At Big Cat, we actively encourage interns and work experience students to come and join us. Last week, Tanveer Uppal from The Jewellery Quarter Academy worked with us and wrote this fantastic blog on Digital Marketing. Take a look…
If you’ve already stumbled upon one of the many news articles plastered all over the media, or have a young loved one distraught at their favourite toy store crumbling to an end, you’ll be well aware that extensive amounts of retailers and chain stores have either plummeted into liquidation or have filed for administration, but could these retailers have been rescued if only they had used digital marketing?
As you may recall, numerous stores seemed as if they had vanished into thin air last year, and you’re not wrong – an article by The Telegraph’s retail editor, Ashley Armstrong, described how for the first time in five years, the number of businesses ‘toppling into administration’ rose significantly in 2017. Armstrong also included within her article how ‘budget fashion chain Store Twenty One’ had been liquidated back in July last year, after contending against multiple losses and therefore being coerced into closing over 120 stores.
You may have guessed that the cataclysmic failure of Store Twenty One would have been a red flag for other businesses, but nonetheless, only eight months later, the amount of businesses getting themselves into alarming positions has seemingly only just begun to get worse. The American ‘juvenile-products’ and toy retailer, Toys R Us and electronic chain store Maplin, allegedly both filed for administration in desperate need of help to pay debts on the same day, coincidentally landing over 5,500 people in danger of losing their jobs.
But not so fast, why did they even get into this position? To answer your question, business correspondent Emma Simpson stated within a BBC article from February 28th that, ‘financially weak, Toys R Us had been unable to adapt to changing shopping habits’. She added, ‘these days, many shoppers don’t want to drive 20 minutes to a big out-of-town warehouse to buy toys’, supporting the argument that Toys R Us had been failing due to customers being more likely to buy online rather than travel to a store, benefitting online retailers. According to Nick Bubb, a veteran retail analyst from The Guardian, ‘Toys R Us simply couldn’t compete with Amazon’.
Blogger, Alexandra Coutts, also stated that a potential reason behind why Toys R Us’ profit had tumbled so far down was that the company was merely lacking in digital marketing. Maybe that’s all it would have taken to prevent a lack of income and Toys R Us soon skyrocketing out of control, dropping themselves into a position where £120 million was needed for it to be saved.
R.L Adams commented on his own article, ‘10 Reasons Why 7 Out of 10 Businesses Fail Within 10 Years’ that the second reason why businesses fail is due to not being able to connect with their target audiences.
If you’re anything but a stranger to the world of social media, you will be well aware that these social platforms are taking over the world, with more and more people using electronic devices with internet access. With this in mind, we’re sure it’s safe to say that realistically, digital media is needed more than ever to actually make businesses visible to target audiences and to keep businesses alive.
If you would like some more information on how Digital Marketing can help your company or if you’re interested in Work Experience, please get in touch.