Time to get real in retail

With a report from the ‘TUC’ revealing that the retail industry has seen the largest rise in people claiming the dole, with a staggering increase of over 76 thousand people having been made redundant; what does this mean for the people that work in this environment?

I am still of the firm belief that the companies that have fallen by the wayside, would have eventually done so – all had been struggling prior to the ‘recession’ and had underlying issues. However, this does not help you if you are one of the people now without a job!

So – what can you do to ensure that you are not one of people out of work?

To me the simple answer is to ensure that you are delivering in every area of your job role at all times. If you feel there are areas that you can improve – look at your colleagues and see what you can learn from them. It is always an idea to speak to your Manager and see what additional training and support is available – those that are keen to improve themselves will always be one step ahead of the game!

Training is one of the areas that seem to be neglected when times are tough and Training Departments are one of the first fields to be disbanded when Head Office cuts need to be made. So what can the canny Store Manager do to ensure that they are delivering in all of the critical areas?

Many of the key areas that Retailers are monitored on are around simple goals and targets. Sales, Account Cards, Wage Cost control, Stockloss and Profitability. So how can you get them right and ensure you, your teams and your stores survival?

As the more experienced amongst you will already know – all of these areas actually have a direct link to each other. E.g. if you have well trained staff, your Sales and Account Card numbers will be high and if you approach all your Customers and offer great service – your Stockloss will be reduced. Everything you do impacts on your deliverables!

So what are the three key things you can do?

1. Recruit the very best people and ensure that they enjoy and have a passion for retail. You can only improve people if they have the desire to improve!
2. Train and develop your teams. From their Induction program when they start with you, to basic on the floor coaching. Never stop improving your team!
3. Manage! It’s in your title of Store Manager, however sometimes we can forget that you are the glue that holds everything together. Direct and support your teams. Know what your sales are. Control and have full knowledge of your profitability and most importantly – lead by example in EVERYTHING that you do!

If you can achieve the above 3 points – you will be well on the way to protecting your job, your teams job and the business you work for!

Retail can be a tough business – so now is the time to get real!

Is 99 just for flakes?

This is just about a pet peeve of mine!!

I have to admit that I absolutely hate the trend of adding a 99p onto a price point in the foolish belief that this ‘confuses’ or ‘bamboozles’ the Customer into believing that they are paying ‘less’ or ‘not as great’ an amount.

You tend to see this on larger priced items – therefore you buy a Sofa for £499 rather than over £500 - Only a penny difference!  This has also become a trend for clothing retailers over the last couple of, however are the general public really falling for this?

Price points have become more and more critical with the recession and the confusion over the lowering and then increase around VAT has also not helped.

When the Chancellor announced that the standard rate of VAT was to be reduced from 15% from the 1st December 2008', this was seen as a positive move for the economy.

Many Retailers removed the reduction in VAT at the Till Point - therefore the labelled price of a garment could confuse the Customer - or delight them when slightly less was needed when they came to pay.

However, with VAT having returned to its previous 17.5% from 1^st January 2010, where does this leave Retailer pricing?

It seems that the Stores which have pricing that hits the pound are also bucking the trend and are reporting year-on-year growth – Primark works on an extremely competitive price arc and all items are clearly marked. Has this been part of their strategy for success?

I always prefer to have a clear understanding of what the goods I am purchasing cost and believe that to price something just under the pound by using the ‘99p’ tactic is a pointless exercise.

After all – who wants to spend a penny anymore???? 

The 25% Effect...

As I walked through my local town centre of Camberley, it suddenly occurred to me that there were more empty shops than ever before. This got me wondering about the massive changes in today’s High Streets and what impact this was having on customer service?

With the majority of town centres at only 75% occupancy and with some smaller market towns this figure being nearer to 50%, what does this mean for both the Retailer and the Customer?

Writing about this very issue in ‘Retail Weekly’, Ben Cooper comments that ‘An exodus of the multiple retail brands, hoardings plastered over once thriving shop fronts and a glut of struggling independent retailers… all are symptomatic of how the downturn is affecting secondary and tertiary towns. Many are rapidly turning into retail ghost towns.’

http://www.retail-week.com/property/in-town/the-new-ghost-towns-on-uk-high-streets/5004353.article

I wasn’t shocked to find that my home town, Camberley was the 2^nd emptiest High Street in this article about towns with the highest voids – coming in at a staggering -43% as it certainly felt that way on my visits.

So what can be done to keep our High Street retailers thriving and also to guarantee their survival?

I am passionate about Customer Service and I still believe that it holds to the key to delighting, surprising and more importantly to retaining your customer base.

The other challenge affecting struggling town centres is around competition. It is always easier to get footfall into a High Street when there is a strong offer from different retailers.  Let’s face it – if you are shopping for a specific item, E.g. a dress for an occasion, you are far more likely to want to visit somewhere that has some choice, rather than a town or centre with just one store.

So – if competition is good, how can the decline of our High Streets be prevented? Will it just be a matter of survival of the fittest? Or will the best service and offer win the retail war?

I am constantly staggered by how little impact the recession seems to have made on the Sales Assistants that I seem to come across in my day-to-day exploration of our shops.

From an attitude of total indifference and a basic lack of product knowledge, right through to out-an-out rudeness – it is rare to find someone in retail that really seems to understand that they are in a Service Role!

I understand that retail is not the best paid work, and I also realise that there are unpleasant Customers out there who subject staff to verbal and occasionally (and unacceptably) physical abuse! However, these Customers are the exception NOT the norm, and yet ‘bad service’is far more common.

So what can the Retailers do?

Well, my first suggestion is that they review the staff that they have. In today’s climate, where jobs are becoming harder to find and unemployment is at an all time high, I wonder if some of the Sales Assistant’s I come across should even be having a career in retail! Surely every Store should be employing the best – and at a minimum people who actually enjoy helping Customers?

Secondly, all Retailers should review their levels of staffing. Wage cost is one of the largest and most controllable expenditure that the business has. This has led to certain stores feeling like a ghost town when you walk in. Bad service? No – in these stores you get ‘No Service’!

Thirdly and most importantly – Retailers need to continue to train and develop their sales teams. All Sales Staff need a basic level of product knowledge and also need to be coached on how to deliver a really superb shopping experience. Without these skills – how can a business develop Customer loyalty and therefore retain and increase their repeat business – the lifeblood of any thriving Retailer!

Finally – and perhaps critically – Retail has never been more price sensitive. With Companies such as Primark and New Look reporting far better results and the rest of the High Street having been in perpetual ‘Sale’ since before Christmas – it seems that ‘a bargain’ will still drive us into stores and get us buying! It seems when we are paying rock bottom prices – our service level expectation decreases exponentially!

If the High Street is to survive – it seems that many Retailers still have much work to do! So if we have over 25% vacancies in the majority of our High Streets – perhaps it’s time we got 100% of service?

Fabulous in Florida...

So – there I was in sunny Florida. I had managed to get to the beach a couple of times, enjoyed some great meals and we were all having an absolutely wonderful time.

One morning when we woke up, the weather was not as good as it had been, so we rubbed our hands together in glee and thought hurrah – it was time to hit the shops....

Shopping in Florida has always been such a different experience to back home. The choice of products is massive in comparison and as for the service – it really is incomparable to the UK!

I wanted to jot down my feelings about the whole retail experience and try and work out how they manage to ALWAYS make me feel so good about spending my dollar!

Is it that they seem to really enjoy what they do? Or is it the level of product knowledge that every single sales person seems to have? Could it be that the sales staff really seem to ‘want’ to sell to you? Or maybe it’s having a commission based sales system that really ‘makes a difference’? I had set out to try and discover the answer...

My first thought upon reaching the makeup counter of a well known US department store, was the lack of snootiness. Rather than look you up and down and judge you unworthy of their time or assistance, you are greeted by the Sales Assistant with a cheery ‘Hi, how are you?’

Is this disingenuous? Possibly....But do I prefer American insincerity to British rudeness – oh yes!

The level of knowledge and also of excitement that the Consultant demonstrated about her offer – including being more than happy to order something in for me – really did make me feel that she actually wanted to help me and that she was also playing a longer game and wanted my repeat business!

On a shopping trip for an evening dress for an event we were going to back in the UK, the sales assistant (Brittany!) couldn’t be more helpful – including suggesting dresses which we had initially dismissed and even finding us a secret stash of frocks in the size we were looking for deep in the depths of their Stockroom.

When we finally found a dress that fitted the bill – it was slightly too small. This again was no problem for Brittany and she promptly ordered the correct size and even arranged to have it sent direct to our Holiday Condo – this really was service!! We didn’t even need to return to the store to pick it up! It was pretty impressive!

We left the Mall extremely pleased that we had managed to achieve our aim of finding an evening dress that we could confidently predict no one else in the UK would have at this particular event!

The set out of American Malls, with their wide spacey Food Courts, a huge choice of Department Stores and comfortable seating at every turn, also helped make this shopping trip a pleasure.

But it was the service that really stood out for us and also ensured that we spent far more than we intended!

So are they really ‘fabulous in Florida?’  Well, for us - that would be a resounding ...yes!

Pasta Perfect!!

I was in my local Italian restaurant the other day and it suddenly occurred to me that all retailers could learn a thing or two from your friendly local pasta parlour!

Despite the continual ‘warnings’ around the recession, this eatery was full to the brim and people were actually queuing outside for a table.

So what does this restaurant have, that keeps it not just surviving, but a full, thriving, exciting and busy business, despite the doom and gloom warnings from the government and financial papers?

Well, as always, it comes down to customer service!

Is the food fantastic? Well, it is good traditional Italian comfort food. The best I’ve ever eaten – I would have to say - No! So why do we keep going back?

As I watched the waiting staff glide between tables, smiling, flirting, bearing outsized pepper grinders and real parmesan, it occurred to me that they were almost ‘putting on a show’ for us. The flair and speed with which they were serving their happy customers was almost theatrical. Most retailers talk about ‘the experience’ that they want to give their customers – but I had to wonder if they do it in the same way and with the same passion.

The other thing I noticed, as I observed them dealing with a busy Saturday night, was that every single one of them seemed to be really enjoying themselves. It was a great example of giving 100% whatever you do. Many people that work in the service industry seem to do so with an attitude or a lack of willing to actually serve their customers. All basic skills you might think – but a visit to most High Streets’ on a busy Saturday would show you a different picture.

So – they acted like they wanted to be there and they were giving ‘service with a smile’, but what else made this casual dinner such a treat?

They were managing to serve a busy restaurant, with what appeared to be minimal staffing and yet, no one was waiting for their food and everybody’s drinks seemed to be overflowing.  What was their secret?

My conclusion was that the restaurant was – very simply – well managed! It was staffed with people who wanted to be there and who all took a huge pride in what they did and it was managed by someone who seemed to believe the customer was king! In short – it was a recipe for success!

So next time you are looking to deliver some training to your team and hopefully inspire them to demonstrate some service skills and passion for what they are doing – perhaps a quick trip to your local Italian may have the answers?

Serve the one you’re with!

Everyone has heard the expression ‘love the one you’re with’, but I think it is high time that retailers started to ‘serve the one you’re with’.

I am talking about the age old irritation of being put second when you are in a store or restaurant, by the person that WAS serving you.

It can be something as small as a phone call and sometimes (and in my opinion far more worryingly) a request from a senior manager – but each interruption is not just annoying, but incredibly rude!

The other day I had queued for some time in a well known fashion retailer. Arms filled with clothing, I waited patiently until I finally reached the front of the queue and then suddenly....the phone rang. I had expected the Sales Assistant to ignore it – but to my horror she picked it up! I then waited a further 5 minutes whilst she responded to what appeared to be a product search from another store in the chain. Whilst I appreciate the ‘other’ store was trying to help THEIR customer – it did not exactly ‘enhance’ my experience!

As I stood there – waiting and wanting to give my hard earned cash to this retailer and feeling more and more that maybe I should ditch my purchase and go elsewhere – it made me wonder why we, as consumers, put up with this kind of behaviour?

Why are so many people in the service industry so quick to forget the person actually standing in front of you? I was always taught that the person in front of you – who is actually waiting to give you money and is also known as the ‘Customer’ is the most important person that there is. I am not sure if it is today’s digital age, with the increases in technology and ‘now’ culture, that means everyone seems to forget the old fashioned style of ‘serving the one you’re with’ rather than chasing potential custom of the future.

Likewise on a recent trip to the Country’s biggest Supermarket, I was somewhat bemused to be unable to get to some fresh produce, as a group of suits (a swarm? a stampede?) talked to each other about the visual look of the stand and the best selling lines it contained. As a customer it continually frustrates me that I am ‘sidelined’ for a store walk through by the management team. I cannot be alone in feeling like this.

When I was an Area Manager, I remember, on a store visit, talking to one of my Managers at the Till Point. To my horror, as a customer approached and she started to ring through their purchases, she continued our conversation. I immediately cut her off and saying, “I will let you serve your customer”, I walked away. When I spoke to her about her behaviour after the customer had left, she seemed to think that OUR conversation had been more important?

So – it seems to me that putting the customer first, is an attitude and culture that NEEDS to come from the top. In other words, don’t answer the phone when you are serving, don’t talk to other staff and ensure that you ALWAYS make your customer feel that they are your Number One priority!

If more retailers can remember that the customer is the person who pays their wages and is the reason for their job and if Management can create a business where they train their teams to maximise face-to face sales – we may just get there!

So remember – If you don’t ‘serve the one you’re with’ – they may choose to be ‘served’ by someone else...

The Plump Pound!

The terminology of the ‘Pink Pound’ is well known, but I wanted to speak out in defence of the ‘Plump Pound’ a far lesser known phenomenon!

As a larger lady, it has always been an enormous frustration when shopping, that so few retailers have anything to offer anyone over a size 14!

It seems to be assumed that anyone bigger than a stick insect only wants to wear a sack and has absolutely NO interest in fashion. I am here to tell you (very) short sighted retailers that this is far from the case.

Tanya Gold in the ‘Daily Mail’  writes ‘Clothing shops don't cater for me. In fact, they detest me. In Bond Street, I am literally waved away from the racks of precious clothes.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1088455/In-defence-fatties--Let-eat-cake.html#ixzz0Q9nH9yLF

Unfortunately, Tanya is not alone.

All retailers are currently in a battle for survival and with the news this week from ‘BDO Stoy Hayward’, that a further 5,000 retailers will go bust next year, it seems astonishing to me, that this larger (in every sense of the word) area of the market goes so unnoticed. Surely having a full range of clothing up to a Size 18 or 20 would be a canny move for any business and would only help to increase your market percentage.

It may be news to retailers; however people over a size 6 are fully able to have a career and therefore a pay packet, along with a life! Like everyone, they also like to spend – so why is this area of the marketplace constantly ignored?

I have always worked in fashion and could tell you about numerous occasions when new product has come into the store and I have been unable to actually wear the clothes, as they seemed to be designed for people with no curves at all. Yes – certain outfits are better on both the slim AND the young, but the prevailing attitude that anyone a little bigger can’t look good or fashionable is a myth!

When I recently lost weight, I remember the BIGGEST pleasure was being able to walk into any store and be able to find clothes that fitted. Shopping suddenly became about buying something you loved and that made you feel fantastic, rather than just about finding something that fitted! Retail therapy indeed!

But surely this is a massive opportunity for stores to start widening their appeal and broadening their customer base and therefore, by default, ensuring their continued survival?

There are some stores which do cater for the 16 plus customer, and I would mention Evans, as a retailer who, over the last couple of years, has made big inroads into both fashionable and wearable clothing. www.evans.co.uk

However, as a woman, I don’t always want to ‘have’ to go to a specialist retailer, particularly when I look around me and see that as a nation we are getting larger and larger. How ‘special’ are we, when over 40% of the female population is a size 16 plus? Maybe we should look upon the tiny Size 6 girls as ‘special’?

I would also address the Sales Assistance view of the more curvaceous Customer. A recent study by Bianca Price, of the University of South Australia found that many Customers were put off by ‘pretty staff’,  She concluded that ‘The key for retailers was to hire “women of all shapes and sizes - someone for each of your potential customers to relate to”.’www.retail-week.com/retail-sectors/fashion/pretty-staff-may-put-off-shoppers/5005419.article.  Added to this, as Tanya comments above, the attitude of your average Sales Assistant can also be stumbling block to sales.

So what can you do to ensure that you cater for EVERYONE that comes through your doors? It is more difficult to have a massive impact on what sizes your business stocks, however, I was always a big champion of improving this and did manage to have some influence in a well known fashion chain, who finally accepted that their product range could go up to a Size 18. So you can make a difference!

Training your team on product knowledge and having a good understanding of how your clothing fits and looks is also a key driver and is only delivering the basic service that any client might expect. Also spending time with your team around understanding body shapes and nurturing in them a strong desire to send your customers out of the store feeling great is another good start!

Don’t forget – the ‘Plump Pound’ pays your staffs wages just as much as the next persons.....

Maybe this could be the key to many retailers continued success and an opportunity to prevent some of those predicted retail insolvencies?

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