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Another nail in the coffin of big box stores?

Ability to sustain traffic will be a critical success factor 

You don’t need to look very far to see another article on the growth of online retailing.  The phenomenon of online shopping is truly worldwide. While Amazon grabs the headlines with record profits in the west, Alibaba dominates China. Consumers are voting.  The biggest threat to traditional bricks and mortar stores is not the loss of just sales, but the ability to drive future traffic.  Two recent tests offer a crystal ball of new challenges traditional big box stores will face in maintaining consumer traffic.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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?

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?