Category: retail businesses
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Can you generate more profit by making your supply chain more diverse?
It is always easy in retailing to fall into the trap of ‘we’ve always done it this way.’ Your choice of suppliers and the management of them will be no exception to this. The classic way to select suppliers is by product categories, however a much more imaginative and often more profitable way is to…
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Delivering packaging solutions is about brain power and not brute force.
My recent post on digital retailers becoming obsessed with the ‘art of selling’ and losing sight of the ‘joy of giving’ certainly brought out some horror stories about the state of deliveries that land on people’s doorsteps. The initial reaction was a focus on the packaging and the inadequacies of everything from plastic bags offering…
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Strategise your Springtime to grow perennial brand loyalty and commercial success.
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer-engagement, impulse retailing, personalisation, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, social savvy, store experience, store theatre, visual merchandisingSpring is such a fantastic time with its warmer weather and lighter evenings. It is also a great opportunity for retail businesses, full of seasonal events and celebrations. We have Valentine’s Day as the early flyer, followed by Easter, May Day, and the wider heralding in of Spring itself. And you don’t have to look…
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Has e-commerce become obsessed with ‘the art of selling’ whilst forgetting ‘the joy of giving’
in branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, meaning in the retail madness, omni-channel retailing, packaging, personalisation, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, social savvy, supply-chains, telling product storiesI am not the only customer to be continually disappointed and disgusted at the condition of some of the products that arrive on my doorstep. My latest experience involved the delivery of some not-inexpensive ladies coats, bought as a gift, from one of the largest online fashion specialists. A business whose strategy, up until now,…
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Why we should all be talking ‘Best-seller materials’ and not ‘Best-seller products?’
in assortment structure planning, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, fashion accessories, fast fashion, footwear, ladies fashion, luxury, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, new retail, pre-loved, preorder, product suppliers, re-sell, recycling, retail, retail businesses, 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 most valuable technology of our modern lives?
in analytics, assortment structure planning, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, internationalisation, ladies fashion, luxury, menswear, new retail, personalisation, pre-loved, product suppliers, re-sell, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail strategy, secondhand, 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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TFB: The Fashion Blueprint is community in the right place at the right time.
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, brave-words, customer experience, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, ladies fashion, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, multi-category, new retail, pop-up stores, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, shop of the future, sustainabilityRetailing is so much about communities today, wherever you look. The processes of being a retailer and even being a shopper have become so complex, so confusing, and so utterly saturated that it is barely possible to sell or buy anything as an individual. More than ever we need the help of others. Particularly as…
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Harri: With creativity comes responsibility.
Harri is already a household name to many, yet he is only 3 years out from graduating from the London College of Fashion, and 2 years on from founding his fashion brand. Clearly Harri was always a mavaric, seeing the world and his work through a particularly individual lens. His graduate collection, ‘Let’s put him…
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ADIAMELIAS: Allowing the supply chain to make, not break, your brand proposition
in accessories, assortment structure planning, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, fashion accessories, ladies fashion, luxury, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, personalisation, preorder, product suppliers, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, supply-chains, sustainability, telling product storiesI’ve been talking to a lot of people recently about the supply chain, how to reshape it, and how to make it an intrinsic part of your brand, if not actually the USP of the proposition. For too many years the general mind-set has been to simply source and ship from wherever we can get…
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London College of Fashion’s inspirational designers light the way for new students.
in accessories, branding & visual communication, brave-words, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, fashion accessories, footwear, jewellery, ladies fashion, luxury, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, pop-up stores, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, shop of the future, sustainability, telling product storiesOne of the biggest thrills of being involved in the London College of Fashion Collaborative Challenge is meeting the amazing young designers from the LCF alumni. It re-enforces to me the fact that fashion is not about the process of buying & merchandising, it is about the inspirational people who put their heart and souls…
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