How to prepare for the future of shopping

To succeed in today's dynamic industry, retailers need to offer a seamless shopping experience that never loses sight of customer needs, both in-store and online. In fact, retail is in the midst of a revolution in which customers are more fragmented and have more power than ever before. Here's what we at Batteries Plus Blubs are doing to prepare for these challenges.

At Batteries Plus Bulbs, we continuously reinvest in our business to stay relevant and to protect our brand position as the leading specialty retailer of battery and light bulb products and services. We are constantly adapting our business model, anticipating market trends and changing the way we do things to appeal to all the senses of today’s customers. Besides working towards implementing an omnichannel experience for our retail and business customers, we’ve expanded store hours, increased training programs, and developed a comprehensive business-to-business account program. These efforts alone have afforded us more opportunities to provide our customers with the helpful advice that they have come to trust from us, allowing them to make the most informed purchase decisions possible.

We’ve also taken significant steps toward expanding our nationwide network of stores to enable more access to our product offerings. We’ve opened over 200 stores during the last four years, an average of one per week, with 42 of those new store openings coming in 2014. In 2015, we will continue this rapid expansion with the goal of executing franchise agreements to open 50-55 future stores.

Looking ahead, we’re poised for continued growth, as the nation’s increased dependency on smart phones, tablets and other technologies, coupled with the greater demand for energy-efficient lighting, has allowed our business to stay relevant to consumers and businesses. A recent report by Global Industry Analytics, Inc., reports that the market for mobile phones, 3D TVs, smart remotes and tablets—in addition to other power-hungry consumer electronics—will lead to the future development of more efficient, longer-lasting batteries and newer power solutions featuring improved performance, reliability, durability and efficiency. As these battery innovations enter the market, we’ll look to increase our 30,000-plus inventory of batteries and related accessories and strengthen our product knowledge in order to serve businesses and customers with what they need, when they need it most.

Additionally, the consumer adoption of energy-efficient lighting will continue to grow. The U.S. market for energy-efficient lighting is projected to increase 10.4 percent annually to $23.4 billion by 2017 while the market for LEDs specifically, or light-emitting diodes, is expected to almost double in size in nearly every major lighting segment. Today we offer customers more than 15,000 light bulbs and related lighting accessories and we assist large businesses and entities such as hospitals, religious organizations, hotel chains, police and fire departments, and schools with their business account lighting needs. We closed out 2014 with a 74 percent increase in overall light bulb sales from the previous year, including a 138 percent increase in LED lighting sales, thus solidifying Batteries Plus Bulbs as a marketplace leader for light bulbs. By introducing light bulbs and providing added value services and expertise, we are able to serve new industries while also growing business with our current customers by helping them consolidate their battery and light bulb purchases through one supplier. We are happy to serve and supply over a quarter million businesses and national accounts nationwide.

Another factor contributing to our growth last year was the introduction of device repair services, now available at over 620 Batteries Plus Bulbs locations nationwide. We’ve expanded our tech center services to include smartphone and tablet repairs, which has helped keep our brand relevant and will help set up our franchisees for longstanding growth.

It’s no secret that we’ve all become increasingly dependent on our mobile devices; and with increased use, comes an increase in the frequency we experience damages to these electronics. With a lack of a fast, reliable and affordable service in the retail marketplace to repair these broken or damaged devices, we saw an opportunity to continue to grow our business. Considering immediacy is a major value proposition these days, we have always prided ourselves on having a robust on-demand inventory to assist with any consumer need. Likewise, with the urgency surrounding mobile device repair. Instead of having to wait long hours for a repair or being forced to ship the device to the manufacturer, our new repair service often turns repairs around within the hour, with no appointment necessary.

The challenge for niche-concept retailers is to quickly translate market trends and evolving consumer behaviors into useful and actionable information that can be leveraged for growing the business. We’ve been effective by keeping a streamlined focus on improving the products and services that are already working for us and expanding upon them when the time is right.

Russ Reynolds is president and CEO of Batteries Plus Bulbs.