Every so often something really useful comes along. And, for retail managers, this book is it. By distilling just about everything relating to successful management practice into practical and immediately accessible ‘how-tos’, the book provides answers to your retail challenges and questions in straightforward language with the minimum of fuss. If you, as a retailer, needed to own just one reference tool, then this book is it! Flick through the pages. If you’re still not convinced, then consider these points…
1. This book provides ideas on retailing —quickly.
Retailers are born. I've been told this many times. Successful retailing is a mix of personality and knowledge. It may be difficult to provide you with personality skills via a book, but this volume can certainly provide you with knowledge and management expertise. Retailers normally obtain their skills via: Retail courses. These are valuable opportunities to obtain knowledge— yet many retailers find that they are unable to allocate time to the pursuit of knowledge in this way. Associations. Many retailers belong to trade associations and use these as opportunities to gather information. But, you may not meet all that often and you usually meet with your competitors—which means information may not be spread as freely—or as quickly—as you would like. Retail books. I have built up a library full of retail books. The information is there somewhere but retrieving it can be quite a challenge, especially when time is limited. On-the-job experience. This is a wonderful teacher, but it can be mistake-laden, and you only get it from one perspective—and it does take time… a lifetime in some cases. Travelling and looking overseas. This is great fun, but expensive—and, again, very time-consuming. It would be wonderful if all the above could be condensed into one quickly-accessible tool. This publication is just that, a working tool, based on a wealth of retailing experiences from around the world.
2. This book providesproven retail ideas.
This is not a theoretical book. It is based on practical ideas, presented in a practical way. Retailing is about understanding ‘grass roots’ principles and this book addresses these in an easy-to-understand format that will help you develop your career and your business.
3. This book offers ideas from all aspects of retailing.
If you work in a supermarket,hardware store, fashion shop, florist or garden centre, you will find ideas in this book that will help you improve your skills. I have had wide experience in various aspects of retailing and have brought these together in this book. Whether you are building a display indoors or outdoors, in a small independent store or in a multinational mass merchandising store, you will find this book addresses your particular needs.
4. This book is so easy to use.
This is a companion to the bestselling Just about Everything a Manager Needs to Know by Neil Flanagan and Jarvis Finger. One of the reasons for that book's huge success was its easy-toread ‘how-to’ format. Just about Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know keeps to the same successful format. This means it is not a book that is meant to be read from cover to cover, but rather a book to be dipped into whenever you need practical help as a retailer.
5. This book will help you as a student of retailing.
In retailing, you never stop learning. We are all students of retailing. What we need are strategies, ideas and ‘how-to’ tips we can use to keep developing our business and our careers. One of the aims of this book is to help you, as a continuing student of retailing, to acquire the skills you need easily and in a format to help you absorb the information with the minimum of fuss.
6. This book is an essential tool for the new or experienced retailer.
This book provides ideas, even for the most experienced retailer. None of us can learn all the skills of retailing at one time and be proficient at them all. This book helps you develop your existing strengths and improve your weaknesses. It provides ideas and advice for when you have a problem that needs solving.
7. This book should be shared by your team.
Here is a book that won't sit on yourshelf gathing dust. It is a tool your whole team will refer to constantly. Leave a copy in the staff room and let your team find a solution in it to problems as they occur. It can help you improve the retailing skills of your whole team.
8. This can become your total reference library.
In writing this book and its companion Just about Everything a Manager Needs to Know, the authors have read hundreds of books and extracted the valuable information from them for you. This means these volumes can literally save hours upon hours of valuable time and money for you. The two volumes provide a powerful tool based on the experience of many world experts, and presented in an extremely accessible and usable form.
