Q&A with Tonic
Tonic is an independent menswear store that has been at 276 Portobello Road for 20 years. Shop owner Phil tells us about how they have adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
What impact did COVID have on your business?
Obviously COVID has had a massive impact on the business, since the pandemic started we have been closed for 5 months. Tonic is still predominantly a physical retail business and being closed our revenues are down significantly.
Did COVID motivate you to start something new with your business?
It isn’t new as such but the pandemic has put extra emphasis on the online side of our business, in previous seasons the online side of the business would only reflect 50% of our product offer it is now pretty much 100%. It is still difficult to generate sales as online is so competitive and ruthless in terms of pricing and promotions. Now though it is the only way we can sell so we have to do as much as we can. We have done quite well offering Click and Collect as a feature and also local home delivery, especially in the first lockdown.
What advice would you give to other businesses in the area?
Advice to other businesses is a tricky one because everyone has their own unique difficulties, the only thing I would say is don’t give up even when things look as hard as they do right now don’t sit and wait for things to change look at anything you can do to positively affect your business even if it is small anything will help.
How much advertising do you do over social media platforms?
Advertising we don’t do, paid for anyway. My personal opinion on paid for social media advertising is a mine-field and can become expensive quickly. I like Instagram and Facebook with these mediums so we can show a genuine insight into Tonic and what it stands for.
Did social media help to boost your business - if so, do you have any tips on how to form an engaged audience?
Social media has definitely helped to boost our business, it gives me a chance to vocalise my own emotions through this and also to promote products directly and instantly. Instagram and Facebook have worked really well for us recently by running the Hartford sample sale through these mediums. A sample sale is by nature a quick retail format that in a physical scenario people are queuing and grabbing multiple items trying on and buying. Obviously this cannot be done when we are closed so this gave me the idea that we could at least replicate in some way by posting individual items and giving people the opportunity to phone in and buy then come in to collect. It was a positive and interesting experiment that generated good engagement and also sales.
What do you do differently with your business to stay ahead of your competitors?
I don’t think I do anything particularly different from others I have tried to stay positive, be genuine, keep sending out a positive retail messages and not too much emphasis on constantly reducing our prices to falsely generate sales, if you keep on discounting the consumer loses faith in your brand and product proposition and the long term impact on your business is negative. I think it is better to look at different angles to promote the overall business proposition and values. This week for example we have re-launched the Tonic Exchange, a pre-loved clothing sales project that I’m passionate about, we want to do our bit in the effort to promote consuming responsibly.