Is growth and expansion on the cards for Australian businesses?
If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that businesses must constantly adapt and evolve in order to keep ahead of the competition. While the broader macro environment has led many businesses to shift their focus from raw growth to profitability, that doesn’t mean they can stop focusing on customer growth altogether.
Retailers, and other businesses, should consider which is the most efficient path to growth given their current situation. For some, this might mean launching a new flanker product to increase share of wallet with their existing customer base. But for others, especially those who have completely saturated their local audience, selling to the equivalent customers interstate or overseas could be more lucrative.
Businesses can’t lose sight of customer growth.
Recent research from YouGov, commissioned by Shopify, revealed that the cost of acquiring new customers is the second most significant challenge for businesses, behind inflation. Yet 24 per cent of the surveyed businesses are reducing their marketing spend. By adding new (but complimentary) products to their stores, or exploring new markets, there are ways retailers can grow, without doubling down on marketing expenditure.
When it comes to growing an existing customer base, diversifying products is key. A clothing brand, for example, could expand into categories such as jewellery and footwear. By encouraging an increase of average order value of each customer — even if only by an incremental amount — businesses can realise a substantial effect on the bottom line, without the outlay costs that are associated with acquiring new customers.
Alternatively, businesses can drive growth by selling through new channels. This could include adding a
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