When a company is solely a physical store in the retail industry, their competition battle is a little different from those on the web. In today's mix of e-retail, there are a number of online companies in the same race seeking market share full of shoppers that are looking to do easy spending and find great deals. Online retail is growing at 16% annually and same-day delivery is in demand. Yet, there are one e-retail competitor, Amazon, that have a grip on the market. Also, Google has the search engine industry in its' back pocket. If your company is in the ring with them, its' best to have an effective strategy if you're going to last.

E-retailers are making various business moves to stand up against the best of them, which is what U.S. Patriot Tactical is doing. This company is a store-based retailer of boots, apparel and gear for members of the military.

Sales for the retailer have consistently grown in recent years and the question is how is the retailer doing it. U.S. Patriot has its' share of challenges as every other retailer in the race, but what is making the difference is between its' sales and becoming irrelevant. Amazon and Google are at both fronts, therefore, both have given aggressive attention to thrive.

“A company at our size, we don’t have as many resources available to us, so it’s hard for us to keep up with the updates from Google, or it takes longer for us to respond,” stated U.S Patriot Tactical's President Paul Yoo in the article. A year ago, the retailer had to overcome the challenge of fast site speed, as well as Google changes. Google performs regular shifts on web site ranking, which can make it difficult to stay visible online. Small e-retailers know this is crucial for their online selling and search engine optimization is key to their sales. However, large retailers have the flexible spending to invest in paid search ads, in comparison to small guys with limited budgets. The article stated search engines may favor large retailers with recognizable names as well.

U.S. Patriot Tactical has learned to incorporate more in-depth content for its' website, utilizing copywriters to create detailed product descriptions. The retailer essentially has leaned more towards search engine optimization the organic way, which fits their budget, and at the same time, boosts their online sales. With a search for "military boots", the report stated U.S. Patriot ranked first among Google organic listings.

The retailers also has the competition of Amazon with selling their online products. As robust as Amazon is on the web, U.S. Patriot had to be agile with certain products in order to create sales. Yoo said in the article, “Sometimes we’ll buy up the inventory from the manufacturer before Amazon will even get their hands on it. For us, being nimble is survival. For now, I have more inventory on many items than Amazon does, since this is my specialty. But the minute they decide to go into my niche, I’m not sure I’ll have very much to say about it. That’s something a lot of small retailers are faced with.” The company has also opted to sell some of its' products on Amazon, such as boots, due to its' vast 60,000 stock of them. It can also prepare for competing in local markets by implementing same-day delivery, which is what Amazon is doing as well. A Same-Day Courier like A-1 Express can help deliver products fast nationwide. The Charlotte Courier can help compete in the long-term.

References: 6.24.14, Internet Retailer, Stefany Zaroban, How one Second 500 e-retailer handles Amazon and Google