Who are your customers? Like many of us in recent years I was focused on Gen X and on trying to understand what made them buy in store. These days however, I focus my clients on Baby Boomers and Millenniums as their real customers and I now advise that less focus should go towards Gen X. This theory was supported with research carried out in the US and published in
How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. This is not a new book, it was written in 2009. It has just taken me a long time to get around to reading it. WOW, this is a must read book. I found it so valuable. The title really tells you what you are going to read and it challenges and alters the way you think. Published by Portfolio Penguin it
According to Dr Richard Benfield from the Central Connecticut State University in the USA more people visit gardens in the USA than go to Disneyland and Disneyworld combined. Although garden tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism activities it is often not understood and poorly promoted. Richard is the author of the book “Garden Tourism”, the only book that looks at this tourism sector. As well as lecturing on
I have just spent a few days in this amazing city and want to share some ideas with you. Singapore is a multicultural country, 74.1% are Chinesses, 13.4% are Malay and 9.2% are Indian. 90% of all food is imported and the country is growing at 1 to 3% a year. This city attracted 900,000 visitors a year in 1964, this year it will attract 15 million. A sign that
It is five hour flight from Perth to Singapore and an ideal time to read a book. I came across this gem that was actually posted to me by the author to read. “Life in half a second…How to achieve success before it is too late” by Matthew Michalewicz published by Hybrid Publishers is one of the best reads I have had in a long time. It was thought provoking and
Debbie Allen, the American motivational speaker has been a friend for a number of years. Her sixth book is about to be launched in July It will be a NY Times Bestseller book launch in July. “The Highly Paid Expert: Turn Your Passion, Skills and Talents Into a Lucrative Career by Becoming The Go-To Authority In Your Industry” will be must read book and you can be one of the first
The following report was discovered by Jim Bradley from Mid Ulster Garden Centre. It highlights that 44% of Americans will not shop at a store if they feel the retailer is stalking them with a mobile device. Interesting, we have used security cameras and mirrors for many years and have not had a reaction. Now that the smart phone is being used it is becoming an issue. It will be
This month saw a new research report on retailing come from France. This report talked about the 7 new tendencies of consumers and how retailers should react to them. The 7 tendencies are: Consumers are looking for luxury and a bargain in the same store Retailers should not ignore the older consumer and develop intergenerational marketing strategies. Connect with people using face to face and virtual communications. The report suggests
Pop Up is occurring around the world. One interesting development is in Gawler in South Australia where they have created a Pop Up laneway next to the Council offices. Refreshments and childrens activities have brought this laneway to life.
One of the secrets of success is creating a shop window that stops the customer. Many high end retailers do this very well. I have just been judging the Nannup shop window competition based in our own town. The hardware store is a independent store and has done a brilliant display to get the message of safety and safe working gear across. He has used two mannequins and one has
Retailing is constantly changing and a vision of the future can be obtained from Singapore. This is a city of green walls, futuristic architecture and progressive retailers. It is also a city that has maintained the traditional quarters and the wet market and Arab quarters are still some of my favourite places. It is also one of the most expensive cities to live in. 90% of produce is imported and
Sold out, who killed the High Street?, published by Filament Publishing is a thought provoking book targeted at retailers. Bill is a retailer himself in the UK where the High Street has been devastated over the last few years. As Bill explains it is easy to blame the supermarkets, box stores and out of town shopping, but should we look at these retailers as the villains? According to Bill the problem
Whilst Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks is saying that he feels that last Christmas was the tipping point for online retailing to really effect “bricks” retailers, we now have online retailers opening “bricks” stores. I first observed this last year when HTV opened “pop up” stores to promote their online store in the USA. Now we have Shoes of Prey doing the same thing in Sydney, Australia. This is a
Some of you that read Linda’s blog will know about the customer service she received earlier in the month. This started me thinking about the Engagement Loop and hence the article below. Providing a customer experience used to be about what you did in the store; most customers judged the whole experience with the retailer based on when they were in the store. In 2014 that has all changed; the
We are all aware of how important showrooming is becoming in the consumers mind. At the Italian Conference recently, another speaker highlighted just how important it was becoming. Of those that showroom, 57% test a product in store and then go to Amazon, hence my comments of late that Amazon is the real challenge for most retailers. 72% believe that they can get a better price online 45% plan to
November proved to be a winning month for John Stanley associates. After winning the Belmont WA Small Business Exporter of the Year Award, the next week we went to our local Chamber of Commerce awards night. We were awarded The 2012 Micro Business of the Year Award. This is awarded to the business in the community that employs less than three people and has contributed the most to the community.
While I was passing through Dubai I came across this display. I have been promoting putting the familiar with the unfamiliar as a means of making consumers stop and stare. This is a great example of this. What are these guys selling…..you would never guess? Gin!
As I write this article I am seeing retailers getting ready for Christmas, one of the main selling months of the year. But, once Christmas is over then what? In the northern hemisphere retailers often hunker down for January as there is a chance of bad weather and consumers staying at home. In the southern hemisphere it is vacation month and going shopping is not on most people’s minds. In
Over recent months I have been promoting the fact that “Pop Up” retailing is one of the major trends of the future. In the last month things seem to be popping up everywhere. I was in Ireland and went to a “Pop Up” park in Dublin. The community had build a park for three months over the summer period and on my visit day it was full of people. The
One of the themes for this month’s blog is Sense. Prof Jason Castro from Bates College and Chuka Chemnubhotla from the University of Pittsburgh released their research on Human Senses last month. They found that the human can only sense 10 types of smell. Fragrance Woody Fruity (non-citrus) Chemical Minty Sweet Popcorn Lemon Pungent Decay As retailers we often forget how important small is and how it e affects sales
There are a number of books that I am reading at present. Michael Shuman’s is one of them. I am passionate about promoting and developing local business and therefore this a book caught my eye. It takes a different approach to most and provides advice on how local business can get capital to develop their business. It is focused on American business models, but the ideas are relevant to other
As many of you will be aware one of my most poplar workshop is “Get rid of salespeople and develop day makers”. I was therefore fascinated to read the 2013 American Express service study that was released in September. This study took an interesting approach. It looked at the “feel good” factor and what made us feel the best in ourselves. The results were fascinating… Providing great customer service 84%
In August, I presented my Ghost Town, Clone Town, Home Town presentation in Boddington, a rural town in Western Australia. The aim of this presentation is to work with small business in the community to address the needs of the consumer. This is a small town and many of the retailers are not using social media, in fact one retailer mentioned that he did not understand it and that he
When I was in Chicago last month I met up with Kurt Fromherz from Connecticut. I have known Kurt for many years and he is one of the innovators in retail marketing. He identified, like me, that loyalty clubs are still an essential marketing tool, but consumers do not want their wallets and purses filled with different loyalty cards for different retailers. At the same time the Phone App is
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