Category: new retail
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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 it right to celebrate beautiful retailing, from less than beautiful retailers?
in branding & visual communication, brave-words, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, fast fashion, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, pre-loved, product suppliers, re-sell, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail organisations, retail strategy, secondhand, store experience, store theatre, supply-chains, sustainability, visual merchandisingIs it right to celebrate beautiful retailing, from less than beautiful retailers? This is a conundrum I consider every time I come across an amazing new shop, but from a business I prefer not to buy from. Can creativity be tainted by its retail context? In the same way that we are often told to…
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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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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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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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How dull must the future of fashion seem to Generation Z!?
in customer experience, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, fashion accessories, fast fashion, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, re-sell, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, secondhand, shop of the future, store experience, sustainabilityI wouldn’t imagine that too many GenZ’s have seen the latest ‘Top 30 Fashion Retailers by 2026’ report from Retail Week, or indeed read Retail Week at all. If these 18-24 year olds did read it, then I’m sure their hearts would plummet at a top 10 filled with the old bastions of retail, topped…
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The Slow rise of Circular Fashion: ‘A Story of our Age?’
The number of sustainable & circular economy events, workshops and communities that are appearing is startling. The passion of the speakers, the retailers, growers, producers is incredible, and matched by the enthusiastic reaction from the audiences. I witnessed this first-hand at the excellent WIP Sustainable Business Summit, held last Friday as part of the Fashion…
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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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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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Swoperz: An idea born from community taking pre-loved children’s fashion to another world.
in customer-engagement, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, fashion accessories, fast fashion, kids fashion, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, pop-up stores, pureplay, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, social savvy, sustainabilityLet me introduce you to Swoperz, if you aren’t already familiar with this innovative app that allows children to swap their clothes. As with all the best brands it has a very simple proposition that is born from observing a need. But as with exceptional brands it also ticks many wider boxes, that make Swoperz…
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