Category: retail
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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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Why Independent Retailers should naturally make the best social media influencers!
in branding & visual communication, brave-words, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, food & drink, high street planning, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, personalisation, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail strategy, retail-regeneration, store experience, store theatre, telling product stories, town centre planningHave you ever wondered why shopping on a good local high street takes so long? Well, there may be negatives such as finding somewhere to park, particularly if its popular, but once in situ it is largely down to becoming immersed in the whole shopping experience. You discover new and unusual products that require further…
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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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Can we find hope for ethical retailing in the fallout from Black Friday?
in analytics, assortment structure planning, fashion accessories, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, multi-category, omni-channel retailing, product suppliers, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, social savvy, supply-chains, sustainability, value retailingBlack Friday is generally recognised as the epitome of mass-market retailing, a customer celebration of huge price reductions, and the shifting of eye-watering volumes of merchandise. For retailers a big blow to margins, but the salvation before Christmas in terms of units sold, and this year an opportunity to offload unprecedented unsold, unwanted overstock to…
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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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“2p or not 2p:” What is the point of Ultra-Fast Fashion?
in assortment structure planning, fashion accessories, footwear, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, product suppliers, recycling, renting, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, supply-chains, sustainability, value retailingThis story begins with a Channel 4 documentary behind the scenes of the world’s largest ultra-fast fashion retailer. Against a backdrop of endless working hours and horrendous working conditions, apparently each worker earns as little as 2p for every garment they stitch and sew! The next chapter takes us to the inventory bloodbath of what…
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