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1). 15 Ways to Increase Your Average Sale One thing I love about retailing is that most stores can make a positive difference to the bottom line without an injection of capital. It’s a matter or re-looking at the business with fresh eyes or as the customer sees the business. 2). A Day in the Life of a Customer The key in today’s competitive climate is to ensure you invest in your team to ensure they are the best ambassadors you can have when they deal with your customers. 3). Are You a Commodity or Experience Retailer? The world is dividing into two and customer service providers need to know which camp they belong to. Customers are either wanting to save time or savour time and your customer service will be judged on how you read your customers and which of the above two concept you adopt. 4). Awesome Customer Service Requires a Three Pronged Attack The perception in the marketplace, according to research, is that customer service is declining. Whether consumer expectations have increased or services have declined over the last few years is debatable. The fact is, perception is truth, in the consumers’ eyes. 5). Baby boomers - Changing the Values of Shopping Baby boomers, that group of people, according to Bob Dylan and his peers who were going to change the world. The anthem “Things are a Changing” is very true of this market sector. From Woodstock to today this has been a group keen on making a difference to traditional values. 6). Bridging the Information Gap The role of a retailer in today’s highly competitive market is to bridge the information gap between consumer and product. 7). Counter Attack Your counter should be a profit centre, but how often is it a point where the only thing that takes place is the final transaction? 8). Food Retailing or Food Entertainment? Food retailing is going through a global revolution. On one side of the equation companies such as Walmart, Aldi and Liedl are gaining market shar 9). From Warehouse to Consumer - How can we cost effectively get The most cost effective part of a product’s journey is from the shelf to the checkout, we rely on the consumer to carry out this handling process. The 10). Generation X – The Changers of the Retail Scene The 25 to 35 year olds are changing how retail business is carried out. Already more money is spent on viral marketing using the web, than on cinema, TV and billboard advertising put together. Fosters in Australia recently launched a new commercial on the web prior to TV and this commercial was downloaded 1.5 million times in the first week alone. Generation X is looking for a new way to be sold to. 11). Get 100% of People to See 100% of Your Pet Products Over the last few weeks, I have visited pet stores in the USA, Europe and Australasia. Some of these stores were keen to ensure I was exposed to all t 12). Greying Tigers Greying tigers, the generation of over 65’s who are becoming a more powerful generation in the market place. This is the generation that has seen all the changes take place and are reminiscent of the good old days. 13). How to Build a Theatre Display Retailing is about inspiring people to buy. Theatre displays are about inspiration and magic. Whatever sector of the retail industry you belong to you need to create some excitement to make sure customers want to come back to your store rather than your competitors. 14). How To Walk The Floor And Talk To Customers Your role is take that of a maitre d’hotel. You should meet your guests (customers), welcome them and ensure they leave with a positive feeling about your business. You should set aside at least one hour a day to walk the store and talk to customers. 15). Hunters and Gatherers - Are You Serving Both Their Needs? Research shows that consumers shop establishments based on one of the two personal profiles. The Hunter - know what they want, they are focused on the task in front of them and they do not want anyone or anything to stand in their way. The Gatherer - enjoy the experience of shopping and like to enjoy browsing around and discovering new items. 16). I Only Know Enough to Sell It! Successful retailers realize you have to have passion for the product and the consumer. In today’s retail environment you would think everyone would be chasing that elusive dollar. But, that is not the case and this should be an opportunity for anyone who wants to grow their business. 17). Increase Your Pet Store Sales by 540% I hope I have grabbed your attention, but yes, this is achievable. I have clients who have turned a stock turn of 5 into a 34 stock turn a year who wi 18). Innovation ..... What is it? The role of the retailer is to create more fun opportunities for the fun lovers and to convert the other 50% into fun lovers. This means you have to be an innovator. Keep doing what you have always done and we will not change the paradigm. But, it is easy to say become an innovator, but how do you put this into practice? 19). Libraries - The Third Place or no Place in the Community Libraries around the world have either changed rapidly over recent years or in many consumers minds have stagnated. What is the role of the library in today’s consumers mind and how does the library meet the needs and wants of today’s consumer? 20). Passion….Does Your Retail Team Have It? Are you and your team passionate about the retail game and the garden industry? I know you will argue the answer is yes and that is why you are in the industry, but traveling the globe working with garden centres over recent months has forced me to question where the passion has gone in many teams in our industry. 21). Pet Parents Grow the Market I recently had the opportunity to look at the pet retail industry in the USA.The industry is growing by 6% a year and, like many other retail 22). Pet Retailing - The Unique Retail Experience The pet retailer is becoming the retail destination. It used to be that garden centres considered putting a pet shop adjacent to a garden centre as an 23). Pet Retailing- It’s now more than dog food, it’s fashion ret In previous articles I’ve often written about the trend towards lifestyle retailing. This is reflected in trends in the garden and home improvement in 24). Pets and Plants – The Unlikely Partnership Lifestyle retailing is booming, the consumer is cocooning and spending more time at home. One retail sector that should be rejoicing is the independent garden centre, but for many of them this is not the case. 25). Planograms – It’s Not Just for the Big Guys A planogram is a visual representation of what a category should look like to maximise sales. It should include all the products and shelving and provide the optimum layout of the category to maximise sales. 26). Protecting Your Brand The world is getting smaller and ideas move around the world rapidly. One of the challenges as a retailer is mounting and protecting your brand or retail uniqueness. I am often confronted by clients who are worried that somebody will pinch their ideas. My reaction is always don’t worry; they cannot pinch your brand or image. 27). Provide a Customer Experience, but What Do They Really Want? As retailers, we often talk about providing our customers with a memorable retail experience, yet we often forget to ask the consumer what they want. 28). Retail Makeovers - It’s Not Just For Reality TV In today’s competitive retail market, stores have to reinvent themselves every four years, otherwise consumers would get bored and loyalty would decline. This is a sobering thought, a retail “makeover” every four years just to stay in the retail game. 29). Retail Success is Anything but Beige Retailing has developed into the hourglass environment, with the “beige” business being squeezed in the middle. Being “beige” in retailing is a recipe for failure. 30). Shopping - It’s Play Time For Men All the research says that shopping is an important hobby for women and that men are less involved in the retailing experience, but is this the case and should it be the case? 31). The Future – Retailers With No Product Stores without products how would they survive, but this is 2006 and anything goes. 32). The Jones Generation, Tell them its New Baby Boomers are big spenders looking for lifestyle ideas. Why are they a critically important group, it is because they tend to be critical, but also the silent majority. They depend customer service when they go shopping, if they do not receive it, they tell their friends and go somewhere else, you may not even be aware that you have upset them. 33). Who Wants Customers Anyway? This article promotes the ethos of client rather than customer and of recruiting and training team members to be hosts and consultants rather than adopting a traditional salesperson or floorwalker role in businesses.