Category: assortment structure planning
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My exciting collaboration with the London College of Fashion for 2023
in accessories, assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, fast fashion, footwear, jewellery, kids fashion, ladies fashion, leisure & sport, luxury, menswear, new retail, product suppliers, re-sell, recycling, renting, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, shop of the future, store experience, store theatre, supply-chains, sustainability, telling product stories, visual merchandisingPleased to announce that I’m working with the London College of Fashion again this Autumn, as part of their Collaborative Challenge Industry Partner Programme. The fashion industry is more exciting and dynamic than ever. Students entering this world, across a wide range of disciplines, now need to be fully prepared and be able to collaborate…
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‘Is Brand more important than Product?’ A question for students at the London College of Fashion. (LCF)
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, fast fashion, ladies fashion, luxury, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, new retail, retail, retail businesses, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, social savvy, telling product stories, visual merchandising, website excellenceI am pleased to say I will soon be embarking on my annual collaborative challenge module with the staff & students of the London College of Fashion. Always a fascinating period of my year, absorbing the enthusiasm and energy of another generation of designers & young retailers. The students are so tech native that visual…
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How do retailers get better? The art and science of ‘looking inside’ and of ‘looking outside!’
in analytics, assortment structure planning, customer-engagement, in-store services, meaning in the retail madness, omni-channel retailing, packaging, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, store layout, store operations, supply-chains, VManalyticsWhen we look at what we do, as commercially viable and successful retailers, there is no great mystery. The functions that we must address largely span developing a product assortment, building a supply chain, developing shops, e-commerce, and routes to market, manning everything from head office to stores with competent and loyal employees, and then…
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A Soliloquy to Visual Merchandisers and the beauty they bring to today’s ‘Shops of the Future!’
in accessories, assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, fast fashion, ladies fashion, luxury, menswear, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, shop of the future, space planning, store experience, store layout, store theatre, telling product stories, visual merchandising, visual merchandising operations, windowsVisual Merchandising, like any other function within a retail business is having to adapt in response to the paradigm shifts that are occurring in the retail industry. Those changes are becoming a revolution, not an evolution. What began with globalised supply chains, fast fashion, the advent of ecommerce, pureplay retail, has accelerated into social and…
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It is simply ‘Common Sense’ to balance ‘Artificial intelligence’ with Retail People.
in analytics, assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, brave-words, customer experience, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, personalisation, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, shop of the future, technology & electricalAnother day, and another AI (Artificial Intelligence) story. It would seen that necessity is overtaking novelty if the volume of copy is anything to go by, even if the specific needs are still often very much in the cloud. Undoubtedly recent history will repeat itself, with investment and popular hysteria chasing the latest billion dollar…
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Marks & Spencer looking good, by making ‘Less look commercially attractive!’
in assortment structure planning, customer experience, fashion accessories, food & drink, high street planning, home, kids fashion, ladies fashion, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, multi-category, omni-channel retailing, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store theatre, town centre planningMarks & Spencer continues to impress with its sales figures and market share across fashion and home, as well as the more predictable food category. And whilst few would argue that they have the most exciting shops on the high street, the ambitious and highly successful store regeneration program is already reaping rewards, and putting…
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We should all be talking ‘Best-seller materials’ and not ‘Best-seller products?’
in assortment structure planning, ethical retailing, fashion accessories, fast fashion, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, pre-loved, product suppliers, re-sell, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, secondhand, supply-chains, sustainabilityI was asked yesterday what circular fashion production and RFID tagging had to do with better ‘best-seller’ product selection, less worst sellers, and therefore less waste and all the sustainable benefits of that. The answer is nothing. RFID is an identification and data tool. The skill of designers & buyers, supported by predictive analytics, is…
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The ‘Phantom Thread.’ The Technology of our Lives?
in assortment structure planning, brave-words, disruptive retail, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, pre-loved, product suppliers, re-sell, recycling, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail strategy, secondhand, shop of the future, supply-chains, sustainability, technology & electricalLet’s be clear. Sooner or later, either through choice, customer sentiment, or legislation, we will all be selling less things. Certainly as ‘retailers as a whole’ and, as individual businesses. This will be the ‘Journey of a lifetime’ for a retail industry built on volume growth, and a distinct change of direction for the journeys…
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TK Maxx. Using Visual Merchandising to make every customer’s visit into their luckiest day!
in accessories, assortment structure planning, customer experience, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, footwear, health & beauty, kids fashion, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, multi-category, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail strategy, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, value retailing, visual merchandising, visual merchandising operations, vm compliance, vm operationsThe best brands make extraordinary things very simple. And the clever use of visual merchandising does not need to be complex or sophisticated to define a brand and create unique experiences. I was involved in the research for the Channel 5 documentary about TK Maxx. The interview with one of the producers made me distill…
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Arming yourself with ‘Added-value’ propositions in the war on low price
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, health & beauty, meaning in the retail madness, product suppliers, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, store experience, supply-chains, value retailingIn these ‘cost-of-living’ times I am reminded of one of my first lessons in retail. The difference between price & value. They sound similar and considering how often the word ‘value’ is misused, as in ‘value retailers’ who are in fact ‘low price retailers,’ anyone would be excused for thinking they are the same. I’ve…
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