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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.

Harvesting Low Hanging Fruit from Out of Stocks

Why retailers & vendors must address shelf availability 

In these economic times, retailers have pressed so hard for lean inventory that now many of their high volume stores are often out of stock.  If the item is missing from the shelf, consumers are quickly turning to online retailers.  Out of stocks represent “low hanging” fruit for capturing lost sales, and profit potential without additional market spend.  As typical in retail, this sounds enticing.  But, the harvesting this opportunity requires visible inventory and collaboration between both retailers and vendors.

Pinterest … “Fantasy football for women”

Is Pinterest a fad, or opportunity for today’s marketers?

One of the hottest items in social media of late has been Pinterest.  It seems to be particularly attractive to women, who like the visual bulletin board interface.  One of the best descriptors I’ve seen for Pinterest is “fantasy football for women”.  While Pinterest has been getting a lot of press, is it another passing social media fad or an entirely new format offering new marketing and branding opportunities?

PCs Are Dead - Just Ask the Toddler with an iPad

Today kids’ first experience will be on a tablet not a PC

Yes, PCs are still be being sold by the millions.  But, if you want to see the future, just watch a toddler using an iPad.  The interface is instinctive, intuitive, and addictive.  Kids below the age of 2 are flicking and flipping through their parents’ iPads before they can even talk.  And increasingly, parents are buying both tablets and apps just for their kids.  Is the tablet just a new “digital pacifier”, or will it be the future screen of choice for today’s youth literally cutting their teeth on a tablet?

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.

DIY … Not just your lumber store anymore!

Lowes & Depot lead with consumer service innovations

Mention Lowes and Home Depot to most Americans and they think of “lumber, hardware & tool stores”.  Internationally, they would be classified as DIY – Do It Yourself stores where you can buy stuff to fix up your home.  Historically, DIY was not very innovative in terms of store experience or support.  Today, even the best retailers would do well to study the recent innovations of DIY leaders Lowes & Home Depot.

Plaisio on Retail – 9 Points of Focus & Success

Key insights from IMS Retail University in Cyprus

Last week’s blog post referenced the IMS Retail University workshop being held in Cyprus.  One of the core principles of Retail U is to ask a retailer to come share their point of view.  We were very fortunate to have Costas Gerardos from Plaisio as our retail speaker.  He shared key insights from retail in Greece that apply to all retailers, regardless of geography.  As predicted, the Professor learned as much as the participants and is anxious to share Plaisio’s success story.  

 Engaging class participants

Is Bentonville going bonkers … on social?

Why would Walmart spend $300M on a Social Agency?

In case you missed it, Walmart spent $300M US dollars in April to acquire a social media startup.  Admittedly, $300M is chump change for someone like Walmart.  But having experienced the outright frugality of the folks in Bentonville, one has to initially question the wisdom of their purchase.  Has the “beast” finally awakened to the reality of social marketing, or is there something more to their social strategy that other e-tailers are missing?

Forget cool … what else do your clothes do?

Whatever happened to clothes that were just clothes? 

In our posts we have mentioned it many times … Differentiate or Die!  This law of the jungle is not only true for retailers, but for retail products.  In this competitive world there seems to be a mad rush for line extensions that add features way beyond the product itself.  Some would argue that in this busy world we are searching for versatility.  But do you really want clothes that talk to you, or wear leggings with caffeine to slim your thighs?  

It’s not information overload. It’s filter failure.

If your email is overflowing … Alltop maybe your answer 

Ok, you’ve made the commitment to stay current on your industry by subscribing to newsletters, blogs and smartbriefs.  Now when your pour that first cup of coffee you cringe as you open email.  It becomes daunting to even begin drudging through 50, 100 or more emails waiting in your inbox!  How can you keep up to speed without suffering information overload?  Alltop might just be the intelligence filter you are looking for.