Category: customer service
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In a cynical 2024, follow your own advice and be your own best influencer!
The world of influencers and brand advocates is often viewed just as something born out of the mysterious new world of social media and pureplay retailing. And in the relatively short history of digital marketing, influencers have been shown to work dramatically well to increase customer visibility and commercial performance. Take the mercurial rise of…
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Time to ‘realise’ your most valuable assets. Invest in people as the heart of your brand.
The sad demise of famous retail brands over recent years has shone a light on the relative value of the assets of a business. With the likes of Paperchase, Made.com, Top Shop & Debenhams amongst those looking for buyers the split between those investors interested in brand assets and those interested in physical assets such…
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Lush cleaning up with festival-goers as it evolves ‘Customer location planning’
in accessories, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, health & beauty, high street planning, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, omni-channel retailing, pop-up stores, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, shop of the future, store experience, store theatreBeauty brand Lush has recently been in the news with its pop-up shops & shampoo parlours at some of the UK’s largest music festivals, notably WOMAD & Bluedot. Never a brand to stand still, this is an innovative move that is based around some very sensible strategies, and a realisation that being a successful retailer…
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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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In today’s ‘Shop of the Future’ do you spread visual merchandising more thinly or indulge in its richness?
in branding & visual communication, brave-words, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, fast fashion, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, new retail, omni-channel retailing, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, technology & electrical, visual merchandising, visual merchandising operations, vm 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 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 rich…
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Celebrating the healthcare sector. From ‘Good People’ into ‘Great Retailers’
in brave-words, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, food & drink, health & beauty, meaning in the retail madness, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, store experience, sustainabilityThe healthcare sector is indeed perfectly, and tantalisingly, positioned to satisfy the growing customer desire for products that improve physical and mental wellbeing, as well as bringing ‘meaning and integrity’ into the retail experience itself. So, it is my pleasure to be collaborating with Target Publishing Ltd on a regular new column for Health Food Business that…
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Good customer experiences come in all shapes and sizes: Make sure they’re always in-stock!
in customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, impulse retailing, meaning in the retail madness, personalisation, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, store experience, store operations, store theatre, visual merchandisingGood customer experiences come in all shapes and sizes: Make sure they’re always in-stock! Ask the customer, ask your colleagues, and ask yourself what is a ‘good customer experience?’ and you will automatically receive a myriad of answers…even from yourself. One of the popular answers will be a physical shop which has atmosphere, beautiful displays,…
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The Age of the Retail Creatives is upon us. “12 questions that will shape your visual merchandising career!”
in branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, fast fashion, ladies fashion, luxury, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, new retail, omni-channel retailing, personalisation, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, store theatre, telling product stories, visual merchandising, visual merchandising operations, vm compliance, vm operations, VM Selling Toolkit, windowsIt will be my great pleasure to speak at the International Display Conference this week. The 2-day event in Dublin, promises to bring together some of the brightest lights in the visual merchandising industry from all corners of the world. My subject?“12 questions that will shape your visual merchandising career!” I have been presenting on…
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We can not rely on lower inflation to bring our customers back.
Let us hope that the predictions of lower inflation and reduced interest rates have become a reality by the time you read this post. The omens are good. In the traditional cycle of things our customers regularly go through times of financial hardship and relative freedom to spend. It is just a matter of managing…
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John Lewis: ‘Out-of-sight, out-of-mind!’
in branding & visual communication, customer service, high street planning, home, in-store services, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, multi-category, omni-channel retailing, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, store experience, town centre planningJohn Lewis: ‘Out-of-sight, out-of-mind!’ Tunbridge Wells, or to be correct Royal Tunbridge Wells, is John Lewis heartland. If you were designing the perfect town for the values and qualities of the brand, the lifestyle, the demographic, the income levels, then you would create Tunbridge Wells. Tunbridge Wells had a John Lewis shop. We had a…
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