The local retailer brand. Can Starbucks really be local?

So what’s your value to your customers? How do you build a reputation and experience with your brand that customers love? The issue about being local as a brand is becoming overly inflated. There are tons of local coffee shops and other small businesses—the successful ones focus on knowing their customers and building their store experience around their unique value.

But not all local retail does this and some abysmal stores exist in every city. How do you invent what has value and create loyalty? And is the mantra of SHOP LOCAL really right? I say it’s not about that at all. Even if you’re Starbucks you can create a localized version of who you are for customers—Starbucks is putting some effort into being the local hangout with a consistent menu. But the key is do all retailers care about this? No. Not even the local ones if they don’t value one key thing — the customer experience. Making this work boils down to a few key strategies that are a must for being a great brand locally:

1) Limit what you offer – too many retailers try to claim they have everything or they put in their stores or menus what they think will make them money. Forget this. Sell what has unique value to your customer.

2) Know what your customer wants and sell it – believe it or not, many small retailers don’t even spend the time trying to figure out what they can have that no one else has and gain their customers’ love. Even Trader Joes customizes its store offerings and store experience to some extent.

3) Go beyond good: provide incredible service and a great experience – yes, it’s amazing, simply doing this can make up for not having all the coffee choices or a dozen other limitations.

And, it’s true you can be a Starbucks or a Whole Foods and be local. These two mega-national chains totally get that it’s about their customers in their local world; that’s why they customize what they offer and how they offer it. They want to hear from you and make your experience local.

So when a national chain moves into your neighborhood the local coffee shop need not freak out. They can leverage what they have and how they deliver it in a way that the customer recognizes and values.