Concept Evaluation Package

Many people have great ideas, but few actually have what it takes to transfer those ideas into a living, breathing store. You need make sure that your idea makes sense from a business stand-point before entering into the retail marketplace. Before you jump in and spend a lot of money and time on starting your store, make sure you are doing it right! Retail Concepts can review your proposal and provide feedback and recommendations on how or if you should move forward.

OUR PROCESS
The process begins with a short questionnaire which will provide us with general information about your idea. We will ask for a summary of your concept, your resources, your personal traits and abilities, and other details to help review your potential store from all angles. In addition, we will review your industry and competition to evaluate the opportunity that exists for your idea in your proposed location.

Specific areas of analysis will include:

1. Clarity of concept
One of the most important aspects of an idea is the ease in which you can get your message across to others. Your idea will never be successful if it leads to confusion. It is essential that your customers clearly understand what your store concept is meant to convey. Therefore you must be able to simply and briefly explain it verbally as well as visually.

2. What will you be the best at?
Another important aspect of a retail idea is whether or not it leads to a store that is perceived as "the best" in one key area. You must determine whether or not your idea is unique, and gives you clear competitive advantage(s) to become “the best” in one key area. If so, is this uniqueness valid for the projected audience for your products? If your idea is unique, is it unique enough to win over all of your potential customers and draw them away from your competitors? Your target customers must believe that your products and/or services are special in order for you to gain winning presence in the market. Simply put, your store will need to be noticeably better than the other alternatives that exist to give people a reason to seek it out.

3. Who are you trying to sell to?
Is there a clear target group for your products or services? It is important to determine who your consumers will be and if there are enough of them. You can't be all things to all people. Therefore, your vision of the size, shape and appearance of the store needs to clearly resonate with the chosen group. Figure out exactly the type of experience you want your customers to have.

Our approach is always straightforward and we are always looking for low-cost and no-cost methods to meet client objectives. We are trained and successful retailers, merchandisers, and marketers, lifelong veteran retailers both young and old with experience working in stores, owning stores, being executives in large stores, starting up new stores, running small stores, providing exceptional customer service, merchandising and marketing. Though we are often termed consultants, our key strength as a group is our ability to think and work as retailers.

WHAT YOU RECEIVE

• Professional research and analysis (10 – 15 hours)
• Written report with detailed analysis and recommendations (5-10 pages)
  • Clear recommendations from a retail perspective as to whether or not your business will be successful in your proposed location.
  • Retail Concepts will look for areas where significant and communicable competitive advantages can be achieved as well as one or two (at most, any more is counter productive) areas where the store can be perceived by target customers in the consumer marketplace as "the best," for this is the path to winning retail.
  • Our recommendations will all be specific as to what needs to be done to clarify and improve your concept.
  • If your concept is determined to be a viable one, some very general and preliminary suggestions will be given as to what approximate store size and type of location would be appropriate for the concept as well as projected approximate range of sales volume that looks to be attainable.
• Six month follow-up and discussion

Price: $2,750