That some small businesses are failing because they don’t adapt to the needs of their customers?

[Isawyou]

I try to shop local. Fortunately I do have some great independent places nearby.

What I am finding frustrating is for example the fruit and veg shop closes at 4.30pm. They start packing up at 3.45pm and it is really difficult to buy things from there where they are stacking all the stands with the produce inside. They also look unhappy at customers coming to buy at packing up time. It is easier to go to the Tesco express that stays open until midnight.

Other shops do not open until 10am and close early. So I can’t get there before work or after work.

They complain their businesses are not doing well and people do not shop local but they are not exactly facilitating it for the customers either.

No it wasn't microwaved or part cooked. I'm assuming as it was new they wouldn't know how much to prepare but I could see her getting the sausage and bacon out of the fridge. It wasn't cooked. Even if it was I'm not sure it was worth losing 2 customers in an empty cafe for a slice of bread.

I find the idea of precooking 10 fried eggs in an empty cafe a bit odd, well revolting really. I mean how long does a fried egg sit there? Apart from that you could choose fried, poached or scrambled so the precooking eggs wouldn't really work.

I don't think they are benefitting from the footfall. The Tesco is open for 18 hours a day. The greengrocer can't compete with this. They open 8 hours a day but closed one day a week and do two late night openings.

But they're benefitting from the footfall of Tesco customers during their shorter opening hours aren't they! Surely you don't think that all their customers are going there as the destination and aren't also customers of Tesco? Presumably when they're closed, all customers buy their fruit/veg from Tesco, but when they're open, a proportion of Tesco customers will buy fruit/veg from them instead.

When we had a shop, we were busy on the busy days for the other shops on our parade. Over the years as they closed down, especially the butchers, our trade fell sharply due to lack of passing trade as their ex-customers found other places to shop for their meat so went elsewhere for the things they used to buy from us. They didn't go to parade x for their meat and then come back to our parade for greetings cards - they bought their cards from parade x too! Once someone has driven or walked to a particular shopping area, they're going to do all they can there, rather than walk/drive to a different place.

Being next to a "destination" shop is a massive driver for trade to the smaller shop. It works on all levels, hence why the large out of town retail parks or big shopping centres offered incentives/rent discounts for the likes of Marks & Spencer or Next or Debenhams to rent a huge unit at one end or the other - it was to get shoppers to walk to the extremes of the complex, so that they'd buy stuff from the shops they passed on the way. Look at Trafford Centre, there's a reason it was built with the huge shops located at either end! When one of those "destination" shops closes, it affects all the other shops near it.

Thankfully they don't need to open a catering tin of beans, they are literally located in a supermarket where there are tins of them for 35p.

Even if they'd left that portion for the breakfast, and gone and grabbed a 35p tin for the boys breakfast, they could have sold it with the toast for a couple of quid.

Why isn't the other greengrocer who is also only a few metres away not benefitting from the footfall in that case? Several other local businesses selling similar to Tesco have shut down since Tesco arrived on the scene. People get most of what they need from Tesco and no longer walked to some of the other local businesses nearby.

They don’t buy off the shelves.

Well that's their own silly decision. Especially when it's something that literally costs pennies 😂

I've seen it done in a Morrisons recently they'd run out of sliced beef for something, so they nipped over to the cooked meats section and got a pack, and used that.

So it clearly can be done.

Yes, Morrisons cafes use Morrisons staff and Morrisons stock. Tesco cafes are subcontracted out (or were a few years ago, to Compass catering). At one time Asda did the same, I remember them running out of bacon one morning and they said they weren't allowed to buy stock from the shop!

They do in my Sainsbury's, I've seen a member of staff coming back to the cafe with a trolley load of stuff from the shop.

I totally get this from the point of view of a shopper, and I have complained about it myself. However, we have a small retail business, which is open six days a week. The only way we can have any life work balance is by opening from 9.30 to 4.00. Bearing in mind, we don't have a lunch break, never get a full weekend, and rarely have a holiday. Not the fault of the customer, I know. We used to open until 5.00pm but not many people came, and that hour is better spent doing our deliveries.

There is no point keeping the shop open (we have tried late opening nights before Christmas) keeping the lights and the heating on, when it doesn't pay. We do offer a free local delivery service, so working customers often phone in the day, pay over the phone and we leave the parcel for them. Our business is not failing because we give good customer service and our shop is in a retirement area, so plenty of customers can come in the day. Sadly, it would be too expensive to pay someone to do longer hours.

The last few times I went shopping in the evening to our local retail park the big stores were almost empty. Employing staff and keeping lights on until 8pm for very few customers. I don't think it will be sustainable longterm.

Even if they are subcontracted out, and generally get their food from elsewhere, it's common sense that there's a provision for them to buy from the supermarket in a push, for some basic products.

For those worried about allergies etc, all they need to do either have access to a quick comparison crib sheet (wouldn't take long to do, found be distributed to all of their cafes) or ask the customer, before quickly going over and buying beans, a pack of bacon or whatever.

The simplest solution is often the best. If you 'can't' provide beans even though there are some 50m away, but you aren't allowed to use them, some common sense has been lost somewhere.

I think the fact that you take phone orders and deliver makes a huge difference. I'd purchase from your shop in that way.

The simplest solution is often the best. If you 'can't' provide beans even though there are some 50m away, but you aren't allowed to use them, some common sense has been lost somewhere.

Common sense. It seems so obvious doesn't it @Willdenytothedeath ? It might be that the people working at a cafe within a supermarket have common sense but do not have the motivation to apply it because they don't own the business and might even be scolded for taking an initiative.

I would take a cooked breakfast as it comes and leave the bits I didn't want - tinned tomatoes. But if I had niche interests surrounding a fry up I'd go to an independent cafe for the bespoke experience.

I don't know why people don't have the common sense to do that.

There is no point keeping the shop open (we have tried late opening nights before Christmas)

@Bitteralmond It's awful, isn't it? Customers who say they'll be in at noon and then 2pm and turn up at just before 6pm as if their updates are like some kind of Santa tracking system from NORAD.

We always close on Christmas Eve or the last trading day before Christmas. Otherwise we'd get drunk people panicking over presents when we wanted to be wrapping our own over a glass of wine.

People like @Isawyou say: "I might have spent money in your shop but have now spent it elsewhere." We are prepared to take the hit.

I like free enterprise. It works for us. But some people don't get it.

@limitedperiodonly It is your choice if you want to take the hit. Doesn’t bother me. There are lot of local businesses who are unhappy about taking the hit but still unwilling to adapt. Desperate pleas on social media saying use or lose us but then the restrictive opening hours, poor customer service etc, remains

Are the staff even allowed to leave the cafe to "go shopping"? It may be against their employment contract, or if there's only one person on the counter, how can they leave it unattended to go shopping? Can they access the till to take out cash to go and buy stuff (does their employment contract allow them to do it?). It may look like "common sense", but if the staff aren't allowed to do it, then they aren't!

We went to a small independent cafe and couldn't get a slice of bread unless it was fried. So I think my common sense is fine thanks, the cafe owner's is more questionable.

Like I said I've seen them do it in Sainsburys more than once. Might be changing as they seem to be changing their cafes to Starbucks where I am, don't know if that is nationwide.

It's not the staff that I think lack common sense. Your right that their contracts may Fitbit such obvious initiative (and a way to make it work). It's still a failure of common sense, but from further up the business.

The answer seems to be not to go in shops that don't suit you.

I always think wtf with cash only takeaways... such a hassle. Does make you wonder if they are tax evading...

I always think wtf with cash only takeaways... such a hassle. Does make you wonder if they are tax evading...

Not necessarily tax evading (illegal), maybe just unnecessary bank charges avoiding (completely legitimate).

When it's your own business, a lot of what you take will go directly towards your own 'wages' (living), so by not paying it into the bank as business income only to withdraw it again to 'pay yourself', you minimise your fees.

Of course, there will be many business owners who illegally don't put cash through their books as well, for tax purposes, but it's perfectly possible to only take payments in cash and still stay 100% honest with HMRC. In the last millennium, my parents ran their own business and did it this way - they did also accept cheques, but preferred cash as you then didn't need to 'involve' the bank and thus incur fees; they still declared everything properly and paid all of their fair dues based on their business income and profit.

There's a lovely small town near me where we used to take our children to the prep. school. Very rural area so loads of parents dropping children off and plenty looking for a coffee at 8.30 but none of the coffee shops opened then. Then one closed and was taken over by new owners who opened early and were full every morning! All the rest of the shops never got it and still remain closed till 10am.

As odd as it may seem, I do wonder sometimes if there are some people with businesses who fear/hate being too busy and rushed off their feet - maybe just can't cope - and so may deliberately avoid opening at the busiest times for this very reason.

Obviously, in business terms, 'rushed off your feet' should equate to 'taking a lot of money'; but the outworkings of the former might distress them so much that they're perfectly willing to forego the latter.