The second week of November and John Lewis the UK department store are seeing a 50% increase in the sale of Chirstimas trees over this time last year. Is this an indicator of a busy Christmas trading period or consumers are spreading their spending over a longer period? The next few weeks will let us know. In Singapore the sign “Limited Edition” is being used a catch the consumers eye.
It is now three years since the GFC became a common acronym in the English language. Prior to that as business we were riding the wave of success. The initial reaction of most retailers was to discount product o get them through the crisis. It would surely not last more than a year. Three years later and the economies of the world are still on the edge. One thing that
Sunday 20th November was National Stir day and Delia Day according to the UK supermarket Waitrose. This is the first time I have come across a retailer working with a celebrity and announcing a National Day. The Delia day is to do about Christmas cakes. Baking is the new trend hobby and making a Christmas cake is the ultimate hobby this year. Delia has come to the rescue with a
In my White Paper that was released in August and is available for our webpage I have mentioned that retailers in the future need to be seen as part of the community and engaging the community. I was recently in Ontario giving a presentation at Niagara Falls Convention Centre, the chair to my meeting was the owner of Country Baskets Garden Centre in the city and when I discussed community
This is not just another Monday, it is day that could change the mind set of retailers around the world. Switch on the news and you will hear about the financial crisis in Europe or America and the knock on affect around the world. Customers are cautious and not spending. What is the answer, have a sale? In previous articles I have mentioned this before and that it is not
This was the heading to an article written by Sada Ayupova in the Budapest Business Journal while I was in Hungary last week. GfK Hungaria, a research company was commenting on the retail scene in Hungary. The retail scene in this country is healthier than many companies and I admire the initiative of young Hungarians at present. But ,this report could have been written in any country. Quote from a
Many of my presentations at present are based on the Bricks and Clicks strategies retailers need to be aware of. If bricks retailers do not get into clicks strategies they may have an uncertain future. “Click and Collect” is one of the strategies that need to be considered by retailers. It is therefore interesting to read in the Thursday September 8th edition of the Daily Mail in the UK that
Every expert has a view on selling. I recently received this blog from Murray Barton, a newsletter member, and it is an excellent description on what selling is all about and I thought it was worth sharing. It has some great guidelines for all of us. http://bostinnovation.com/2011/08/24/how-to-sell-tips-from-a-marketing-guy-who-can-actually-sell-something/
It has been twelve months since my last took a walk down this excellent retail street in Chicago. I was interested to see what has changed. The crowds are still there, the floral displays look as excellent as they have always done. The retailers, well many had not moved on. The inevitable sale syndrome was ever present, but some retailers caught my eye and have identified a point of difference.
August and September are always busy months in my life. It is the time of year that the airlines enjoy a lot of my company. This trip starts on the Gold Coast in Australia for a conference and then I move on to Chicago and the I.G.C. University workshops at the I.G.C. Trade Show. This is year five of the trade show and Jeff Morey and his team have done
A recently published Government sponsored report in Australia revealed that in the view of the author small retail businesses would not exist in five years. No more independent bookshops, newsagents, garden centres or travel agents. I can accept that we are seeing dramatic changes, but the disappearance of sectors of retailing takes some digesting. I was reminded of this the other day, that when I gave a conference presentation 15
A question I am often asked is what software is best for the retail industry. This is not an area of my expertise and I normally tell my clients to talk to a local expert. One of our newsletter readers is Mike Koploy of Software Advice and he is one of the experts in this area and a source of information for newsletter readers As we are aware inventory is
The fastest growing marketing technique at present is ‘Value Marketing Coupons’. This is where a retailer provides a coupon on a dedicated web site. According to research 34% of women users of E Coupons are frequent users of them, whilst 51% of 18 to 24 year olds will use them if they are presented with them. Consumers have always liked coupons. In the USA according to Advertising Age, the Advertising
Last night’s announcement [June 28th] of the launch of Google+ as a competitor to Facebook will be an interesting development for retailers to watch and to know when to join in. This is Google’s second attempt to get into social media, they tried with Google Buzz, but that failed last year. The new social media page works on circles of friends. It allows you to group friends based on their
I will start with June which has been a busy month developing a “White Paper” entitled 20/20 Vision with Trevor Cochrane and Malcolm Scott on the future of garden retailing. Many small business are finding it difficult to see the way forward, hence the White Paper to give you some guidance on what to expect and what to do about it. I have provided the contents below so that you
In November I will be co presenting a TV food program called “Delish”. This is a fork to fork look at food. It will be shown in 60 Countries around the world. I will be presenting on the farm and then handing the food to the chef who will then prepare the food. I and Linda have been advocates of getting the full story of food across to the consumer
According to research carried out in the UK by IGD Shopper Track and reported in June/July Commercial Horticulture in New Zealand. 52% of Brits are saying they are going to shop less due to fuel prices and 50% are going to use shops that are nearer to their home. 41% said they would use a supermarket that had a petrol station on site and offered petrol discounts. 31% stated they
One of the messages I have been passing on this week is the challenge of change. Generation X and Baby Boomers, for example, are still dedicated to moving around in cars whilst Generation Y prefer buses and trains. In fact over 30% of public transport users in Perth are Generation Y, and they do have driving licenses. Having said that young Asians from overseas that come to our city and
The West Australian Government released a report on June 14th that shocked a lot of retailers. It was produced by the Productivity Commission who were asked to look at the future of retailing in the State. The commission mentioned that many retailers will not survive the next few years due to the changing shopping habits of consumers. The retailers at biggest risk were newsagents, departmental stores, book and music shops.
In a recent article I mentioned that Mary Portas had been appointed by the UK Government to provide ideas on how the UK High Street could be revamped. When I walk down a UK High Street these days it can be depressing to see so many closed shops. The UK research company U Switch.com released a report this week that focuses on the dilemma. 74% of the population used to
Many pundits have used the example of the demise of Borders and Barnes and Noble in the book industry due to the e-book revolution and Amazon.com. What do you do with all these empty bookshops scattered around the world? In fact, we have one on our own town. The answer … open a bookshop! Small independent bookshops have struggled for years due to the big end of town coming into
Food retailers need to understand their market. A recent report carried out by Capricorn Goats Cheeses in the May 31 edition of International Express could help retailers plan their food category; 20% of consumers have never tried olives, asparagus or aubergine. 50% of Brits are not interested in trying new food and would not encourage their kids to experiment with food. 70% would refuse to eat liver or sushi even
On May 24th 2011 a survey was released and mentioned on ABC News in Australia. The survey asked consumers how much profit or mark up a retailer should be happy with. The result was that customers feel that retailers should be putting a 34% mark up on products. This gives the retailer a about a 25% Gross Profit. The report went on to say that many retailers were marking products
My mate Jurek Leon invited me to a marketing meeting recently held at the Brand Agency, one of Australia’s top agencies. It was an excellent insight into how that side of the industry operates. One of the presenters for the Brand Agency had recently been on an STW Group Training session where they presented their view on the 10 Habits of Client Service Excellence. I would like to share these
You have heard it said before, men know the price of nothing and are easy to sell to. That may have been true in the past, but recent research published in the USA magazine Supermarket News on 23rd May 2011 would disagree with your findings. According to the latest research; 44% of men are making more effort to save money 35% are shopping at several stores to find the lowest