During my visit to Japan I took the opportunity to experience two major theme parks: Universal Studios in Osaka and Disney SEA in Tokyo. As you can imagine expectations were high since I have visited both premium brands in other countries. Really excited to visit these parks! Not only from a professional point of view also as a theme park fan.
Both parks impressed me on theming, entertainment and cleanliness. However Continue reading Why Universal Studios Japan beats Disney SEA
It was obvious that I needed to pay a visit to one of the attractions of Merlin Entertainments, so why not go for a concept I really enjoy? And since Legoland Malaysia was on route to Singapore and I worked with the Director of Operations in Europe it was an easy pick! Continue reading Legoland Malaysia: bricklayer for tourism in Johor Bahru
Everyone working in your store… don’t forget this! They all should be trained on your VM principles or at least be aware what the importance of Visual Merchandising is. If you need a dedicated Visual Merchandising supervisor, manager or coordinator (still being confused due different titles doing the same tasks but ok) depends on the size of the store and net profit. However the return on investment (ROI) should be an easy calculation. Anyway there should be someone responsible for VM within the business whether it is the Store manager, Retail manager or the Visual Merchandising Manager. Continue reading Visual Merchandising: who is involved?
Like the bigger companies I have worked for: I use to say that staff is the most important capital of the business: they make it or break it. All companies I worked for had core values referring to you as a person and that we as managers take care of you and do not treat you as a number. However despite the fact that we have it written on paper, advertised on the intranet or communicating during the recruitment process there are times we easily forget the value of staff. Exactly these periods were we are losing the focus on our teams are the most important ones: peak season or key trade periods. Teams are at maximum size, operation is at full speed and now it is time to make the difference. During peak trading the pressure on all of us is the highest especially when you are part of a multinational. Continue reading Key elements in managing staff
One of the easiest ways to drive your sales is by implementing the upsell strategy. You should be familiar with upsell since you are facing it on a daily basis! Whether you buy your lunch or you need to refuel your car. Upsell is part of the daily sales tactics which will increase the average transaction value and therefore must be part of your retail strategy. If you never heard of upsell than you can start to improve your business from today. Continue reading Upsell: Medium or Large?
Guests entering the store in a Theme Park usually are forced or have time left to cruise your store. Not particularly to shop but more from curiosity and as an extra activity what makes it a different customer journey. We could say our stores and other commercial areas should be approached as the extra attraction. Continue reading The customer journey
A personal Customer Journey experience: During the planning of my Asia-Pacific trip I decided to buy a real back pack. The last 10 years I have travelled with a trolley to all parts of the world from Seattle to Hong Kong and from all-in resorts to cozy hostels in the jungle of Indonesia. Last year we travelled to Koh Lipe, a real cast away but to get to this bounty island we had to face heavy storms of the Andaman Sea during the monsoon season. Long story short: my trolley drowned on deck and the salty water did the rest of the work afterwards. So time to shop online for a new travel buddy. And there is where my customer journey began. Continue reading Beat the competition on Customer Service not by discounts!
