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Retailers are missing Mother’s Day “wow” factor

Don’t just click … Give Mum an experience to remember    

Everyone has one … a “Mum”.  So, how can you not remember her on this holiday!  Yet, in this time crunched world a majority of kids will purchase something quick and easy.  Want to give your Mom something to remember this year?  How about giving her a “dog fight”!  Retail stores would do well to think outside of the box to capitalize on the emerging trend of gifting “experience” over token gifts purchased online.

Invest in the Front line to grow the Bottom line!

Why the front line has become the battle ground in retail

In the not too distant past, retailers did not pay much attention to staff on the retail floor. They primarily hired “clerks” to run registers for checkout. The front line staff in retail has historically been the lowest paid and received the least amount of training. Yet your experience as a consumer today is literally in the hands of the person on the retail floor. In today’s sterile world of “lowest price”, retailers must re-evaluate investing in the front line to grow their bottom line.

Will Target & Best Buy Avoid “Race to the Bottom”?

Vendors can’t just “sell to retail” … it’s much harder now

The current retail trend seems to have become a “race to the bottom” for most retailers. It’s not a race that most retailers can afford to win.  The corporate headquarters of Best Buy and Target are both based in the Minneapolis area.  While they are from the same town, they are competing with the low price leaders in very different ways.  It will become a classic case study of who survived … and which vendors adapt to be successful in this new retail environment.

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.

Are you 1 of the 80% that will fail multi-channel?

#1 Challenge of retailing today - It ain’t what it used to be 

As I’m preparing for teaching a Retail University class in Singapore next week, I asked myself the question I always get asked:  What is the #1 challenge in retail today?  The answer use to be different by region.  But today, retail has become a multi-channel reality worldwide.  An interesting study by Gartner predicts that by 2015, 80% of retailers will fall flat in a multi-channel world.  What will retailers and suppliers need to do differently worldwide in order to succeed in retail by 2015?

6 Amazing Stats on Smartphones in Store Aisles

A quick update on smartphones & mobile price checking 

Normally we strive to post something weekly about an emerging trend or retail topic.  Since our post yesterday, we have seen a bunch of posts and tweets on the emerging trend and retail store threat of consumers doing price shopping in aisle with their smartphones.  We ran across this infographic with some amazing stats that was just too good to pass up.

Target takes aim at Amazon & Price Apps

The war over smartphone price checks is heating up

It happened rather innocently the last couple of years as consumers started surfing the web while shopping in retail stores.  But, the battle for price conscious consumers reached a fever pitch last holiday season. Amazon poured salt in the wounds of retailers by offering an additional $5 off if consumers used their Price Check app to scan bar codes in a retail store.  Will it be an Amazon world, or can big box retailers fight back?

Could Xfinity be a nail in Best Buy’s coffin?

New service models could pose threat to Geek Squad 

Traditional retail store chains are under siege.  Amazon and e-tailers are rapidly siphoning off core customers through very competitive prices and free shipping.  Specialty CE retailers, like Best Buy and Dixons in the UK, have turned to services to enhance their market basket profitability, and increase loyalty.  But, the Geek Squad is no longer the only game in town.  Digital providers that pipe in your TV and internet into your home are now competing to be your digital plumber.

Steve Jobs left a legacy in retail … and a cloud

 Steve Jobs "Apple-tized" the retail experience

Jobs greatest genius was not the hardware or design 

There have already been many well deserved tributes to Steve Jobs this week.  Most have highlighted his innovation by focusing on his genius for hardware design.  As a PC guy for two decades, it was the ultimate irony and tribute that I was reading about Steve Job’s passing on my new iPad.  Some of the Apple faithful are grumbling about the new iPhone.  But, Jobs real genius was that he didn’t “retail” Apple products … he “Apple-tized” both retail and consumer experience.