The customer journey

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

Retail Analytics: time consuming?

One of the most important elements in retail is analyzing the performance. Retail analytics is your key to success..! At least when you analyze the right data and use the outcome the right way.

Working for different businesses the last couple of years I have heard multiple excuses from retail operators why analysis are not executed. The most surprising argument was from a premium aquarium brand in Europe: ‘I do not have the time to analyze and I just need good products’. At that time the retail store performance was down to budget and previous year. The aquarium is part of a global brand and due to the declining trend over the last 2 months Head Quarter starts asking questions why the performance is not meeting the expectations. According to the attraction manager the performance was down due the poor assortment however, in general, the assortment had not been changed verses the year before. But the attraction manager was influenced by sales hosts telling the manager that products are missing for a couple of weeks. This was confirmed by the retail manager which just ended a sales shift at the shop (usually the retail manager does not work at the till however due the current performance the attraction needed to cut costs). When I compared the current performance verses the better trading periods there was an obvious reason why trading was below expectations: 60% was due missing products which were available to reorder however somehow this has not been done. Probably because sales performance was not analyzed frequently and stock was not managed properly. The other 40% was due changes in routing, pricing, promotions and replenishment. If the attraction manager or retail manager did run a proper performance analysis there was no need to cut costs and we could skip the complete discussion on the retail store performance. Most time consuming were the daily discussions on the retail performance. Of which the attraction manager complained about making the circle complete.

I believe investing in Retail Analytics is one of the best investments you can do. Outcomes will give you information what actions you need to take and will unleash the unnecessary pressure of the unknown. I analyzed the performance from the other side of the continent in less than a day. And the attraction gained back their precious time and was ready to hit budget again.

How often do you analyze your performance?

Beat the competition on Customer Service not by discounts!

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!

The value of Visual Merchandising (part one)

The value of Visual Merchandising is impressive. Imagine it is 15 minutes prior closing time and you are standing in a store where there is no overview, no clear walkways and it is either dark or TL-lighting is in place. You came to the store to buy a teddy bear (the one displayed in the shop window) for your nephew but you are not able to find it next to the toys but behind some boxes in a dark corner next to the silverware. You look at the price tag and see that this plate (?) costs you €5,-, at least that’s what the label on the shelf says. (apparently someone did not replenished the store well) You are looking around to find a staff member to tell you the price but there is nobody around. At the till you see the price of €25. This is over your intended budget however you are buying this bear because there was no other option. Since all the stores are closed and you are the only one in this store left you needed to find this product. Now if you had more time… Did you consider going to this store in the first place? You were triggered by the bear in the window but standing in the opening of the store you could have made up your mind. With this experience you would not go back to this store as this will take too much time and probably frustration.

Does the example point out the value of Visual Merchandising? Yes, it does! Continue reading The value of Visual Merchandising (part one)

The key elements in retail

Driving sales in Retail starts with the basics. Below I have listed the key elements in Retail for you.

Business Awareness

  • What drives the highs and lows in your business?
  • What is the actual performance vs budget and previous periods?
  • Do you have a clear understanding what impacts your net profit?

If you know what impacts your business you can set up clear actions to improve or maintain the quality of your business. The more data you have the better you can control your store. Tip: Do not forget the non-financial KPI’s. Continue reading The key elements in retail