During my career I have learned that no matter how dominant your brand, how big your distribution footprint or how much you spend on advertising, the market is your master, not your servant. Try to manipulate or push a market against the prevailing current, and punishment will be swift and severe.
To win in a competitive landscape you need to identify, develop and leverage your strengths to obtain a strategic advantage in the market place.
Today the biggest competitive advantage is speed. If you can identify and fill a market gap quicker than your competitor you will win. It’s not always necessary to have the best solution, just a solution at the right time.
Identifying emerging trends and developing them is the best way to move your business to the next level rather than just simply copying your competitors.â€
Alex Cochran has over 30 years of retail marketing and merchandise management experience. He has worked for some of Australia s largest retail chains along side a number of the worlds best retail executives. He is the founder of The 4Less Group, an online retailer that operates a number of B2C websites that sell products not readily available in retail stores because of logistic challenges. Sheds4less sells over 3,000 different shed variations while Safes4less sells a small range of commercial quality home office safes.