Category: new retail
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Charity Super.Mkt: ‘Cometh the hour, cometh the people!’
in brave-words, customer experience, disruptive retail, high street planning, ladies fashion, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, pop-up stores, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, retail-regeneration, sales promotions & events, supply-chains, sustainability, town centre planningFollowers of sustainable fashion cannot have avoided the opening of the first multi-charity department store, at the Brent Cross shopping centre, in North London. Ten charities are represented in the store, including Age UK, Cancer Research, Shelter and Traid. It has opened to much fanfare in a former TopShop unit and is not just remarkable…
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Why Local Shopkeepers have more ‘Retail Intelligence’ than retail multiples!
Disruptive pureplay retailers have brought about an essential change to traditional business structures and processes. Well, ones that have watched and have quickly learned themselves. Best practice retail businesses now put the customer and customer data at the heart of the business. Customer centric & data centric. Everyday processes and new initiatives begin and end…
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Retail winners combine ’New Thinking & Processes’ with ‘Old Values & Channels.’
in branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, high street planning, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, omni-channel retailing, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, retail-regeneration, store experience, store theatre, town centre planningMy own Top 5 predictions for the year ahead… 1. The ‘Pureplay bubble’ will continue to burst. 2. Physical retail, in one form or another, will almost always be essential. 3. The convenience and reliability of Click & Collect will become even more widespread as a game-changer. 4. Traditional retailers will continue to decisively get…
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How ‘Passion Supply Chains’ enable Local Independent Retailers to compete commercially and win!
in assortment structure planning, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, food & drink, health & beauty, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, packaging, product suppliers, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, space planning, store experience, store operations, supply-chains, sustainability, telling product storiesI’m often asked how small independent retailers can compete against the scale efficiencies and operational expertise of larger chains. There are in fact, many ways, but always my first answer is about being authentic, about generating a unique passion. That ‘passion’ must be genuine. It needs to be engaging and infectious. And that can only…
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Keep your ‘Retail Feet’ firmly on the Ground. Physical is back with a vengeance!
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, high street planning, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, omni-channel retailing, personalisation, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, retail-regeneration, sales promotions & events, social savvy, store experience, store operations, store theatre, town centre planning, value retailing, website excellenceIt’s the time of year when the Christmas period sales results come in, and the assessment of winners and loses takes place. My own Top 5 conclusions… The top of Retail Week’s ‘Christmas trading 2022 league table’ has a strangely familiar feel to it, featuring the likes of JDSports, Greggs, Next, B&M, Sainsburys and Tesco.…
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What can ‘we hardened retail professionals’ learn from the students at the London College of Fashion?
in branding & visual communication, customer experience, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, footwear, kids fashion, ladies fashion, luxury, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, new retail, omni-channel retailing, pop-up stores, product suppliers, recycling, renting, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, store experience, store theatre, sustainability, telling product storiesMy collaborative project with the London College of Fashion has come to an end, for this year at least. Sad to say goodbye for now, but what an amazing and rewarding experience for everyone. The student’s final presentations were professional and polished. I can honestly say that I have sat through far worse presentations from…
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Invisible Technologies that turn ‘Product Graveyards’ into ‘Perpetual Distribution Centres!”
in analytics, assortment structure planning, disruptive retail, internationalisation, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, omni-channel retailing, product suppliers, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, space management, space planning, store operations, supply-chains, sustainabilityIn the annual debate about the best use of retail technology budgets, heads are often turned by the ‘sexier’, and highly visible software solutions that enhance the visual interface and the customer experience. The rise of pureplay, the need for graphic stimulation, digital interaction, and brand immersion, all catapulted augmented and virtual reality to the…
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Is 2024 the year when being a “Worthy Retailer” is no longer enough?
in assortment structure planning, customer experience, customer service, disruptive retail, in-store services, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, omni-channel retailing, product suppliers, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, space management, space planning, supply-chains, sustainabilityThere are many examples, from politics to business, where those who were at the forefront of driving change failed to benefit from the arrival of those changes. New retailers, born from the ambition to create a world of sustainable shoppers and ethical businesses, have stood out from the traditional crowd of retail alternatives. Namely the…
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Is eBay and its ‘Luxury Exchange’ the new face of sustainable ownership?
in accessories, branding & visual communication, brave-words, customer service, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, footwear, in-store services, jewellery, ladies fashion, leisure & sport, location strategy, luxury, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, omni-channel retailing, personalisation, pop-up stores, recycling, renting, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, social savvy, supply-chains, sustainability, website excellence, windowsIs eBay and its ‘Luxury Exchange’ the new face of sustainable ownership? The recent initiative from eBay only to promote re-sell products for Black Friday has re-established the brand as a genuine and very significant player in the world of sustainable retailing. A market that is set to grow rapidly as a hybrid of reselling,…
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Is eBay the Sustainability Hero of Black Friday?
in assortment structure planning, brave-words, disruptive retail, meaning in the retail madness, multi-category, new retail, product suppliers, recycling, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, social savvy, supply-chains, sustainabilityIn case this sounds far-fetched we should remember that eBay began life as the online equivalent of a glorified car-boot sale. We all spent time selecting our target products, planning our bid strategies, and we passed some enjoyable and exciting times counting down the auction clock and firing in our last-minute offers. Before sustainable retailing became a…
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