2009

There is one thing that is certain, shoppers change their shopping habits in a downturn. This is evident when you pick up the daily newspaper up or watch the news and see the bankruptcy of specific retailers. The challenge for many retailers has been to react quickly to a rapidly changing economic climate. We have […]

Retailers are doing it tough around the world, the lessons learned to grow a business in the good times, do not apply to the economic climate of 2009. Having said that, I do believe that retailers who analyse the market and introduce new strategies have something to smile about. The consumers’ attitudes have certainly changed.

As many of you will be aware, I am an advocate of Tipster marketing. Whilst driving through the snow in early February in the UK, I discovered other companies building on Tipster concepts. A large billboard from British Airways had a picture of a taxi driver on it, with the quote: “Ask a local what

As a society we seem to be in a difficult situation, apart from the recession, the environment is having its impact. It is either snow blizzards in the northern hemisphere of floods and fire down under. The following article came for Saatchi and Saatchi provides a positive insight to the future. In these difficult times

You see them in Amsterdam at the Airport, on the High Street of Balham, at Westfield Shopping centre in London, Jarlicant Garden Centre in Spain and Hares Hatch Garden Centre in Reading UK. This year full size plastic cows are the “in” thing in Europe. Do not ask me why, but they are appearing in

Many of you have emailed me about the fires in Victoria and what affect it will have on the communities and the retail industry. The best person to answer that is someone who is on the spot. Maree Planner of Grevillea Nurseries is a garden centre owner from the suburbs of Melbourne, this is her

Customer Service is a key ingredient in getting through the tough times. One of our subscribers Murray Barton sent me the following article which I think will be of interest to you. It comes from a supplies back ground which is as equally as important as a retailers view on service. I hope you enjoy

Delegates at conferences often ask me who will follow the Gen Y group? A report on Channel Nine in Australia recently revealed the answer, The I Generation (the Internet generation). The under 20’s cannot remember life without the web and believe the world revolves around the computer. They will drive a new way of communicating

by Murray Barton http://incommunique.blogspot.com Every-one knows that it is easier to keep an existing customer than it is to get a new one but how far does this thinking go in your business? Have you empowered staff at all levels of your business to think outside of the box in order to keep your existing

We do not normally report on the awards in Australia, but this year the Telstra Business Woman of the year came from Fremantle, near Perth and she won the award for a product I believe a number of you would be interested in. The recipient was Leanne Wesche and the product was Safeguard a valuable