Post No.01 in the weekly newsletter series:
‘52 Steps to the Perfect Shop!’
You too can have ‘The Perfect Shop’ by this time next year!
When you create and deliver a new shop concept, your ‘Shop of the Future’ if you like, it is an incredibly complex process. It involves…it should involve many different stakeholders.
What the process needs is a clear vision! A purpose!
This is the glue that will hold everything together. It is our checklist, our constant benchmark that whatever part of the process we are working on, it is in-line and consistent with our clear vision for the shop. For the brand.
The shop is the physical incarnation of your brand. It should strengthen your customer proposition. It should be a clear and powerful statement of who you are, made of metal, stone, glass… products, people and services.
So we hold an initial workshop with clients. We ensure that all of the relevant people are there…from boardrooms to stockrooms.
And we discuss some very simple charts to make sure we are all on the same page. To ensure that we all have the same vision and objectives.
It is always incredible, but not surprising anymore, that people within the same business, even the same department, have different perceptions of the brand. This must become focused. This must become the same for everyone.
And this single vision will guide everyone in everything they produce for the shop. Does it clarify and strengthen the brand vision, or not? It must, or it must be changed!
Regarding the parameters of the chart. Clearly it is not good to be static or dull. however beyond that there is no right or wrong. Just what is right for your brand, for your customer perception.
Some brands are highly successful as dynamic and exciting retail propositions. Other make a lot of profit being authoritative and trustworthy…reliable.
The right thing is an agreed position. An alignment of a business and the people around the table.
So, on the road to developing your perfect new shop, before to begin to create or develop a single thing, you must be in agreement on where you are going. Discuss, argue but finally agree, unequivocally.
Ensure that everyone involved in the process as you move forwards understands the vision. And as frequently as possible…stop, reflect, and ensure that you are also still in line with the purpose for your shiny new shop.
’52 Steps to the Perfect Shop!’
For everyone looking to improve their physical shops, or thinking of opening their first pop-up or permanent shop.
The weekly newsletters, and the 10 content modules they feature, have been created from my experiences of opening hundreds of shops, of all different sizes, situated across the world, selling just about everything there is to sell.
I hope this helps you to develop & deliver your own best practice retail spaces.