Category: store operations
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Trust M&S to be ‘Positively Dissatisfied!’
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, food & drink, home, ladies fashion, multi-category, omni-channel retailing, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, store experience, store operationsI remember this story from the halcyon days of M&S. That when customers bought food from M&S and it didn’t taste amazing, they immediately thought their cooker was not working properly and called an engineer. Of course this may well be folklore. However it does illustrate the level of trust that M&S commanded, and it…
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Moving from ‘Retail location planning’ to ‘Customer location planning’
in analytics, assortment structure planning, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, high street planning, internationalisation, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, multi-category, new retail, omni-channel retailing, product suppliers, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, store operations, sustainability, town centre planning‘Channel’ is already becoming an obsolete word. Customers and retailers are connecting via an array of ‘Shopping touchpoints.’ These ‘shopping touchpoints’ will continue to be a fusion of traditional and new shop formats and customer ‘lifestyle locations,’ across digital and physical worlds. Retailers themselves will not be the ones to decide which channels to offer…
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Why being a ‘Digital-first’ retailer teaches us to be brave but not irresponsible.
in analytics, assortment structure planning, disruptive retail, new retail, omni-channel retailing, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, space management, space planning, store operations, store operations audits, store operations compliance, supply-chains, visual merchandising operations, VManalytics, website excellenceOur favourite discussion from the bespoke workshop: How to think & act like a ‘Digital-First Retailer!’ Learn how to be precise, quick, brave and successful Digital-first businesses take actions with precise data. This minimises risk. They monitor the result of actions with more analysis and assessments. There is no such thing as a wrong action,…
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Before you look for ‘Shop Design Magic’ try some ‘Tender Loving Care’
in branding & visual communication, customer experience, disruptive retail, meaning in the retail madness, retail, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, store operations audits, store operations compliance, visual merchandising, visual merchandising operations, vm compliance, vm operationsOur favourite discussion from the bespoke workshop: How to develop your ‘Shop of the Future’ The 10 steps to commercial success Don’t expect customers to love your shops if you don’t love them yourselves. Are your shops dirty and untidy, with broken lightbulbs? You wouldn’t leave your houses like that if guests were coming round.…
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Zara Battersea: High visibility through hidden technologies
in assortment structure planning, customer experience, customer service, fashion accessories, fast fashion, footwear, home, internationalisation, kids fashion, ladies fashion, leisure & sport, menswear, omni-channel retailing, Pinterest Gallery, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, visual merchandisingThe lessons for us all: “It is one thing designing & buying the best product in the world, but another level when you can say with confidence where every piece of it is! We should all learn from Zara’s product passport investment, so we can ensure we sell all of what we produce. We make…
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Zara Battersea: High visibility Pinterest gallery
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, fashion accessories, fast fashion, home, internationalisation, kids fashion, ladies fashion, leisure & sport, menswear, omni-channel retailing, Pinterest Gallery, retail, retail businesses, retail strategy, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, visual merchandising, windowsZara has taken the wraps off its latest flagship – a two-story, online-integrated space – housed in an arresting new building, which forms part of the ambitious regeneration of the Battersea Power Station complex, created by the celebrated architect Frank Gehry. The tech-driven store, which at 4,500sqm is Zara’s largest commercial space in the UK,…
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How quickly is your business able to act and to change?
As we all know retailing is a very dynamic beast. And the rate of change just keeps accelerating with new operating models, technologies, assortment supply chains, and voracious customer appetites showing no sign of slowing down. Be honest. How well are you able to react and change to customer demands and the retail markets around…
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How do retailers get better? The art and science of ‘looking inside’ and of ‘looking outside!’
in analytics, assortment structure planning, customer-engagement, in-store services, meaning in the retail madness, omni-channel retailing, packaging, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, store layout, store operations, supply-chains, VManalyticsWhen we look at what we do, as commercially viable and successful retailers, there is no great mystery. The functions that we must address largely span developing a product assortment, building a supply chain, developing shops, e-commerce, and routes to market, manning everything from head office to stores with competent and loyal employees, and then…
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TK Maxx. Using Visual Merchandising to make every customer’s visit into their luckiest day!
in accessories, assortment structure planning, customer experience, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, footwear, health & beauty, kids fashion, ladies fashion, meaning in the retail madness, menswear, multi-category, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail strategy, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, value retailing, visual merchandising, visual merchandising operations, vm compliance, vm operationsThe best brands make extraordinary things very simple. And the clever use of visual merchandising does not need to be complex or sophisticated to define a brand and create unique experiences. I was involved in the research for the Channel 5 documentary about TK Maxx. The interview with one of the producers made me distill…
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Good customer experiences come in all shapes and sizes: Make sure they’re always in-stock!
in customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, impulse retailing, meaning in the retail madness, personalisation, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, store experience, store operations, store theatre, visual merchandisingGood customer experiences come in all shapes and sizes: Make sure they’re always in-stock! Ask the customer, ask your colleagues, and ask yourself what is a ‘good customer experience?’ and you will automatically receive a myriad of answers…even from yourself. One of the popular answers will be a physical shop which has atmosphere, beautiful displays,…
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