This blog post is an extract from the new book by Tim Radley Meaning the the Retail Madness – How to be an Essential Retailer’ What makes a retailer essential? Our viewpoint of what an essential retailer is has been re-focused by the covid19 era. Consumer goods were put into perspective within the wider social context. The people in our lives, and those who effect our lives, were recognised with-
The Promised Land of Creativity: The Future for Visual Merchandising There’s always much talk about the future of visual merchandising but surprisingly little about the evolution of the role of the visual merchandiser. It’s almost as though beautiful stores happen by magic. And that misconception is certainly one that still holds back the VM profession, its recognition and rewards. However, all markets and individual retailers are on a retail journey.-
Community Location Planning: A New Angle on a Circular Approach Retailers are having to drastically re-think many of their commercial practices. Location planning departments will be at the head of the queue when it comes to looking for new answers. Scratching their heads for an alternative strategic approach to where and why they open and close stores. Traditional traffic analysis and demographic profiling should still be the bedrock of decision making.-
Amazon Wardrobe: Facilitating returns to drive sales Taking the customer’s money is only half the story of retail. In fact, giving the money back is threatening to become the primary activity in an online world where the customer is now calling the shots. A landscape has formed where the customer returns at will, and the retailer picks up the bill. Buying many sizes and styles with the intention of returning-
Bloom & Wild: Delivering a fragrant revolution I’d recommend that we all spoil ourselves with flowers. Not, for the hell of it, and not any flowers. Just those delivered by Bloom & Wild. Their story is not about flowers, no matter how beautiful they are, but about disrupting a market where with one decisive initiative they transformed the sector. From that point they have blazed a trail of disruption through the-
It’s an interesting discussion. What drives a customer to a specific shop? Is it the individual store itself and the experience in it? Or is it the wider retail brand and its portrayal to the customer? It’s particularly relevant because currently everything in retail is up for change. Loyalty is in the balance. So, lets take the individual store. The correct way to deliver this is to create an amazing experience-
Strategies behind the scenes: “Plan experiences, not assortments” For several years Selfridges strategy has been to create flexible and dynamic spaces. Each space is a complete concept. Built around the assortment it includes the music, installations, fixtures and fittings. Down to display techniques and up to showcase features such as the Skate Bowl. The spaces are customer focused “end-use” propositions such as the Designer Street Room or Body Zone. They are complete-
Yet another survey was published last week showing how the number of closing retail stores on the high streets of the UK significantly outweighs those opening. Sad as that is, it’s no surprise to anyone in the current omnichannel climate. What is surprising is that the store category with the healthiest number of openings, compared to closures, is bookstores. A decade ago the mere thought that bookstores would be leading-
As you’d expect there’s been a bit of a media blitz surrounding the appearance of a Skate Bowl in the middle of Selfridges flagship store on Oxford Street. Never one to shy away from innovation it is nonetheless a refreshing story, a positive spin on the department store sector. Whilst the Skate Bowl is sensational in concept and delivery, it is part of a wider departmental concept, which is the-
