Change can be a great business enabler…

But. It can also have some severe consequences.

As we learned back in 2015 when we closed our retail stores & moved into a business unit.

We had to do it, to save our business. Walk in trade was decreasing due to the convenience of town centre supermarkets being open 24/7.

In a bid to keep what walk-in business we still had, we created an online ordering system, installed a free phone number, and provided free same day delivery.

We even wrote, emailed & called every customer the store closures would affect. Telling them why, explaining the new ordering options & offering free same day delivery.

Alas, it still wasn’t enough.

The change was too much for 50% of our walk-in customers.

The way I see it now?

They hadn’t asked for change. They just wanted to walk in somewhere to buy what they wanted, when they wanted too.

Even the lure of free same day delivery was not enough. They still had to wait hours to get what they wanted right now.

We learnt a lot from that experience, and it took us years to financially recover.

Change needs to be analysed from the perspective of all stakeholders before you can make the right informed decision.

Would we go back and change the decision we made? No.

…in the end, fast free delivery for home & business customers has proved to be the right model.