Category: retail businesses
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Is it right to celebrate beautiful retailing, from less than beautiful retailers?
in branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, personalisation, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, store experience, store theatre, sustainabilityIs 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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Talking about ‘Experiential Retailing’ for SMEs with Startups.co.uk
in branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, impulse retailing, in-store services, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, personalisation, pop-up stores, product suppliers, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, social savvy, store experience, store layout, store operations, store theatre, visual merchandising, windowsVery pleased to have collaborated with Startups.co.uk on an article about Experiential retailing.Thanks to Helena Young, for inviting me to contribute. Of course, creating and delivering a good customer experience is so important for every retailer. But will it be the saviour of the high street, the knight in shining armour for independent retailers?Well, not necessarily! As…
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My exciting collaboration with the London College of Fashion
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, footwear, jewellery, ladies fashion, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, new retail, omni-channel retailing, pop-up stores, recycling, renting, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store theatre, sustainability, telling product stories, visual merchandising, windowsPleased to announce that I’m working with the London College of Fashion 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 and…
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Can the ‘cost of living’ educate us on the ‘price of owning?’
in customer-engagement, disruptive retail, food & drink, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, new retail, packaging, product suppliers, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, store operations, supply-chains, sustainabilityThe ‘cost of living’ crisis affecting all of us, is an opportunity to educate everyone on the wider sustainable issues around the things we buy and own. There are of course so many powerful and compelling reasons why we should think more deeply about the repercussions of what we buy. The environment, climate change and…
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Why disruptive retail models must still implement good old-fashioned inventory management?
Why disruptive retail models must still implement good old-fashioned inventory management? The worlds of sustainability and the circular supply chain are clashing headlong with traditional retail principles and processes. This new wave of businesses specialise in, and operate, a variety of models across renting and re-selling. Some of these models still rely on a controlled…
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What the guardians of Oxford Street should learn from the citizens of Valencia.
I was sucked into a discussion recently on the woes of Oxford Street, London’s famous shopping destination. The fact is it is no longer the destination that it was. It has suffered more than most from the COVID lockdowns, reduced tourist numbers and home working, but the focus of the grumblings went back further than…
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If galvanising your workforce is your main objective as a retail leader, then consider this checklist…
The road to achieving a fully-functional modern retail business with an empowered workforce is not an easy one to take, or a simple one to execute. Success comes through addressing a wide variety of issues and activities. Encouragement and empathy are a good start but they will only ease the journey, not get you to…
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Delivering successful sustainable retail: Bringing ‘Meaning to the Retail Madness’
Retail is balancing on an unprecedented tightrope of change. Between the precipice of exploitative disaster, and the leap to sustainability and a commercially viable circular future. Where do you begin as a sustainable retailer? Opportunities are emerging for businesses of all sizes, scenarios and origins, to engage with the growing customer sentiment for products made…
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Should ‘recyclable trump recycled’ in the product design & buying lottery?
in assortment structure planning, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, footwear, home, kids fashion, ladies fashion, leisure & sport, luxury, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, new retail, product suppliers, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, supply-chains, sustainability, value retailingShould ‘recyclable trump recycled’ in the product design & buying lottery? Surely, as customers we must educate ourselves, and teach the businesses that make our ‘stuff’ that truly and literally ‘enough is enough’ It is correct to prioritise ‘keeping product out of landfill’ This is most important. That is why the evolution of resell, remaking,…
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Empowering & Organising Retail People: Bringing ‘Meaning to the Retail Madness’
Retail has a chequered history of human resource management, to say the least. Sadly, some of us will still remember the aggressive cultures that used to pervade the offices of some our biggest retail businesses. Even recently, I have experienced the painful charting of an executive hierarchy, stating with precision who is more important than…
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