February 2012

The Sydney Morning Herald of Feb 25-26 20102, revealed some new trends in shopping. 37% of Australians who have smart-phones use them to do research on products, whilst 44% will use them in store to do research on products. Woolworths have launched the first virtual grocery store in Flinders Railway Station in Melbourne. This follows […]

The key to retailing is to provide what you say you are going to do. Last night Linda and I went to Crystal Jade Restaurant in Singapore and were enticed in by the above marketing campaign. Alas, the marketing team did a great job, but forgot to tell the owner what this meant in the

Over the last few days one of the questions I am being asked is how do I see Pinteret affecting the retail scene. This is still a new social networking page and time will tell. The fact that it is creating so much interest is a sign that we should be watching it closely. The

Over the last few months I have been encouraging retailers to create a “Bricks and Clicks” retail model. Some retailers are well ahead in there thinking while others are being left behind. A report came out this week that highlights the importance. The Oracle Cross Channel Report our t of the USA looks at consumers

This week I am working with retailers in Japan. The main point of difference is customer service. Everyone gets greeted when they enter a store. Plus, this is the most honest country I know. Retailers can leave products out on display and be confident that know body will steal the product. The main lesson from

Difficult times mean you have to think differently. Imagine if you were Harley Davidson and you were seeing a down turn in your market as male Baby Boomers are keeping their money in their wallets and not spending it on expensive toys for themselves. The answer is that you look for a new market. That

Craigie’s Farm Shop in Scotland are making their own jam to sell in store. They, are like many other farms around the world , are looking to this as a unique opportunity to make extra sales via an added value option. Farm jams are common in many countries. It seems like everyone is making their

One of the fun things about my job is discovering the unexpected. I was travelling through the back roads of Virginia this weekend and dropped into a farmers market that did not look the best from the outside. The signage inside was excellent. The one that really caught my eye was the “If Tomatoes’ could

The American economy may be seeing an improvement, but I just had an interesting conversation with a consumer. Her comment was the consumer has “Sticker Shock”. I asked her to explain what “Sticker Shock” was. As you have probably gathered it is the shock when the consumer sees an increase in the price. This indicates

The challenge in retailing is getting people to stop and look at your shop window. How about this idea from Tokyo.. bet it would make you stop.