Category: retail strategy
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Is it easier to sell as ‘a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ than to build a new reputation?
The recent announcement that the Boohoo fashion group is being re-launched as the Debenhams Group is riddled with more irony than a Shakespearean play. But firstly, the purchasing of the key assets of one of the UK’s most loved department stores was undoubtedly a stroke of genius by Boohoo. Even at its demise it was…
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The need to make more money from selling less is becoming a fact of modern retail life.
in circular retailing, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, ethical retailing, health & beauty, in-store services, meaning in the retail madness, packaging, personalisation, re-sell, recycling, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, shop of the future, sustainabilityThere are fundamentally 4 ways to make more money in your shops. You can get existing customers to visit more often, you can get them to spend more each time, you can attract more new customers, or you can put up your prices. On pricing, whilst each retailer has its own unique situation, its stage…
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Can our closet wars help us to select our sustainability battles!
I love this chart! It was produced using Globaldata research and is now more than 5 years old. It predicted what types of retailer our fashion wardrobe would be bought from, up to the year 2028. As we stand here in 2025 we can now see how accurate the predications were. Even if we consider…
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No.10: ‘The Golden Equation for Perfect Shop Space!’ – ’52 Steps to the Perfect Shop!’
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, retail, retail management, retail strategy, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store theatre, telling product stories, visual merchandising, visual merchandising operations, vm compliance, vm operationsPost No.10 in the weekly newsletter series: ‘52 Steps to the Perfect Shop!’ You too can have ‘The Perfect Shop’ by this time next year! It is often said when writing music that it is not the notes that make the song, it is the spaces in-between. Similarly when it comes to shop space planning,…
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Why an unlikely alliance of Donald Trump & Taylor Swift could put an end to Shein!
Please excuse the dramatic title for this post. As it currently stands there is as much chance of Mr Trump & Ms Swift collaborating together, as hell freezing over. (Although that does seem more likely than it did a month ago! ) The point is that if you want to curtail the ultra-fast fashion machine,…
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Is a global fashion business without global creativity the biggest waste of human resources?
I’ve always found it very strange that many of the factories that are required to churn out mindless, repetitive fashions for global brands, are in countries which naturally have the most beautiful fabrics, designs, colours, fashion sense, and artisan skills to create extraordinary and original clothing. It is even stranger when you consider that the…
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“Shein don’t Cheat, they Compete!” – Discuss…
in assortment structure planning, ethical retailing, fabrics, fashion, fast fashion, internationalisation, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, product development, product suppliers, pureplay, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, social savvy, supply-chains, sustainability, value retailingAnd then suddenly from the Shein silence, the non-communication with government committees, potential shareholders and the general public, we have Peter Pernot-Day, Shein’s head of strategic and corporate affairs in North America, the UK and Europe, speaking to delegates at Retail Week’s Live 2025 conference. Firstly, thank you to Retail Week for sharing his speech…
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Is your brand worth repairing, renewing, & re-selling to your customer?
On a recent tour of central London stores with some retail clients, they were amazed at how many brands offer repair services and are moving to ‘products for life’ mentalities. Finisterre, not for the first time, stands out as best practice in the world of product repairs. Firstly it offers the customer videos and manuals…
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No.07: ‘Products are not born equal, so don’t buy & display them as though they are!’ – ’52 Steps to the Perfect Shop!’
in assortment structure planning, customer experience, fashion, impulse retailing, product development, retail, retail management, retail strategy, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, store operations compliance, visual merchandising, visual merchandising operations, vm compliance, vm operations, VM Selling Toolkit, VManalyticsPost No.07 in the weekly newsletter series: ‘52 Steps to the Perfect Shop!’ You too can have ‘The Perfect Shop’ by this time next year! ‘Products are not born equal!’ They have different commercial and emotional roles to play in your assortment. And to be financially successful, you need to have the correct balance of…
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Vans West End: Owning & creating a customer destination
in branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, footwear, in-store services, internationalisation, leisure & sport, location strategy, new retail, product development, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail strategy, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store theatre, visual merchandisingThe brave & extraordinary Vans West End is a shop, a skate-park, an exhibition and a concert venue. Within this complexity it has a simple message for retail brands. “Customer community & loyalty must come through more than just selling product. It must come through ‘owning’ something which is central and essential to your customer…
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