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| Dec 22, 2023 | The importance of being omni-channel fit in the new age of retailing | article-article-body
Technology has empowered consumers in ways we could never have imagined and the impact is enormous, exciting and perhaps a little daunting for many retailers. As consumers become more tech-savvy and channel agnostic, th... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | How Sneakerboy becomes a part of their customers’ lives | article-article-body
You’ve just got to be part of your customer’s lives. It’s the easiest way to sell product” – Chris Kyvetos, co-founder of Sneakerboy
We are all used to hearing the statistics around the power of omni-channel retailing b... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Don’t let your retail sales fly out the back door | article-article-body
“It might be said that it is the ideal of the employer to have production without employees and the ideal of the employee is to have income without work.” – EF Schumacher
In some of our core retail operational diagnosti... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Laying the foundations for being a successful small retailer | article-article-body
Flying up and down the east coast of Australia this month, and talking with property developers, real estate agents and financial advisers, it’s really brought home just how big our east coast building boom is.
But funn... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Monkey business: The speed and appetite for change in retail today | article-article-body
It has actually been suggested that warfare may have been the principle evolutionary pressure that created the huge gap between the human brain and that of our closest living relatives, the anthropoid apes. Whole groups... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | The fallacy about online shopping | article-article-body
When it comes to dispensing doom and gloom about the state of Australian retail, I’ve come to the conclusion we are a very excitable nation – especially when it comes to the discussion about ‘losing out to online’.
So l... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | The consultant that couldn’t say no | article-article-body
“Macy’s has survived and thrived for 152 years. By adapting to the current demands of our customers, we can be here 152 years from now if we keep the customer at the centre of all decisions.” – TerryLundgren, chief exec... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Are 80% of your shoppers buying from your competitors? | article-article-body
“I think we’re having fun. I think our customers really like our products. And we’re always trying to do better.” – Steve Jobs
Or perhaps Steve’s other quote that innovation is the difference between leaders and followe... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | 10 business resilience tips for retailers | article-article-body
“We always like to reveal the fact that the emperor has no clothes. And children are best at that. They teach us how to see the world in that sense. They are without artifice; they see it for what it is. I am drawn to t... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | What do consultants really sell? | article-article-body
“Today, knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement.” – Peter Drucker
What is it that consultants really sell? What is it that a consultant provides that really addresses the topic of value ac... |
| Feb 11, 2014 | How to unlock store profits with ‘open to buy’ | “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
If you’re looking for a business fitness New Year’s resolution, how about taking stock of the operational components... |
| Feb 4, 2014 | We might look, but we really like to touch | “The internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the internet so that all the companies could make money off the internet. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but ... |
| Dec 10, 2013 | Why wage growth is helping to make us uncompetitive | “Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” – Oscar Wilde.
It’s getting harder for many of our retailers; fighting the fight, lacing up for another battle against these retail heavyweights, ducking and weaving, ... |
| Nov 19, 2013 | When the business case just doesn’t stack up for omni-channel retail | “You must spend money to make money.”– Plautus
Many retailers are going to waste money and some will even fail at omni-channel implementation.
Why? Because they will presume that omni-channel commences with the customer experience. This is ... |
| Oct 8, 2013 | Increase customer dwell time to boost your retail sell time | How often have you walked out of a store because the music was too loud, the service was bad or non-existent, or you simply couldn’t find what you were looking for?
A customer’s experience in store corresponds directly to their dwell time. ... |
| Aug 13, 2013 | Myth-busting: The top three omni-channel retail myths | This week, I would like to introduce my fellow Ebeltoft Group member, Jim Okamura, the managing partner of Okamura Consulting (Chicago). Jim is an expert in cross-channel retail and international e-commerce strategies and the author of the ... |
| Jul 23, 2013 | Window to the retail soul: key steps to creating inspirational shop displays | The architect Philip Johnson once observed, “All architecture is shelter; all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space.”
Perhaps we could equally say, “All great shop ... |
| Jul 9, 2013 | The size of the retail prize | “Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.” – Arthur Schopenhauer
Due north, size of the prize, the summit, end game, etc, are all euphemisms for the most simple of necessary starting points for any... |
| Jun 18, 2013 | Retailers need to get basics right: If it’s not in, it’s not on | I was reminded on a recent shopping trip as to why retailers need to pay particular attention to a critical “operational basic”. Whilst we all rightfully concern ourselves about omni-channel retailing, it is never a reason for us to not kee... |
| Jun 5, 2013 | Christians vs lions: Which side of the retail battleground are you on? | “The lion, which is mightiest among beasts and does not turn back before any.” – Ancient proverb.
I imagine it can’t have been easy being a Christian lining up against the lions in those big match colosseum events, being outflanked, lacking... |
| May 21, 2013 | The multichannel path to profit | Isn’t this whole online debate fascinating? Many of us are nominating one channel or another (stores versus online) as the preferred way that our customers like to shop with us.
Or alternatively suggesting that one channel is more profitabl... |
| May 8, 2013 | Overcoming FTA syndrome: failure to adapt | “The wheeze you hear from the average store retailer is profit decline brought about by shop-keepers themselves, as they relegate every aspect of retail to become subservient to price. As margins decline and costs rise the wheeze gets loude... |
| Apr 23, 2013 | Don’t believe everything they say about online retail | Would you believe, dear reader, that online sales in retail are actually starting to flatten out, dare I say it, even receding in some cases more quickly than a certain political leader’s hairline.
The explosive headlines of 400% growth mar... |
| Apr 2, 2013 | The operational factors you can control to improve business fitness | In the past weeks, we have seen yet another bout of retailers going into administration, evidence of just how ‘unfit’ the retail environment is out there.
Some of the many external challenges we are hearing about include:
Global retail jugg... |
| Mar 26, 2013 | The shop without sales: The questions you need to ask | The secret to a focused, motivated and goal-focused retailer is generally not found in the shop.
Seem strange or even impractical? From our experience the start of assessing whether a shop team is sales focused starts in the backroom (or ma... |
| Mar 19, 2013 | The counter encounter: Clean up the clutter | Have you ever stood at a retail sales counter and actually had to move the clutter away in order to pass your credit card or cash to the salesperson? This is the counter encounter that we see increasingly in retail today.
Last week I looked... |
| Mar 5, 2013 | Engaged staff sell more! Seven ways to get staff selling | When it comes to retail, store staff are a vital component to delivering new types of value by matching the customer problem with the solution and helping to promote the whole brand experience. The more engaged your staff are with their wor... |
| Feb 19, 2013 | The war cry, the battleground and the chaos below | “You also need to look back, not just at the people who are running behind you but especially at those who don’t run and never will… those who run but don’t race… those who started training for a race but didn’t carry through… those who got... |
| Feb 5, 2013 | Can strategic thinking be taught? | “Nine-tenths of tactics are certain and taught in the books; but, the irrational tenth is like the kingfisher flashing across the pool. This is the test of generals. Success can only be ensured by instinct sharpened by thought. At the crisi... |
| Jan 15, 2013 | Dear retailer: I get it, you don’t really want me as a customer, do you? | Dear Retailer,
I know. And I get it. You don’t really want me to be a customer do you?
All the money you spend on branding, fit-outs, advertising and trying to entice me is for another purpose, isn’t it?
I see in the distance a staff member... |
| Jan 14, 2013 | Three key ways to reignite your sales | January can be a tricky time for many small businesses. With consumers unwilling to spend big after Christmas and potential clients either working on their budgets or still on holiday, start-ups often struggle to generate serious revenue du... |
| Dec 11, 2012 | How to play against the retail big guys | Hollister, Topshop, Costco, Williams Sonoma, River Island, and Zara share one common characteristic and that is that they are fit retailers aggressively embarking on international expansion. Australia is an attractive destination.
So the is... |
| Nov 27, 2012 | Get ready for the post-Christmas cashflow crunch | Over the last few years we have been used to hearing comments such as ‘credit is necessary’. And now we hear industry leaders talk about the two core disciplines of retail being control of working capital management and control of cash.
Cas... |
| Nov 13, 2012 | Is customer service overrated? | The role of ‘fit’ customer value is the subject of numerous articles, presentations, company values and leadership talks.
And the subject has kept many a CEO and consultant gainfully employed. Yet I do wonder if the broad term of customer s... |
| Oct 30, 2012 | Australian retail is no longer an island | “And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.” – Andrew Carnegie
Being physically isolated has had its advantages for... |
| Oct 16, 2012 | Strong CRM requires a good dose of CSM | Is there nothing better than hearing retailers talk about the new age of the customer? Developing their loyalty programs and, of course, the golden implementation tactic that is enhancing their customer relationship management platforms.
So... |
| Oct 2, 2012 | Not drowning just waving – Are we spending less or just differently? | “I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn’t know how to get along without it.” – Walt Disney
Darrell Lea, Ojay, Payless Shoes, Brown Sugar and other retailers who have become clients of our country’s administrators may... |
| Sep 18, 2012 | Don’t blame the referee; let’s concentrate on the game plan | Study the truly great business performers in retail and other sectors and you see some startlingly simple things in common to their success.
A strong focus on the end game
Passionate engaged cultures (the internal brand)
A fundamental belie... |
| Sep 4, 2012 | The fit approach to recruiting the right retail staff for your business | Imagine being in the situation where you rarely have to recruit staff for your shop floor. Where potential employees approach your business and you have the power to make choices.
“Fit” retailers, who find themselves in this enviable positi... |
| Aug 21, 2012 | The ‘blandification’ of our retail offer | “Sign, sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign.”
These words, sung by the Five Man Electrical Band, really resonated with me as I was writing this piece. And it follow... |
