Category: in-store services
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Conran Shop – Modern Britain’s Original Tastemaker
The lessons for us all: “Don’t diversify and dilute unique origins & heritage. Focus on them, build on them, and make them relevant for today.” Terence Conran was a young designer in the early 1970s who was inspired on a visit to Amsterdam. He loved the way that Dutch houses left open their curtains at…
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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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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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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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Finisterre: Owning a responsibility to protect and share the ocean.
in branding & visual communication, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, fabrics, in-store services, leisure & sport, meaning in the retail madness, pre-loved, product development, re-sell, recycling, renting, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, secondhand, shop of the future, store experience, store theatre, supply-chains, sustainabilitySome brands sell products, whilst others sell passions. And in this consumer world of over-supply and product fatigue it finally seems that customers are being drawn to companies that were never really meant to be retailers at all. To call them ‘accidental retailers’ is really not fair, because in most cases they have developed assortments…
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‘Making the most of the winter blues?’ IKEA have it in the bag!
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, food & drink, home, in-store services, internationalisation, location strategy, packaging, personalisation, pop-up stores, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, shop of the future, store experience, store theatre, telling product stories, town centre planning, visual merchandising, windowsIKEA is so much more than a retailer of things. It is a business driven by a philosophy of innovation and ideas, and not least, a dry Scandinavian sense of humour. The brand will magnificently be seen in all of its glory soon, when it opens its London West End flagship store in Oxford Circus,…
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2025: A year to safeguard your trust and keep your customers safe.
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, brave-words, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, ethical retailing, food & drink, health & beauty, high street planning, in-store services, leisure & sport, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, personalisation, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, shop of the future, store experienceJanuary is not many people’s favourite month of the year, unless you work for a credit card business, I guess. But the start to 2025 has been a particularly bad one, with horrendous fires in Los Angeles and Ghana, and our own problems with flooding and storms closer to home. Of course, there are always…
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More Lush. More fun than ever!
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, health & beauty, impulse retailing, in-store services, packaging, Pinterest Gallery, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail strategy, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store theatre, telling product stories, visual merchandisingUntil last week my favourite and most fun shop experience would have been the Lush shop on Oxford Street. It isn’t anymore. It’s the new Lush shop on Longacre in Covent Garden! The new concept takes everything that has always been so special about the Oxford Street experience and has wrapped it up in a…
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Never Knowingly Underestimate John Lewis!
in branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, in-store services, multi-category, omni-channel retailing, pop-up stores, retail, retail brand heritage, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, store experience, store theatreI’m not the only one to be impressed by the new John Lewis Christmas adverts. They are certainly a ‘nod’ backwards to their Christmas campaign peak years, a decade or so ago, but they also signal an exciting shift in strategy, and a bright future for this most trusted of brands. Listen to what I…
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Body Shop: Seeking a change in fortune for this rough-cut diamond
in branding & visual communication, brave-words, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, health & beauty, impulse retailing, in-store services, packaging, product suppliers, recycling, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, store theatre, sustainability, telling product storiesWhere do you begin with the story of Body Shop. So many twists and turns, and so many lessons. Anyone who remembers the 1980s and 1990s experienced a totally new retail concept. Body Shop was way ahead of its time in the world of conscientious cosmetics and toiletries. It was primarily a producer, ensuring that…
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