out a plan for the content you push out) and just saying “I’m on social media” You can check the box but are you doing it well?

1. Community-First Approach: Build a community through content planning that engages and links people together.
2. Maximize Content: Recycle content across multiple channels to reinforce product visibility.

We believe that customer need to see products up to seven times before they make a purchase – therefore retailers and wholesalers need to create a solid content strategy to recycle content across multiple channels in order to maximize a photo, video, or live sale.

Layer 6: Marketing and Traffic

Effectively utilize social media and digital marketing:

1. Strategic Marketing: Use insights from the previous layers to optimize marketing spend.
2. Customer Retention: Focus on engaging marketing strategies to retain customers.
3. Email Marketing: Leverage ad audiences to build comprehensive digital marketing strategies.

Success in Retail Bootcamp

What makes stores successful in Retail Bootcamp?
Most successful stores all continue to show up for Retail Bootcamp because they have lifetime access to the course.   As your business grows and evolves you will take away new things and be able to implement new things because your mindset and business is in a different position compared to where it was when you first enrolled.  They utilize the information – asking the tough questions and participating every single round.  They never stop learning – they don’t have the “I already tried that, I am too big for that” mindset.   Successful stores are always curious and are always learning.

Retail Bootcamp is on of our best selling courses, and people love it so much for a reason, because it works.