John Stanley Associates

Provide Information to an “Online” Customer

Rethink - Retail

As business owners we have a challenge.  We have internal customers (our staff) and external customers (our consumers) who need technical information based on the products we provide.

Traditionally, our internal customers went to trade colleges to get diploma’s and certificates in what we sell and therefore when we appointed them to the team they already often had a degree of product knowledge.  We would then provide weekly update training sessions of product knowledge.

These experts could then pass on the information to our customers during the consultancy part of the selling process and provide leaflets for the consumer to read at their leisure at home.

In the ideal world this process works, but we do not live in an ideal world.

I recently talked to a lecturer of a retail trade school; he told me that ten years ago he was teaching on average over forty students a year.  This year he had four students doing the same course.  This trend is happening in many trade schools around the world.  That pool of students educated in what we do and looking for a career in retailing has shrunk rapidly.  The pool is still there, but their desires have changed.  Where once they were looking for one career, they are now planning on many.

Rethink - Retail

As business owners we have a challenge.  We have internal customers (our staff) and external customers (our consumers) who need technical information based on the products we provide.

Traditionally, our internal customers went to trade colleges to get diploma’s and certificates in what we sell and therefore when we appointed them to the team they already often had a degree of product knowledge.  We would then provide weekly update training sessions of product knowledge.

These experts could then pass on the information to our customers during the consultancy part of the selling process and provide leaflets for the consumer to read at their leisure at home.

In the ideal world this process works, but we do not live in an ideal world.

I recently talked to a lecturer of a retail trade school; he told me that ten years ago he was teaching on average over forty students a year.  This year he had four students doing the same course.  This trend is happening in many trade schools around the world.  That pool of students educated in what we do and looking for a career in retailing has shrunk rapidly.  The pool is still there, but their desires have changed.  Where once they were looking for one career, they are now planning on many.

Product Passion - A disaster when it’s lacking

Retail ReThink

Retailing is about people, if you lack the people skills you shouldn’t be in retailing. This is the first priority in retailing …. or is it?

My daughter was recently employed by a cosmetic jewellery store. She was recruited to save the business. The company could not afford to pay the rent and was putting it down to the economy, fuel prices and other reasons outside of their control.

After the first week on the job, she came home disgruntled.  “What’s the problem I asked?”, the response was, “These guys don’t deserve to be in business, they are not passionate or have any respect for their product, so how are they going to make this business work”!

This made my ears prick up. Retailing surely is about people not products, what was my daughter saying.

She went on to explain that the management of the business treated and talked about the product, albeit when customers were not around, as if it was trash. They did not respect their product or have a passion for their product. She went on to say that without any respect for the product, how could they sell it with integrity to the consumer. An interesting perspective on retailing I thought.

So lets take a closer look at this idea of product passion.

Retail ReThink

Retailing is about people, if you lack the people skills you shouldn’t be in retailing. This is the first priority in retailing …. or is it?

My daughter was recently employed by a cosmetic jewellery store. She was recruited to save the business. The company could not afford to pay the rent and was putting it down to the economy, fuel prices and other reasons outside of their control.

After the first week on the job, she came home disgruntled.  “What’s the problem I asked?”, the response was, “These guys don’t deserve to be in business, they are not passionate or have any respect for their product, so how are they going to make this business work”!

This made my ears prick up. Retailing surely is about people not products, what was my daughter saying.

She went on to explain that the management of the business treated and talked about the product, albeit when customers were not around, as if it was trash. They did not respect their product or have a passion for their product. She went on to say that without any respect for the product, how could they sell it with integrity to the consumer. An interesting perspective on retailing I thought.

So lets take a closer look at this idea of product passion.

From a Swamp to a Retail Icon – Retailing in Macau

If you visited Macau eight years ago you would have come across an ex Portuguese colony as a peninsula and island of China that was a rundown province with a small city and surrounding swamp.  The population of 500,000 on this 25 square kilometre territory were relying on mainland China and envious of the developments taking place 45 minutes away by ferry in Hong Kong.

If you returned to Macau today you’d discover the largest gambling floor in the world and a community whose casino income is larger than Las Vegas and Atlantic City’s income combined.

Macau must beat Dubai in the speed it has moved from an underdeveloped community to the Las Vegas of Asia and one of the most prestigious retail environments in the world.

    

If you visited Macau eight years ago you would have come across an ex Portuguese colony as a peninsula and island of China that was a rundown province with a small city and surrounding swamp.  The population of 500,000 on this 25 square kilometre territory were relying on mainland China and envious of the developments taking place 45 minutes away by ferry in Hong Kong.

If you returned to Macau today you’d discover the largest gambling floor in the world and a community whose casino income is larger than Las Vegas and Atlantic City’s income combined.

Macau must beat Dubai in the speed it has moved from an underdeveloped community to the Las Vegas of Asia and one of the most prestigious retail environments in the world.

    

It’s Nesting Time

ReThink Retail

A decade ago Faith Popcorn, the futurologist, proposed that in the future, consumers would start “cocooning” and would be spending more time at home.

Between then and now we have seen consumer increase their spending on exotic holidays and eat out more often in restaurants. It seems that we have moved away from cocooning.

But, it’s now all changing.  Rising fuel and food costs coupled with declining house prices around the world has meant consumers are changing their habits again and they are cocooning for feathering their nests. This means some businesses will prosper whilst others will find it a lot more challenging to keep up with changing consumer trends.

Those selling exotic holidays are finding that consumers are becoming more difficult to find, while consumers are rediscovering local holiday destinations within a days drive. In the USA the trend is to have holidays at home and the term “Stayville” has been invented to cover this type of vacation.
Restaurants are being challenged by the trend for consumers to re-discover the pleasures of cooking at home. As a result one of the growth sales in supermarkets is the full ingredients for making full course meals at home.

Companies that will really benefit are those that are in tune with the consumer when it comes to at home theatre and house improvements. Consumers are also re-discovering their gardens. But the activities in the garden are changing. Mowing the lawn is now looked on by some as a positive pastime activity. At the same time, the lawn uses valuable water reserves and in some areas damaging fertilizers, whilst mowing the lawn is seen as by some as ‘hard work.’

At the same time planting and maintaining a vegetable garden may, to some, be considered as hard work, but the benefits out weigh the work. Picking your own vegetables has become the ultimate “low food miles” activity, plus produce is fresher and from a known hopefully healthy source, your garden.

ReThink Retail

A decade ago Faith Popcorn, the futurologist, proposed that in the future, consumers would start “cocooning” and would be spending more time at home.

Between then and now we have seen consumer increase their spending on exotic holidays and eat out more often in restaurants. It seems that we have moved away from cocooning.

But, it’s now all changing.  Rising fuel and food costs coupled with declining house prices around the world has meant consumers are changing their habits again and they are cocooning for feathering their nests. This means some businesses will prosper whilst others will find it a lot more challenging to keep up with changing consumer trends.

Those selling exotic holidays are finding that consumers are becoming more difficult to find, while consumers are rediscovering local holiday destinations within a days drive. In the USA the trend is to have holidays at home and the term “Stayville” has been invented to cover this type of vacation.
Restaurants are being challenged by the trend for consumers to re-discover the pleasures of cooking at home. As a result one of the growth sales in supermarkets is the full ingredients for making full course meals at home.

Companies that will really benefit are those that are in tune with the consumer when it comes to at home theatre and house improvements. Consumers are also re-discovering their gardens. But the activities in the garden are changing. Mowing the lawn is now looked on by some as a positive pastime activity. At the same time, the lawn uses valuable water reserves and in some areas damaging fertilizers, whilst mowing the lawn is seen as by some as ‘hard work.’

At the same time planting and maintaining a vegetable garden may, to some, be considered as hard work, but the benefits out weigh the work. Picking your own vegetables has become the ultimate “low food miles” activity, plus produce is fresher and from a known hopefully healthy source, your garden.

Promotion to Solution

ReThink Retail

Over the last few months there have been a number of articles in the trade press and research reports on consumer behaviour.  All of these articles and research are indicating that we need to rethink the way we communicate with shoppers in our stores.

Take a walk through any shopping mall and you will come across promotion after promotion; many of these will be price led; whilst others may be related to a season or event.  But, what does come across is how many of those promotions are very much alike; in fact the consumer is getting bored of the same old promotions and as a result is “switching off” to what we are trying to achieve.

The result of such a strategy is that consumers are getting bored and confused.  All this choice is switching them off and as a result they are often spending less.

Professor Dan Ariely, Massachusetts Institute of Technology proved this very effectively by carrying out some research on consumer behaviour in California.  He set up some tasting situations in a supermarket.  When he put six jams on offer he found he had less of a consumer buzz than when he had a tasting situation with 24 jams on offer.  But, the key is turning lookers (or tasters in this situation) into buyers.  When he had 6 jams he sold to 30% of tasters; when he had 24 jams he only sold to 3% of tasters.  The reason for this was as the consumer was given more choice they became more confused and less likely to buy.

Take a look at your own product ranging, are you promoting too many products that do the same thing and turning your consumers off?

ReThink Retail

Over the last few months there have been a number of articles in the trade press and research reports on consumer behaviour.  All of these articles and research are indicating that we need to rethink the way we communicate with shoppers in our stores.

Take a walk through any shopping mall and you will come across promotion after promotion; many of these will be price led; whilst others may be related to a season or event.  But, what does come across is how many of those promotions are very much alike; in fact the consumer is getting bored of the same old promotions and as a result is “switching off” to what we are trying to achieve.

The result of such a strategy is that consumers are getting bored and confused.  All this choice is switching them off and as a result they are often spending less.

Professor Dan Ariely, Massachusetts Institute of Technology proved this very effectively by carrying out some research on consumer behaviour in California.  He set up some tasting situations in a supermarket.  When he put six jams on offer he found he had less of a consumer buzz than when he had a tasting situation with 24 jams on offer.  But, the key is turning lookers (or tasters in this situation) into buyers.  When he had 6 jams he sold to 30% of tasters; when he had 24 jams he only sold to 3% of tasters.  The reason for this was as the consumer was given more choice they became more confused and less likely to buy.

Take a look at your own product ranging, are you promoting too many products that do the same thing and turning your consumers off?

Experience Retailing…..Don’t be Me to!

Fuel in Australia in 1998 was 62 cents a litre, most of us can remember those days.  Since 2007, as I write this article we have seen fuel prices increase from $1.22 to $1.55 a litre and I’ll guarantee that when you read this article it will have increased again.

Compare that with Norway where you would be paying $2.49, the world’s most expensive place to drive a vehicle.

These price hikes have a major impact on all aspects of retailing and consumer behaviour; but it also means you have to get the basics right.  “Me to” retailers will find it even more difficult to trade profitable in a more difficult retail climate.

This came home to me recently when studying retail tourism shops in South Africa and Australia.

Sticking the Boot into the Brand

“Don’t destroy your brand credibility”

In my presentations with clients I often talk about brand integrity; we discuss the fact that the brand is based on the consumer’s expectations and experiences.  This was brought home to me in a very clear way recently.

We were hosting a group of Canadian business people in Australia recently.  For all Canadians in the party it was their first visit ‘down-under’ and they all had their perceptions of our country.  One of the group was looking forward to purchasing what he looked on as a pair of iconic Australian leather boots.  This was discussed at great length during the tour and eventually he found a retail store that sold the boots.

Does the World Need Another Coffee Shop?

By John Stanley

The world seems to be full of coffee shops, whether it’s a mall in the U.S.A., Australia or Europe there are a multitude of coffee shops.  In my own small town, five years ago we had one coffee shop.  Now I can visit a different one everyday of the week if I so wish.

As the economies of the world tighten, will they all survive, I suspect not.

I was recently in South Africa with a client and the subject of coffee shops came up.  He mentioned that the local shopping mall had at least six coffee shops, but a new one had opened, Lulu’s and this was his favourite.

As a result of his comments we spent the afternoon doing “the coffee tour”.  The “Starbucks” of South Africa is “Mug and Bean”.  This company is the market leader and provides the consumer with a great coffee experience.  The remaining coffee shops we visited were trying to copy the market leader and were very much “me too” operators.

Finally, we arrived at Lulu’s and I could understand why my client was hooked.  They understood that to develop a “me too” franchise would be a disaster, they needed to go out on a limb and be different, plus they realized they could not do it with the core product being coffee.

Lulu’s moved away from the relaxed coffee lounge image and went more for a “fast food” look, but it was the way they put the package together that impressed me.  Their marketing was based on the following points of difference.

Marketing Opportunities - Making a Positive statement, based on Negative Facts

By John Stanley

The fun of retailing is that there are always opportunities to grow sales, even when the consumer may not like the product now that may sound like a contradiction in ideas.

Let me give you an example.  Heinz, the food company recently carried out a survey in the U.K. to find out which was the least liked vegetable by children in that country.

Baby Boomer readers of this article are going to quickly respond that the answer to that survey would be easy, it is the Brussel Sprout, but they would be wrong, it came in at number two, with 37% of children detesting this vegetable.

The most hated vegetable according to this survey is the Aubergine or Egg Plant.  Does this mean sales of aubergines should decline?  I would argue that the entrepreneurial retailer would use this negative news as a positive marketing opportunity.

I’m Dying to Grow Sales

By John Stanley

Everyone is dying to grow their business, ask any retailer and they will tell you that.

I recently visited a U.K. tourist shop on a cold, spring day in England.  I was with my two daughters and we were three of the few potential customers that the store had seen that day.  The store had two sales people in house, a grand opportunity to create an experience and grow the business. 

We were in for an experience, but not the one we expected.  We walked in from the cold spring air expecting a warm greeting.  We were completely ignored, neither of the sales people made eye contact with us as we entered.

But, the sales people did manage to carry on an interesting conversation in our presence, it went as follows:

1st salesperson - “Did you know we found his body in the bushes last week?”
2nd salesperson - “What here?”
1st salesperson - “Yes, but the head gardener knew him, so it was okay, they don’t know how it happened, he was found in a bush”.

At this point in the conversation it was obvious we were not welcome and we returned to the cold air, but left the estate quickly in case more discoveries were about to be made.