Page 68 - Lighting Magazine September 2018

on the mark
Why Buy From Me?
As the digital shopping age continues to boom, successful brick-and-mortar showrooms have learned to change their mindset to come out on top of the competition.
BY MARK OKUN
The anxious cha er started some time ago when showrooms faced another challenge to their viability and exis- tence. Then came the June ’18 market and the nervous buzz of the unknown
reached a crescendo; some questioned fairness, while others o ered ideas and recommendations on how to navigate today’s turbulent waters.
This column will not delve too deeply into the “new digital” economy; there is so much informa- tion to glean about it that I feel it would be a waste of your time to re-read all the well-worn state- ments, comments, and business tips that many of us can recite from memory. Instead, I’d like to focus on the segment of the sales process that will be, in my opinion, the game changer for lighting showrooms — or any business that has face-to-face
contact with their clients.
The Census Bureau of the Department of Com-
merce announced that the estimate of U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the rst quarter of 2018 changes were $123.7 billion, an increase of 3.9 percent (±0.7%) from the fourth quarter of 2017.
This is Only a TesT
If you are unsure regarding your preparedness to grow in the online world, this short test can help determine if your business is vulnerable to the on- going growth of the digital revolution.
Ô Is it a chore to shop with you?
Ô Is the primary mission of your showroom to
trade boxes for dollars?
Ô Is your showroom sta vibrant and exciting and
with all of your products carefully curated?
66 enLIGHTenment Magazine | SepteMber 2018
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