A walk-in retail store is an excellent opportunity for you to create an identity for your business and connect with customers. As a business owner, you can serve as a brand ambassador by working at your store so that it is easy for people to engage you about the products or services that you offer.

Below are things to consider when starting an in-person retail business:

Think of an idea and make a business plan

It starts with an idea. The right idea at the right time. Then comes the business plan, which is your bright idea dressed up with details that will impress lenders and will persuade customers to take a chance on you.

A business plan can help you define your goals, assess your professional and personal resources, evaluate potential risks, find potential funding sources, estimate start-up costs, develop marketing and sales strategies, determine a pricing structure for your product or service and identify the strengths and weaknesses of your business.

Choose a name for your retail store

When starting a business, naming your company is a crucial first step that can help define your brand. Your business’ name is the first communication to the public about what you do and what sets you apart from others. It’s the single most important decision you will make for your business identity.

It helps set you apart from your competitors, gives people an idea of what you’re all about and is the first step toward building trust with both customers and potential investors.

Understand your legal obligations

Often, entrepreneurs are so focused on starting their business that they forget about the legal aspects of what it means to be in business and what their obligations are to employees and customers.

The main difference between selling products through a retail store and an online business is the need for a physical location, which may increase the requirements for legal obligations and certain types of insurance so as to protect your business against certain claims from the public when the need arises.

Find the right location

Where you decide to open your retail store is the biggest decision you’ll make in starting a business. A good location for a retail store is at the nexus of these factors:  optimal distance from residential neighbourhoods, access to the major roads with high volumes of traffic, easy access to a large population of potential customers (those who live close enough to walk, drive or take public transport to the store).

Establish customer relationships

A satisfied customer is a customer that will keep coming back. More often than not, if the customers feel like they are well taken care of, they will be willing to spend more money because they get the quality they want and need.

These are the people who will stand by your business and spend time telling others how wonderful they have been treated.

Final thoughts

If you’re planning to open a retail store, you should first define your target audience. Once you have determined who you’re going to sell to and what you’re going to sell to them, check off legal requirements and start looking for a location.

Make the most of different marketing channels, and you will have a successful in-store business in no time.

CSA Research recognises ALM Translations as a growth leader in the multi-billion-dollar market for language services and technology, with an average three-year sustained growth rate of 20%

Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire – ALM Translations announced today its official ranking as one of the fastest-growing language service providers (LSPs) in the multi-billion-dollar global market for outsourced language services and technology. ALM’s CAGR of 20% over the last three years greatly surpasses the one-year growth rate of the market, making it the 16th fastest-growing LSP in the world and the 28th largest translation and localisation provider in Northern Europe.

Since 2002, ALM Translations has proven to be a progressive multilingual service provider with a reputation for excellence. 

ALM continues to prosper and retain and gain clients due to its breadth of services backed by its customer-led strategy, the latest technological innovations and continuous improvements driven by data, investment and a wealth of experience across many different verticals.

ALM is also a preferred language partner to some of the largest global LSPs, as well as an impressive portfolio of direct clients that rely on ALM to provide solutions to enable their international expansion.

CO-CEO Rachel Coleman has commented: “The recent global pandemic and the initial impact of BREXIT have led to opportunities in our sector. Companies increasingly understand the importance of language and associated services as part of their growth strategy and how it helps them expand into new markets with a greater understanding.

More companies than ever are looking at global reach via digital channels. Other verticals, such as the life sciences sector, have also seen an increase in multilingual requirements. ALM has embraced the changes and has added a suite of new services to ensure clients get the maximum benefit from their investment in multilingual services.” As organisations both large and small address more languages, CSA Research predicts that the demand for language services will continue to grow. 

“Despite their size, all of the largest LSPs manifest one or more of the themes of consolidation, the importance of data leverage, global content rather than just localization, more services, geographic expansion, and vertical focus,” comments Dr. Donald A. DePalma, CSA Research’s Chief Research Officer. “The recipe for success doesn’t change much year after year. Fastest-growing companies credit their performance to being sales-driven organizations, developing their existing client base, and investing in the future,” he adds.The rankings of the fastest-growing LSPs in the world are a result of the language industry’s most comprehensive, large-scale market survey and are based on verified 2020 revenues.   

About ALM TranslationsALM Translations is an established and successful language service provider offering its clients the benefit of translation, localization, multilingual digital marketing and SEO and creative content writing services in 90+ languages. ALM has grown year-on-year since its foundation in 2002 and continuously adds new services to its range to keep up with a changing world. ALM is the go-to partner for some of the world’s largest language service providers as well as direct clients in many different industries and for some of the world’s largest translation companies. ALM is both ISO and ISAE accredited, demonstrating the robust quality and process management that back our full suite of services, which enables us to work with some of the world’s leading brands. 

About CSA ResearchCSA Research, formerly Common Sense Advisory, is the premier market research firm specializing in the language services and technology industry. It provides primary data and insight to assist companies with planning, brand strategy, innovation, competitive positioning, and a better understanding of global markets. An independent market research company, its trusted and verified data helps companies profitably grow their international businesses and gain access to new markets and new customers. For more information, visit csa-research.com or twitter.com/CSA_Research. CSA Research media contact: media@csa-research.com

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HelpfulCrowd has recently launched an integration with Lightspeed eCom in the app store that will drive the collection and real estate of customer product reviews across Lightspeed eCom storefronts. 

Building on the Lightspeed eCom customer product review platform, HelpfulCrowd is an add-on that automatically collects reviews after purchase which can then be displayed on Lightspeed eCom’s storefront and through additional HelpfulCrowd’s display assets. The power of the HelpfulCrowd solution allows retailers to build trust faster and reduce purchase barriers by automatically collecting a greater number of verified customer reviews, expanding the number of customer review touchpoints and providing a number of powerful tools to expand reach and build trust by remarketing through social channels including Facebook and Twitter.

With each Lightspeed eCom store sale, a configurable request is automatically sent to the customer asking for their feedback on their product experience. This feedback is then automatically displayed on the Lightspeed eCom storefront. HelpfulCrowd augments the Lightspeed eCom review assets with a range of engaging additional display widgets, such as a sticky sidebar widget and full review journal page. Customer collected video and photo review media can be displayed in these widgets to create even more engaging trust building content with visitors. When combined with the unique suite of HelpfulCrowd’s powerful marketing tools, such as social sharing, companies can increase reach and drive more organic traffic. Companies can also utilise the loyalty building and cross-marketing features in HelpfulCrowd to build lasting, mutually beneficial customer relationships and to increase basket size and purchase velocity.

All too often, the collection and management of customer feedback and reviews is a manual, time-intensive process that lacks personalisation. The HelpfulCrowd and Lightspeed eCom integration alleviates these challenges by providing a fully automated and customisable solution to collect more content automatically which can then be leveraged for both onsite and offsite marketing to have the greatest positive impact on customer purcahse decision-making.

Zuzana Stewart, CEO at HelpfulCrowd, shared how critical this integration will be for Lightspeed eCom businesses and how it will help take their businesses to a new level. 

“The combined solution of the Lightspeed eCom review feature and HelpfulCrowd is the first of its kind,” she said. “Companies will now for the first time be able to automatically collect reviews after purchase and have the tools to share more engaging review content using the HelpfulCrowd display assets with real video and photos from customers using the products in action. 

“HelpfulCrowd essentially turbo-charges the Lightspeed eCom review feature to make it even more powerful, the first integration of it’s kind on the App marketplace.”

The HelpfulCrowd platform provides Lightspeed eCom users with a simple one-click integration to immediately start collecting reviews using the ‘Kickstart’ feature to send requests for historic orders. This maximizes the ability to collect reviews from customers who may not have otherwise provided feedback, and then to share this content across multiple channels. Starting today, companies can easily access the HelpfulCrowd integration in the Lightspeed eComm app store. 

About HelpfulCrowd:
HelpfulCrowd is a leading cloud based technology marketing platform for companies that market and sell goods and services for both B2B and B2C segments. Founded in 2017, HelpfulCrowd helps both eCommerce and brick-and-mortar businesses build their credibility and trust through the collection of rich, engaging User Generated Content (UGC), which in turn can then be used to expand reach and drive more organic traffic to grow faster. HelpfulCrowd supports a number of leading eCommerce platforms and businesses and seamlessly integrates into any web site. Clients rely on our library of proven, automated marketing campaigns to reach masses to drive clicks and conversions at scale.

About Lightspeed:
Powering the businesses that are the backbone of the global economy, Lightspeed’s one-stop eCommerce platform helps merchants innovate to simplify, scale, and provide exceptional customer experiences. The cloud solution transforms and unifies online operations, multichannel sales, expansion to new locations, global payments, financing, and connection to supplier networks.
Founded in Montréal, Canada in 2005, Lightspeed is dual listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD). With teams across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, the company serves retail, hospitality, and golf businesses in over 100 countries.

Published by PRFire

Affine Consulting has teamed up with IAMTech to provide a unique software solution that could save industrial companies millions of dollars.

IAMTech, whose products address critical gaps in the world’s leading oil, gas, chemical, mining and energy companies, has launched its industrial software in America, after experiencing major success in the UK and across the world. The company’s products are used across 23 countries by leading firms including ALTRAD, CF Industries, DIAB Engineering, INEOS and Kaefer.

iPlan, one of IAMTech’s core products, provides critical information in real time, and has been developed to help industrial organizations with their routine maintenance on equipment as well as react swiftly in the event of a shutdown or outage. 

The software, which includes a mobile app, improves safety, saves time, avoids costly mistakes and heightens compliance as well as productivity rates. Available in three versions, the software can notify companies immediately when a shutdown is urgently needed, meaning that workers and third party contractors can access the information and task list they need urgently, without direct access to the core system, which is great for optimum security. 
An industrial asset owner had an annual routine maintenance budget of $37m and by using the new software, he saved $3.6m in the first year, amongst other things, by eradicating the need for outsourcing work pack generation to expensive third parties.

Now Affine Consulting, an asset management consulting firm, has signed an agreement to bring the advanced software solutions IAMTech offer into a range of markets abroad.

Owner Doug Kibler, said: “The ability to improve planning operations with direct support of safety and environmental applications without impacting the core management systems is critical to improved operations at asset-intensive industries.”

“Working with a company that has the confidence to publish its software prices for industrial solutions is unheard of in this market.”

Ross Coulman, CEO of IAM Tech, added: “Affine will be supporting the market availability of these solutions in North America including Canada, mainland United States, Mexico, Brazil, and Chile. We are excited about the prospect of expanding our global footprint with our partnership with Affine Consulting.” 

IAMTech, the world’s largest independent industrial software provider, also offers companies a chance to check out its return on investment calculator, to show them how much they could save by implementing the software.
To learn more visit https://launch.iamtech-solutions.com or watch this video.

Affine ConsultingAffine Consulting was founded out of the market disruption driven by COVID19. The company, based in the Greater New Orleans Louisiana area, works with large asset-intensive industries across multiple market segments to include oil and gas, petrochemical, public sector, and power generation and transmission to achieve improved asset management capability. 

IAMTechIAMTech was founded in 1973 and remains one of the last independent industrial software vendors. Located in North East England, Stockton On Tees, UK, the company celebrates over 50 years in the industry with customers in over 23 countries world-wide including ALTRAD, CF Industries, DIAB Engineering, INEOS, Kaefer, SABIC, Sadara Chemicals, SBM Offshore, UPM, VALEO & VENATOR. 

IAM Tech also offers six other software products: Health, Safety, and Environmental management including Safety Permits and Isolations (IAMPermit), Asbestos Management (IAMAsbestos), Thermal Radiation Modeling (IAMThermal), and Atmospheric Gas Dispersion Modeling (IAMDispersion). 

For more information:

To find out about the product launch visit www.launch.iamtech-solutions.com 

For photos or additional information, contact Andrej Dethlefsen: andrej@iamtech.com

In the past seven years, Athena Commercial has delivered a broad range of analytics and consultancy projects in both the public and private sectors. In 2021, they are pleased to announce the launch of their Spend Analytics platform Arrowhead, designed to be a value-for-money software solution – providing cost analysis and saving recommendations specifically for SMEs.

Athena Commercial’s Past Projects

The commercial management and procurement specialists at Athena Commercial have worked with clients spanning numerous industries; from SMEs and start ups to global manufacturing companies, and from the Public Sector to Financial Services. In 2019 and 2020, Athena Commercial undertook a series of projects with clients including: Asos, Yodel and Block Solutions.

These projects led to Athena Commercial running spend analysis exercises using their in-house tools, and subsequently delivering impressive results. Through these spend analytics projects, clients saved over £1 million, with Athena Commercial identifying a further £3 million in savings – which the client could then deliver with the guidance of Athena’s detailed cost reduction plans.

Client Feedback

Alan Parsons, Programme Director at Yodel spoke highly of Athena Commercial’s consultancy service, referring to a leading team member as a “fast thinking commercial procurement consultant” who “will help you drive value into your purchasing and lead your team to adopt best practices.”

Likewise, Marc Chang, CEO of Block Solutions was equally complimentary, branding Athena Commercial as “an important partner for our business during 2020, providing us significant cost savings and a greatly improved clarity of cost information with clear plans for future savings and process improvements.”

The Development & Launch of Arrowhead

Following Athena Commercial’s success in their numerous spend analytics projects, in 2020, they began developing their in-house tools into a cloud based software platform: the birth of Arrowhead. This platform is now available to the wider market, providing an automated version of the aforementioned cost reduction processes. Arrowhead provides clients with a dynamic business intelligence tool, offering the sought-after autonomy to run their own detailed reports, schedule notifications and implement their own permissions.

For more information, you can see how it works on the Arrowhead website.

For more information, quotes and additional images please contact jemima@socialchameleon.co.uk

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Leicester, 5th August 2021:  As a champion and trailblazer in supplier diversity, MSDUK celebrates its 15th year.  The MSDUK Conference & Awards are free to attend and take place on the 2nd and 3rd of September 2021.  MSDUK has worked with over 200 global brands and more than 3000 Ethnic Minority Businesses (EMBs), introducing hundreds of new ideas, products and supply chain solutions, and securing £735 million worth of business for EMBs.

Looking back to 2006, when MSDUK was formed, the progression over the last 15 years is humbling, says Mayank Shah, Founder & CEO, Minority Supplier Development UK (MSDUK).

“It’s great to see how far we have progressed and even more so to see how supplier diversity has now taken centre stage in corporate procurement strategies.  2021 has seen over 50 global and British companies join MSDUK and open up many new opportunities for ethnic minority businesses. Supplier diversity programmes help addresses the issue of economic inequality and encourage entrepreneurship in under-represented communities.”

MSDUK is proud to champion the best of British EMBs and work with progressive global corporations that understand the value of supply chain inclusion and diversity.

The largest Supplier Diversity Conference in the UK & Europe showcases the best of Supplier Diversity Programmes and Ethnic Minority Businesses.

The MSDUK Conference & Awards 2021 debates, discusses, and finds solutions to embed supplier diversity, sustainability and economic inclusion into corporate strategy and purpose. The Conference will have speakers and panellists, including the Chief Procurement Officers, procurement professionals and Supplier Diversity leaders from over 100corporate brands. We also expect over 500 of the most innovative and successful ethnic minority businesses to exhibit and attend the Conference.

The government is making inroads with their Diversity and Inclusion Forum.  This sets the expectation for businesses to give a natural consideration of diversity and inclusion by 2023.  But what would that look like for supplier diversity?

“For me, the promised land would be for organisations to talk about supplier diversity strategy in the same way that they do for finance or HR,” says Mayank, “That every person in the organisation understands the implications of supplier diversity and the value that this can bring to the business.”

“If anyone reading this is thinking, but as a business, where do we start with supplier diversity?  Either contact us or perhaps join us at the MSDUK Conference and Awards in September. It’s a great opportunity to hear from some of industries’ highest level procurement specialists, including Accenture, Unilever, Barclays, EY, Diageo, BMS, Sony Pictures, WPP, GSK, Agile One, Fidelity, Co-Op, and many more. It’s a great way to start conversations about diversity in business.”

The MSDUK Conference & Awards, presented by Denise Nurse, BBC Presenter, takes place on the 2nd and 3rd of September 2021. It’s free to attend, and you can find out more information here https://www.msduk.org.uk/conference-awards-2021/

Since the UK had its long awaited ‘Freedom Day’, weddings are back on and stag parties are being planned up and down the country. The ‘stag do’ market has endured its second year of drought since the pandemic started. But, since the UK came out of lockdown on the 19th July, things have picked up dramatically! Orders for personalised ‘stag t-shirts‘ are up over 500% according to David Cavill, founder of tshirtexpert.co.uk.

We’ve seen an instant response to the re-opening. It has finally given grooms and their best men the confidence to make plans and provisions for their stag parties. We’ve been seeing big group sizes too. It’s worth keeping an eye out for a gang of twenty or so lads in bright red ‘Game Over’ t-shirts if you’re in the city this weekend.

David goes on to talk about a notable shift in where the stag dos are happening.

The vast majority of stags have opted to have their event in the UK this year. Before the pandemic, most destinations that we printed [on t-shirts] were major European cities. We heard from a customer who had been planning for 15 lads to go to Las Vegas but now they’re going to be racing go-karts in Rotherham. That’s some compromise!

TShirtExpert have also reported an increase in the use of their ‘express turnaround’ option, which ensures that customers receive their custom t-shirt order within 3 working days. This would suggest that stag t-shirts (at least) are being left to the last minute before ordering. Perhaps this is to be expected after months of uncertainty about whether stag nights would even go ahead or not.

Looking to the future, David is hopeful for a return to normality.

We’re feeling more optimistic for an upturn in sales for 2022. As travel restrictions ease further, the vaccines continue to be effective, and larger weddings get booked in; things will hopefully start to feel normal again.

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