Reading this external blog which talks about the problems of small shops and their weakness in the market, was due to many reasons that me as an international student here in Vancouver understood very well. The blog exposes some problems that we are facing with shops in downtown and other areas.
To begin with, the working hours for most shops are till 5 and 6pm, which i consider very early. coming from a different country where shops close at 11pm. I found it very hard to buy my stuff and finish what i have to do before 6 pm in order to shop. moreover it is stated that “70% of all consumer retail spending takes place after 6:00 pm.” so this creates a big barrier to shops that wants to increase their revenue. Solutions to overcome this problems could be by opening during evening sales this could be done by tieing in with businesses that already do evening hours, Check existing businesses to see if some, like banks, already stay open late. Use their open hours as an anchor to help attract other customers.
Moreover , shops should add more staff for a night shift, even though this will be associated with a higher cost but it will generate higher revenues due to more opening hours and as stated before 70% spending takes place at evening time. This will not only increase the business profitability, but will also increase the living standards for consumers as they have more time to do shopping.