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Independents day - July 4th !

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Your high street needs you

Your high street needs you

What is Independents’ Day?

Well, Skillsmart Retail and the National Skills Academy for Retail are teaming up with local retailers across the country on 4th July to celebrate Independents’ Day, championed by the formidable Mary Portas. Shoppers are going to be encouraged to buy at least one item from their local independent reatailers and celebrate diversity on the high street.

They are championing the skills great independent retailers have and they want to show the public that their local shopkeeper is not only a vital service, but someone who wears many hats; they are the accountant, sales assistant, buyer and often everything in-between. Well, amen to that ! From all of us who are getting dizzy with the multiple chameleonic roles we play in a single day this will be welcome news. This is all part of the campaign to back the high street and maintain diversity, while getting rid of the ugly eyesore empty shops.

Firstly the government appointed a retail adviser to bring back the bustle to our high streets, which was contraversial enough. It proved that there was a problem with our city centres and high streets (which we’ve all known for ages), finally, it seems that even the government noticed that.

When this new retail adviser, as her first initiative, launches a “declaration of independents” its time to sit up and pay attention. When you learn that its Mary Portas of “Mary Queen of Shops” fame, its time to take out a notebook and start taking notes !

Mary Portas is known for no-nonsense plain speaking and innovative ideas. Her ideas boost retailers enthusiasm, knowledge, skill base and earnings. With a successful retail background and a commercially savvy consultancy agency, she marries the two areas in her own unique way.

It is tough on the High Street and has been for some time. With town centre vacancy rates doubling over the last two years, the need to take action to save our high streets has never been more obvious. Consumers have seen their discretionary income fall as the cost of just about everything has risen. So in real terms this means less money to spend on anything that isn’t a necessity.

Some retailers have fared better than others and there have been some well publicised casalties in the bigger chains. But the real story in the change of the high street has been that of the independent. Over the past 40 years Britain has changed from being a “nation of shopkeepers” with vibrant high streets, buoyant with diverse retailers, to one where the chain stores are represented everywhere, leading to charges of “Clone town”

Clone towns are not a good idea for many reasons, primarily that Independent businesses are vital to our local economies. They ensure the unique character of an area. They are more accountable to customers and the local community, more likely to support local charities and have greater direct control over the environmental impact of their businesses.

Furthermore, money spent at locally owned independent businesses goes around longer in the local economy. It yields two to four times the economic benefit to the local residents compared with non-local businesses. This means more local income, wealth, and jobs and of course the intangible aspect of community.

Supporting independent businesses creates local jobs, preserves economic diversity and safeguards the environment and that has to be a good thing. Whilst the larger stores are the anchors in our cities and towns, its the independent businesses who offer the diversity thats lacking and the mix that keeps it all interesting, as well as being a valued link in the community, which seems to be so sadly underrated and under reported.

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Posted in Customers, Emerging trends, Independent retailers, Independents Day, Mary Portas, Publicity, Retailing in a recession, The High Street, Uncategorized, brand ambassadors, consumer trends, optimism | No Comments »

There’s definately something about Mary !”

Sunday, May 22nd, 2011

Mary Takes on the High Street

Mary Takes on the High Street

Its the biggest retail news since woollies closed its doors.

Mary Portas has been asked by the Government to take a look at our ailing high streets…. (about time too, i can hear you chorus) As she says, “the city centre picture is one of steep decline. Three years ago six per cent of high street shops were vacant; by the end of last year the figure had grown to 14 per cent. At this rate, in two years’ time, more than a third of city centre shops will be boarded up, But it’s not just the shops that are going from our high streets; banks and post offices are disappearing too. As they go, we lose a feeling of community because the high street is the heart of a town. And, as high streets empty, the crime rate increases.”

If you’re nodding your head in agreement, the question really is, what should we be doing ? Are the high streets worth saving, or are we just entering a new digital age and we all just need to move on and make space for the big retailers ….? What do you think we should do to revive the high street ? Or shouldn’t we bother, is it a case of change or die ?

Mary is asking for our opinions, and this is as good a time as any to add your comments into the pot - hopefully something good will come of it, maybe she’ll be able to persuade landlords that upward only rent reviews and quarterly rents payable in advance aren’t such a cool option…?

You can follow Mary’s quest on her website www.maryportas.com Here’s an extract from there to get you in the mood

In May this year, I was challenged by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister to undertake an independent review on the Future of the High Street – to help ‘bring back the bustle’ to our town centres.

And with town centre vacany rates doubling over the last two years, the need to take action to save our high streets has never been starker.

I am calling on business, local authorities and shoppers to contribute their ideas on how we can halt this decline in its tracks and create town centres that we can all be proud of.

If you’ve got something to say about the state of our high streets – be it an observation, insight, initiative or idea – please add your own contribution to the debate.

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Posted in Emerging trends, Independent retailers, Mary Portas, Questions to ask, The High Street, Uncategorized, consumer trends, retailers | 1 Comment »

Optimism and achievement (sunglasses in the rain)

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Optimists get the job done

Optimists get the job done

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence”
Helen Keller

This month has had it all, sunny weather, bank holidays and of course, the Royal Wedding. Whether you’re an ardent royalist or more of a take it or leave it person, you have to admit that we staged a spectacular event, watched by millions, or was it billions ? We do know how to throw a party and celebrate. The wedding, the weather and the bank holidays definitely cheered everyone up a bit.
The really interesting thing about this is that people act differently because they feel differently. Feelings aren’t supposed to be a big part of business, it’s supposed to be about logical thought and proven formulas – in a hold on, here comes the science kind of thing. But in reality how we feel is a massive determining factor in how we behave.

Of course sunny weather and bank holidays aren’t great news for all retailers, but generally sunny weather brings out shoppers, we buy food for the barbeques, for picnics, products to sort our gardens out for summer and of course the latest fashions…

On a more general level how we feel is one of the most important factors in determining our success.

An ability to generate positive thoughts will enable you to do much more than if you’re constantly in a state of doom – the only thing you’ll be able to do from there, is talk yourself out of pretty much anything.

I had a real close up look at this scenario myself recently. I had an idea to promote my city centre – it’s a good idea, that’s pretty much what you need to know. I have no sausage of a clue how to put it into practice, but I’m resourceful, so I’ll figure it out in the next few weeks.

As you do, I discussed my brilliant new idea with some of those closest to me – some were enthusiastic, some were positive (but didn’t want me to fall on my face) and some were downright sceptical !
Which seemed rather funny to me. I can already see my project working, I already know what it’s going to look like, how it’s going to be displayed and who’ll like it (and who won’t) so in my head it’s a done deal. Now I just have to figure out the logistics. So it will happen. This idea and the reception to it from those around me is what sparked this post.

To achieve big things in life, you have to finish them before you can start them… whoa there… what am I talking about – is that even possible ?

Take an example – building a house, if you’re going to build a house you’d better have sat with a planner or architect first, or how would you know what you’re going to build. So, once you have the picture of the house in your head, and you’ve worked out the details – only then can you buy the bricks and commit to the building process.

Same with my idea… Is this ridiculous optimism? I’d say no, it’s a certainty. Doom, gloom and the state of the economy are no reason not to start a project, in fact they’re probably more of a reason.

The dictionary definition of Optimism is” a disposition or tendency to look on the more favourable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favourable outcome”

Optimistic people get things started, advertised, marketed and sold. In a culture where we’re conditioned to spend a lot of our time moaning, Optimism breaks the mould and does a little dance.
Optimists create their own circumstances – others wait for them to happen – they feel good when its sunny, or they have a holiday, or their sports team wins, ie they’re influenced by external events, which isn’t a great place to be – Passing the power to feel good in your life over to a possibly occurring external event isn’t going to make you feel great consistently.

I’m not talking about the ridiculous Pollyanna type of optimism or wearing sunglasses in the rain – I’m talking about the state of mind that gets the job done, whether you just lost a big sale, google changed the algorithym rankings again and your website slipped down the rankings, or your latest employee turned out to be a real numpty. The belief that makes you sit down, look at what happened and then go back to work and figure out what you need to do to get a different result next time.

It all comes down to focus – Deciding where you’re going, what you’re going to do to get there and then taking some action to get those results….

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Posted in Positive mental attitude, Retailing in a recession, Uncategorized, optimism, retailers | No Comments »

Extreme retailing: Location, Location, Location

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

store front design

store front design

What can you do if your shops location isn’t A1, or you’ve got some location challenges ?

Maybe the town centre has moved away from your location over time, if an anchor store moves, it can displace shoppers, maybe stores around you have closed leaving your store a bit isolated on your street or maybe your store had other advantages that outweigh the drawback of the location.

Basically the nearer the epicentre of town your business is, the more expensive the rent will be. Cheaper rents apply to A2 locations, or those up or down stairs, around corners or with obstacles of some kind in their way.

A rule of thumb for working out your costs is that the more you save on location, the more you’ll have to spend on advertising.

So what can you do to promote your store if you have a location challenge? Firstly, you have to be a bit more inventive. People generally feel uncomfortable entering a store where it is not obvious (for location reasons) what they’re going to find, so if your store is up or down some stairs, in a back street or has some other location disadvantage then take a look at the following ideas which we’ve tried and tested over the past 15 years in our store.

1. A good tip is to have something cheap like cards for example just inside the doorway because if people feel uncomfortable getting into your store, they’ll always be able to buy a card. This takes away the barrier to entry.

2. Props: for example put tables and chairs outside (without looking like a cafe) any other props will do too. Preferably oversized props to draw attention to your products.

3. Hand made signage that is regularly updated. I’m thinking of chalkboards here – easy to write on and update and you don’t have to be an art graduate to do this.

4. Clean and spotless exterior

5. Flower garlands (in season)

6. Balloons – filled with helium – check them regularly otherwise they can look a bit sorry for themselves.

7. Flowerpots – with plants that are colourful and alive and healthy – the bigger and more vibrant the better.

8. Statues / Artwork – securely fastened – again the bigger and more vibrant the better – subject to planning permission, local by-way rules.

9. A boards (Check that these are allowed by your local council)

10. Signage – can you put brand names that you stock up on the shop sign – if so this takes selling to the second stage as known brands help to establish credibility.

11. Lighting – fairy lights, overhead lighting, pools of lights, coloured lights (avoiding red for obvious reasons) but coloured lights in a dull area attract attention.

12. Sound – can you pipe through music from your store into the street (at a low level) so people can hear what is going on inside.

13. Leaflets – showing what your store is about – with trial offers ?

14. Signs – saying things like “need help with the stairs, your pram, etc, Please ring this bell for assistance.”

15. Have a welcome mat or entrance carpet

16. Publish pictures of the interior of your store on the exterior along with recommendations or reviews you’ve received from the press and satisfied customers.

17. Have a video playing outside the store, showing what’s going on inside.

18. Bunting or flags – if appropriate – anything that moves in the wind and attracts attention.

19. Canopy – can you make the most of a negative feature and really dress up the entrance to your shop – a vivid canopy would stand out in an otherwise dull street.

20. Use your security shutters to advertise your business even when you’re closed !

To all of you reading this with wonderful shop fronts and lots of window display space, spare a thought for those of us in a scheduled ancient monument where the only use for the windows is to shoot arrows from…..

We’d love to hear any tips that you’ve tried if, like us, you retail from an unusual store…

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Posted in Challenge, Uncategorized, marketing, retailers tools | No Comments »

Retail sales worst for 15 years

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

banging-your-head-against-a-wallRetail sales fell in March by the biggest margin since records began, according to new figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The BRC said that total sales during the month were down around 1.9 per cent when compared with the same month last year. This represented the worst performance since 1996, when the survey was started. Factors such as the late Easter impact these figures but its not really easy to say how much?

Like for like sales were 3.5 per cent lower than the previous year which is the worst like for like performance since 2005. So nothing to celebrate there for retailers.

Meanwhile online sales remained quite resilient. They were up by 7.5 per cent, which in other fields would be a rocking increase, but this is still lower than the 10.4 per cent increase registered in February. So in real terms its not good news.

The late Easter is partly to blame for the figures according to the BRC, but this alone is not enough to explain the poor performance of retail.

Instead, analysts have suggested that rising prices, the coalition’s VAT increase, and real-terms wage cuts for many workers are likely to be the cause. Basically knocking consumer confidence if not into the ground, at least into a wooded area.

Stephen Robertson, Director General, British Retail Consortium, said:
“This is the worst drop in total sales since we first collected these figures in 1995. Non-food retailers were particularly hard-hit. This is strong evidence of the pressure customers and traders are under. This year’s later Easter is a factor but this fall goes way beyond anything that can be explained by that alone.

“Uncomfortably high inflation and low wage growth have produced the first year-on-year fall in disposable incomes for thirty years. Mounting fuel and utility costs, falling house prices, higher VAT and the prospect of more tax rises and job losses left people unwilling to spend unless they really had to. These pressures aren’t going away and the arrival of higher National Insurance is likely to compound them in the immediate future.

“The next interest rate decision is a difficult balancing act for the Bank of England but, for now, supporting our weak economy must be the priority. Inflation is coming mainly from temporary and external price shocks - VAT, world commodity prices and the weak pound - not wage or consumer-driven increases. Increasing interest rates would do more harm than good.”

Helen Dickinson, Head of Retail, KPMG, said:
“The food sector suffered in the month due to Easter purchasing falling into March last year, thus impacting the overall results. However, beyond this the trend continues in a marked downward direction: non-food continues to struggle, with big-ticket and home-related sectors again being the hardest hit. We have seen an emergence of new, lower spending patterns since the middle of January, which are currently continuing to trend downwards. Many retailers will not be able to sustain this ongoing weakness in demand beyond the short term and are hoping for some good news around the extended bank holiday period and a feel-good factor driven by the royal wedding.”

where, I hear you ask, is the good news ? The short answer is that there isn’t any - apart from three bank holidays that may get shoppers back onto the high street, but even these three days aren’t magical days that can make up for the lack of confidence and disposable income, so while we have sunshine, daffodils and longer evenings, all of which are long overdue, we don’t sadly have any good news for retailers… yet !

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Posted in Bad news, Challenge, Easter, Emerging trends, Sales, Uncategorized, consumer trends, recession | No Comments »

Forward motion….

Sunday, February 13th, 2011

Going forward

Going forward

So we’re sliding into February, but most of us are still gingerly feeling our way into the New Year, apprehensive about what it’s going to bring. The good news is scant, there’s job cuts, price rises on just about everything, and the weather is miserable and damp, nothing exciting to really put a spring in your step.

If your New Year’s resolutions have already taken a bit of a beating, how about looking forward into 2011 and putting some forward motion into it.
What’s forward motion? Well, It’s basically movement towards something – the something is up to you. Towards a goal, or an opportunity or a decision, the movement is the important part. This year looks like the big toughie for retail, so faced with a choice of staying where we are and doing what we’ve always done, we just have to keep moving forward. Choose forward motion !

Of course, forward motion might not always be the best choice, obviously you’re going to make a few duff decisions along the way, but at least you’ll be making them. In our frantically paced world with so much information readily available, it’s still hard to get all the information we need to make a secure decision, so we agonise over the details. In reality our gut decisions are usually the right ones, but they’re hard to justify.

The more choices we have the harder it is to make a decision. So I’m advocating that it’s better to make the best possible decision you can with the information you have available, comfortable in the knowledge that if you’ve stuffed it up this time, you can choose something else next time.

When in doubt… choose forward motion !

There’s so much information available, that ultimately it just becomes a personal choice of what to focus on. Why focus on the negatives, which are often exaggerated, instead of the positives?
There are two main reasons. Firstly, we tend to focus on the sensational and the dangerous. One sensational anecdote about a store robbery or completely outrageous customer, outweighs a year’s worth of “I went to work and it was pretty much the same as usual.”

Secondly, choosing to focus on the negatives gives everyone else an excuse not to pursue big dreams and goals either.
There are plenty of people who’ll feed your fears and worries, but really, often they’re talking more about themselves and their lives than what’s good for you…. Psychologists call this a process of projecting, ie they project their fears onto you, but the double whammy is that this keeps you in your place and ultimately reaffirms their view again because you didn’t move on either !

If you’re looking for an excuse not to do something, you really don’t have to look far. Playing it safe is not usually a mockable choice - Everyone understands it.
But all things considered, good things can come from bad experiences too, in fact that’s often where we learn the most.

So, if you’re still prevaricating and pontificating on why you can’t change anything in 2011, just consider the following success stories

• Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace while living in a small house with his wife and thirteen children. Yes, that’s thirteen children !

• Walt Disney was a failed, bankrupt, small-time advertisement man before he came up with Mickey and friends.

• J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter whilst on the dole. Her first book was rejected by twelve publishers.

• e.e. cumming’s first book of poetry was rejected by fifteen publishers. He self-published it, and well, you know the rest…

• Abraham Lincoln lost multiple jobs, went bankrupt, and failed in numerous bids for public office before being sworn in as the 16th President of the United States.

• Mary Anne Evans living in truly sexist times, had to change her pen name to George Eliot, whereupon she became one of the most beloved English novelists of all time.

Dissatisfaction with something, such as your shop or your accountant for example isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Dissatisfaction can be a force for change.

Dissatisfaction results “from contemplating what falls short of our wishes or expectations” The funny thing here is that we’ve all got these wishes or expectations but we don’t usually acknowledge them, maybe we’re not even aware of them.

So, my next question, to keep the forward motion, well, in motion really, is :

What are you working on?

Hopefully, you’re working on something that’s big, that’s going to take you to the next level, that gets you excited, so excited that you can’t wait to tell everyone about it.

No matter what your work is, no matter what you do, there’s a way to create a project that has you buzzing with excitement about it, where something big, fun and new that might make a difference is just around the corner….

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Posted in Challenge, Change, Knowledge, Positive mental attitude, Strategy, Uncategorized, game, goals, learning, negativity, recession, retailers, screw it up | No Comments »

Happy New Year ! Happy New Strategies

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

colourful-hatsWell hello 2011,

So, however 2010 turned out for you, now that the tinsel is packed away, and the fridge is full of green healthy food, its time to turn our attention to 2011. As Einstein (or Franklin, depending on who you believe) wrote, “if you keep doing the same thing, you’ll keep getting the same result “ he also put some insanity in the answer, but it’s the new year, so we’re going to keep things a bit more positive here.

So the big question is what are you going to do this year to get a different result ?

Well firstly, start from the assumption that you’re probably the worlds worst boss ? Yes, you ! Even if you’re not self-employed, your boss is you. You manage your thoughts, your responses, your to do list and your career success. So, have you been doing a good job ?

There are few good books on being a good manager. Fewer still on managing yourself. But in these tumultuous times, it’s hard to think of a more essential skillset to learn, or a more essential person to invest in !

Looking back even 10 years, retailing was easy. There wasn’t too much competition, people actually came into town then, (they also had some money here and there) as long as you put up a sign, and had some stock, you were pretty much guaranteed to make some money, but it’s just not that easy anymore. Now, you need to be an accountant, a stylist, a merchandiser, you need to have strong leadership skills, be an astute buyer and negotiator, technologically proficient and with a penchant for hard work.

Now, along with the skill mix of a chameleon, you also need to be communicating your vision, marketing like crazy and in constant communication with your customers and potential customers, using all methods open to you, that’s facebook, twitter and blogging (among other things)

If anyone out there is thinking to themselves – I seem to be working harder and harder and doing more and more for less and less, then you are not crazy, that is indeed what is going on here.
Time management and personal effectiveness has been sideswiped by new media. In a world where we can all be plugged in all of the time, the old principles for success are getting a beating.
But if small business owners and entrepreneurs started businesses to have more time with their family, and enjoy the time here on planet earth, so how come we’re all blogging, tweeting and liking peoples facebook pages all day and night, how do we get back on track with our goals?

Since we all have the same time allotted to us, its got to be down to how we use it … makes logical sense huh ? So what can we do about it?

Well, the nice, simple answer is to stop. Focus some attention on these time management principles and re-adjust.

Stephen Covey, in his best selling book, the 7 habits of highly effective people, stated the importance of putting first things first. ie, plan, prioritise and complete your weekly to do list based on importance rather than urgency !

Pareto’s principle (aka the 80/20 rule)is widely quoted, but not so widely applied. Its a generalisation, of course, but the point is that only a couple of the tasks on your to do list are really going to make a difference to your business…. and you know which ones they are !

Meanwhile, Parkinson’s Law states that “a task will swell in perceived importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its completion”
So, the lesson here is that good enough is often good enoug ! It doesn’t have to be perfect – use the time you free up on not achieving perfection to do something that’ll really help your business.

So with all the free time you’re going to have with your new effective ways of working, here’s a couple of thoughts to swill around for 2011….

Most businesses look like other businesses,( it makes it easy for our brains to categorise them), so one coffee shop for example looks pretty much like another, but here’s the contraditiction - You can’t stand out if you fit in!

So therefore the decision about which part of your business isn’t going to fit in is probably the most important and innovative one you can make !

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The A-Z of successful retail !

Monday, October 25th, 2010

the A to Z of retail

the A to Z of retail

The face of retail has changed so much over the past few years. So I’ve come up with my own A to Z for successful independent retailing.

A is for Advertising: Whether you consider it an enhanced form of communication or merely manipulation, most of us consider it necessary for our businesses. In fact, I could write a whole article just on advertising come to think of it…

B is for Budgets: I’m on safer ground here. If you don’t have a budget then you might get a nasty shock. This happens when you haven’t done your sums right, and it turns out that all your profit is tied up in your stock room !

C is for Credit: Be nice to your suppliers and you can negotiate favourable credit terms.

D is for Define your niche: Ok, so I’ve pulled that one a bit, but if you don’t define your niche you can end up chasing any opportunity that presents itself, which often results in a mismatch of styles, stock and confused customers.
E is for Employees: Sooner or later you’re going to have some. Start off with contracts and write everything down – this will save you a lot of heartache.

F is for fashion: Also known as trends. It is the cyclical law of nature that as things go up, they come down. Fashion reinvents itself each and every season. While giftware doesn’t follow quite so rapidly, it can still become obsolete, so read magazines, visit tradeshows and generally do anything else that can keep you up to date with what’s going on in your market.

G is for Gift Vouchers: A fabulous way for happy customers to let family and friends know what they’d like from your store.

H is for Happy face: There’s nothing worse than a miserable face behind the counter. Be pleasant and make sure that your staff are. Why not employ a mystery shopper to independently grade your service. Remember that most people leave a business because they just don’t feel valued or recognised.

I is for Infectious enthusiasm: Yours specifically ! To lead a team you must be enthusiastic. If you have no team and its just you and the customers then you still need to be enthusiastic (see previous letter)

J is for Just looking: You’re going to hear that a lot ! Rather than asking the age old dumb question – “Do you need any help?” Perhaps you could instead ask a better question – such as, for example – Have you seen our new collection of X….? At the very least you won’t get the just looking answer.

K is for keyword search: In our technological age, make sure your store comes up under your chosen keywords.

L is for Loss prevention: People will try to steal from you – Don’t make it easy. Look for blind spots and instill good security habits as a key part of your staff training.

M is for Marketing : Marketing is anything and everything you do to promote your business.

N is for Newsletter: A great tool for communicating with your customers, reminding them that you’re still there, that you have new stock in and putting a more human face on your business.

O is for Operations Manual: You’ll definitely need one of these as soon as you have your first employee, you’ll notice that they don’t do things like you do…! That’s why you need the operations manual – it says how things should be done, in which order, when and by who.

P is for Price: The all important question, how much to charge? My tuppence worth is that someone will always undercut you, so unless you are a pound shop, it’s worth defining other areas as the USP for your business – service, stock, knowledge, design for example.

Q is for Quest: Q is a hard one ! I chose Quest because I see it as a positive word, a go getting word. Quest implies striving, searching and constant improvement.

R is for Relationships: With your suppliers, your staff, the local council, the local media, and the wine bottle when its not going so good ! Invest some time and make them as good as possible (with the exception of the wine bottle!)

S is for Sales: Selling is a combination of art and science. Time invested in studying the psychology of selling is never wasted. Remember to sell benefits, not products, and always answer the oldest question “What’s in it for me?”

T is for Technology: You can’t avoid it. So you might as well take a few courses and work out what tasks you need technology to do for you.

U is for Uniform: Are you going to have one or are you confident that everyone else shares your good taste and style ?

V is for vision: Think about it, articulate it, print it and make a bit deal about it !

X is for Xtra: Ok, I stretched that one a bit. But every self employed person I know does more than a bit extra. Extra hours, extra jobs, extra learning, extra training. you get the idea.

Y is for You: the one that generates the vision, the standards and delivers on it !

Z is for Zero Tolerance: To anything that falls below standard, it’s so easy to slide as standards slip imperceptibly, but standards are what set businesses apart

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Posted in Challenge, Customers, Emerging trends, Independent retailers, Uncategorized, learning, marketing, motivation, success, vision | No Comments »

Cambridge wins clone town award !

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

What's on your high street ?

What's on your high street ?

In September the New Economics Foundation(NEF) results were published on the state of Britain’s high streets. The think tank looked at 117 town centres right across England, and the shops represented on their high streets. They counted the number of independent shops and the variety and using a simple formula they came up with list of the least diverse high streets.

Cambridge(scoring 11.6) was named the worst “clone town” In Britain, despite its beautiful colleges, impressive architecture and its ancient university status. Its historic streets are dominated by national chain stores.

NEF remarked that Cambridge was” the worst example of the trend for British High Streets to look identical, all populated by the same small selection of major retailers”

The report’s author said “Cambridge’s distinctive character still remains, but its high street is now no different from that in Exeter, Reading or Oxford.”
He added that the homogenity of the high street was brought about, in part by the recession. Since most of the shops are owned by the colleges, as they’ve needed to raise money, they’ve either sold them off, or increased rents to an extent that pushes out independent retailers.

For those of you of a curious disposition, you can download the survey from the site at www.neweconomics.org and carry out your own survey on your own local high street to see how it fares. Are you a Clone town, or a home town? That’s one that’s distinctive and recognisable as a unique place

In case you’re wondering Whitstable, a fishing port on the Kent coast had the most diverse high street scoring an impressive 92.1 on the diversity scale.

So what does this have to do with me, I hear you asking…? Well, local independent shops really are crucial for local economies. If you have a business in your town, any money that you earn from your business goes round in the local economy at least two to four times. That goes from things like ordering an extension from another local business, or getting your packaging made locally for example – If the money stays local rather than being wired out each night to a central head office you can see that it makes for more local income, wealth and ultimately more jobs.

On the plus side, NEF found that the diversity of Britain’s high streets had not materially deteriorated since 2005 when it last conducted its survey. However, that was partly because many of the big names, including Borders, Woolworths and Zavvi had collapsed into administration, so it’s not exactly brilliant news.

On a final note, the report concluded that “A bland homogeneity and encroaching vacant premises characterise the city’s (Cambridge’s) shopping centre,” and you’ve got to ask yourself, what does that say about other high streets then ?

I can’t be alone in thinking that could have been written about many high streets up and down the country ?

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There’s an app for everything…

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

Apps

Apps

Following a consumer insight survey, Price Waterhouse Cooper are predicting a post-recession permanent change in shopping behaviour, with shoppers taking a more thoughtful approach to buying, rather than obsessing over deal seeking. Although they do admit that many of the new skills in money saving learned during the recession will still be used, such as price comparison websites, loyalty schemes and voucher collecting for example.

Heading out of recession, they predict that new spending groups will come to dominate in our stores. Generations X & Y as opposed to the Baby Boomers that spent their way out of previous recessions. Now if Generation X is a well known soft drink advertisement to you, hold on for a quick run through the demographics.
Generation X are aged from 29 to 45, while Generation Y are aged from 10 to 28. The top end of Generation X is in the middle of a high spending stage in life, and Generation Y has a willingness to spend, especially on new technologies – Which won’t be news to anyone who’s part of the new App age !

Coming out of this recession, customers are expecting to buy differently, across many channels, so they may buy in store, on-line, via a catalogue or through a third party, this “seamless shopping” is creating many challenges for retailers, How can we give our customer the same experience, availability and service from our brand however the consumer chooses to shop ?

In the very early days of ecommerce (that’s only around 10 years ago), multichannel retailing was almost unheard of. But it has since grown and developed within every retail sector - even clothing and fashion, which cynics said would never work online. Integrating systems using technology to maximise benefits is the new challenge.

Technology is a great leveller, small independent businesses can compete on a more level playing field with large stores, if they understand how to use technology to their advantage, and of course if they have the budget to fund it.

A good example of using technology to promote retail was recently launched in Wigan, where they are piloting a town centre trading push.

HometownPlus is designed to “get more people to visit their hometown more often and spend more money locally” by enabling consumers, using a smartcard or phone app, to access personalised offers and savings. This scheme is designed to complement, not compete with, retailer loyalty programmes.

Retailers and other participants in the WiganPlus debut project, will benefit from the opportunity to drive footfall, target promotions and access real-time shopping data. Independent stores are likely to be the first on board, but they hope that multiples will see the benefits and join too.

This scheme will receive £230,000 Government match-funding and comes in the wake of increased concern about the appeal of town centres. (Empty stores in town centres stand at 12% according to The Local Data Company).

I think that most of our towns could benefit from such a visionary scheme which treats the town centre as a live venue, promotes it and keeps it in the forefronts of shoppers minds.

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