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Retail best practices – from the Girl Scouts?

Cutting edge tech for a lean, mean selling machine

The Girl Scouts is a nonprofit organization focused on developing life skills of girls.  Their biggest fundraiser is their annual cookie sale, where members historically sold cookies door to door.  Even in the face of Walmart selling “knockoff” cookie clones, the Girl Scouts sell over 200 million boxes in about 10 weeks.  Retailers would do well to study how Girls Scouts today have pulled out all the stops in using social media, apps, mobility, advance marketing and logistics.

The CPO is alive, well and definitely in charge

If you doubt the power of the CPO, check the latest stats 

In Retail University, we’ve been highlighting the “CPO” for a long time – Chief Procurement Officer.  In the US, the CPO definitely controls the purse strings and influences a majority of the purchase decisions for the American home.  The latest “infographic” from the Business Insider confirms that women are definitely in control.  Yet, it is amazing how many retailers and manufacturers fail to understand this fact, and how to effectively market to women.  Clearly, Apple is a notable exception.

“Emerging” retail markets are exploding …

Growth of the “small screen” moves retailing online

I always relish the opportunity to take Retail University courses abroad.  Inevitably, I find that the Professor learns as much as the students.  While much of US and western European retail has been homogenized by the large big box chains, Asia is truly a land of diversity in retailing. There is nothing like first-hand experience of visiting retail stores in Asia.  But, the biggest retail trend is not about stores … it’s happening online!  Read on to discover a new resource to watch the trends unfold in Asia.

The Future of Retail – Assortment is Job #1

Have retailers lost the art of managing assortment?

To be fair, the new normal of retail is change at an ever increasing pace.  Retailers are not just competing in stores, but online and on mobile devices.  Yet, as many as 75+% of consumers still purchase in store, at least for consumer electronics.  In the frenzy over competing on ads, promos and price, retailers have tended to neglect their most important job of managing assortment.  If management can’t answer the basic question of why consumers shop their stores, they are in deep trouble!