RETAILOBSERVER.COM OCTOBER 2015
48
A
n opportunity that every retailer in every market has is in
reaching underbanked customers, meaning those that
have little cash and no access to financing. Many retailers
mistakenly assume that this customer is not their customer or that
the customer has little buying power. Both thoughts are
misperceptions; however, a healthy economy afforded retailers the
luxury of being wrong.
The truth of the matter is that the demographic of this customer
is likely very similar to that of the customers routinely shopping in
your store today: female and a homeowner, with a yearly income
of around $ 50,000. As an illustration of how many consumers
are choosing no-credit-required payment options, the rent-to-
own industry generates between $ 8 billion and $9 billion of
revenue annually. There is only one question to ask: If this
REACHING 30% MORE CUSTOM ERS—
UNDERBANKED CONSUMERS
WANT YOUR PRODUCTS
1
AS CATASTROPHIC AS THE GREAT RECESSION HAS BEEN
TO RE TAILERS ACROS S THE COUNTRY, A FE W P OSITIVES
HAVE COME FROM IT, AS WELL . ONE OF THE MOST
NOTABLE BENEFITS IS THAT RE TAILERS WERE FORCED TO
TAKE A HARD LOOK AT THEIR OPER ATION AND IMPROVE
ANY WHERE AND E VERY WHERE P OS SIBLE . . . OR DIE . THIS
INCLUDED LOOKING FOR NE W OPP ORTUNITIES WITHIN
THEIR E XISTING CUSTOMER BASE , AS WELL AS FINDING
WAYS TO DR AW NE W CUSTOMERS INTO THE STORE .
M A N U F A C T U R E R [ N O T E S ]
