Read how retail is more positive than negative

I was looking for a little inspiration for today's blog and I decided to google "retail problems" to see if there was anything there to prompt me. I kind of wish I hadnt. There are hundreds of links such as this one-

http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/the-most-soul-crushing-things-about-working-retail#.xtRbJeez1L

And they are all about the bad things about working in retail, the bad things about customers and how bad things are. I'd like to think that my blog over the years gives the opposite view to this. I've looked at how retail can be looked at and found to be interesting for those working in it. The fascination of retail for me can be looked at in so many different ways but I'll have a look at some here-

Every day is different

There are do many industries that I've heard this said about but nowhere is it as true as I'm retail. Every single day brings in a new challenge, a new question, a new customer or a new idea. The dynamic nature of retail is what makes it engaging and keeps people interested and coming back for more. New ideas from those in charge make change management a massive part of retail and will ensure that it continues to be a dynamic work environment.

Interaction with people

Linked to the above, it's the constant flow of new customers that go some way to making each day different. This is amplified if you are a niche or speciality retailer as you will have to spend more time with each new customer as you explain your offering to them. And for me, this is where it can get really interesting. The opportunity to spend quality time with customers (new or old) transforms the day. It's what turns the mundane into the extraordinary as you get to build what you hope and expect to be long-term relationship with your customers.

The team aspect

It's being part of a team that are (usually) all pulling in the same direction that is another aspect of retail that I really enjoy. I know that it's not the only industry in which you work as part of a team but the team bond always feels stronger in retail than anywhere else I've worked. The fact that we're all in it together and the goals are shared means that we share a bond and every action that one of us takes affects all the others. This can have negative consequences but more often than not, means that everyone does what is in the best interests of the customers and their colleagues. 

Looking back at 100 blog posts - part 2 - your team

I've been looking back and celebrating 100 blog entries on my popular retail blog. In the first of these reviews, I looked at the High Street. My blog is about how to save the UK High Street and I set it up with the intention of looking at the issues that affect the High Street itself. In and around that are the areas that make retailers successful - as a successful set of retailers will mean a successful High Street.

The second review, here, is looking at the management of teams. I find that many of my readers are independent retailers who have a team around them. My other main group of readers is people who work for larger retail organisations and are looking to improve and develop their skills every day. I have looked in a different blog at you should attempt to keep learning and improving all the time-

http://eaboost.blogspot.com/2015/09/do-you-read-do-you-continue-to-learn.html

In this following blog, I look at how you organise your team to cover the weekend, where most retailers are busier-

http://mytimeinretail.blogspot.com/2015/03/staffing-at-weekend-how-do-you-manage.html

It's very important that you as a retailer are ready for your trade and prepared long before they walk through the door. It's only by providing a great service that you turn your customers into brand ambassadors and have them not only returning time and time again, but bringing their friends and family with them.

And in this one, I look at ensuring that you are consistent in your management decisions to ensure that your team are engaged-

http://mytimeinretail.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-lack-of-consistency-frustrates-your.html

And I also take a look at short-staffing and where it can lead you and your team-

http://mytimeinretail.blogspot.com/2015/05/how-to-avoid-being-short-staffed-and.html

It is really important that your team feels on board with the decisions that are made. This involves communicating your ideas and goals with them team. But it also involves ensuring that each and every small decision fits into the big picture. Your team can get really disheartened if they work hard towards a goal and then feel that the rug has been pulled from under them. A very short example-

If all the work that the team had pout in to clinching a particular client was then undermined if the client withdrew their business because of a personal dispute with someone high up in your company.

And finally, I look at how to reward those in your team that exceed or excel. It's important that you reward those in your team that make the business a success. To have people work hard (again) and not reward them is dispiriting. Yo verbally, personally reward someone for a good shift, hard work, a particularly good sale will improve the morale of the whole team-

http://mytimeinretail.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-do-you-reward-your-high-flyers.html

Think about what you want your promotions to acheive

I've started looking in more detail at some promotions in certain retailers, and I think that you can split promotions into two main types.

Promotions that drive people to your door

Promotions that influence your customers when they are in store

I think that you can split promotions in this way and I also think that you should think about your promotions in this way. Why? Because you need to drive people to your door AND you need to influence people's purchasing decisions when they are stood in your store, looking at your shelves. There needs to be a balance between there promotions as you attempt to achieve both of these things in tandem. A successful retailer will want and need to attract new customers with their promotions that drive people to their door. These can be linked to their loyalty cards, headline offers or outdoor advertising. The idea behind this is that you, as a retailer, can expand the customer base that frequents your shop or shops. From this increased customer base (and you providing them with fantastic customer service) you can increase your sales.

The other promotions will actually affect people's buying decisions when they are stood in front of your shelves. This is mainly aimed at your existing customers - those that come into your shop as a matter of course. From the starting point of having these customers walk through your door anyway, you want to ensure one of the following three things-

1- They spend more money than they came in for.

2- They buy when they may not have expected to.

3- They find a reason to come back.

This isn't always an easy feat but promotions such as multibuys, the location of related sales close to each other or announcements of coming events are all great ways of talking to customers with the aim of achieving one of these three things.

I'll look at little more closely at these three promotion types-

Multibuys
These are the tool of these three that will get your customers to buy more than they came in for. Take many, many national retail chains that have 3 for 2 promotions running is some or all of their shops at different times. The idea is that once the customer has cottoned on to the additional maths, the sale is logical.

The maths is as follows-

ONCE YOU HAVE BOUGHT THE FIRST ITEM (the one that you came in to buy)
THE TWO REMAINING ITEMS ARE BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

From this mindset, most customers then buy more than they came in for.

Associated sales
These are a great way of achieving points 1 and 2 from the above. The basic example from my early retail days was a promotional end of associated products. At Christmas, we used to sell wrapping paper

like it was going out of fashion. But the clever retailer made a promotional end of wrapping paper, sellotape, gift tags, a sellotape dispenser and bags of ribbons and bows.The difference in sales is astounding and customers walk out with something that they perhaps hadn't come in for.

Event announcements
This is the one area of the three that I find a little resistance to, from retailers that I speak to every day. The resistance is in the fact that retailers are worried that they put off today's customer until the event, if they are promoting a great event. For example, if you are offering double points on your loyalty card next week, then a customer that walks through the door today may be out off buying until next week.

The converse could be actually happening. A customer could walk in today to check out your prices and find that you are slightly more expensive than a competitor that they have just checked, Whilst they are in the store, they see your offer and decide that it would be better to buy with you rather than your competition.

I think that every announcement, promotion of piece of marketing that encourages your customers to spend with you is positive and you shouldn't hold back with the worry of simply postponing sales.

Shop Local is about spending with genuine authentic brands

I have talked many times before on my retail blog about the importance of shop local. Shop local has become an important movement and I think that getting behind the small businesses that produce high quality products becomes more and more important as every day passes. News articles about the perceived greed of Starbucks, Google and Amazon have been followed by recent articles about large restaurant chains taking tips away from their waiting staff. And every time one of these issues is exposed in the media or social media, there is a genuine outcry of anger from consumers. Being a responsible consumer, though, is about much more than boycotting a brand because they have had an unseemly practice exposed in the media. The positive side of responsible consumption is to be a consumer of, and brand advocate for those products that reflect your own values.

One such product is Mannys Sauces. They currently produce a range of 9 sauces and all free of the top 14 allergens, and are suitable for vegetarians and vegans. The sauces come with a guarantee of 100% satisfaction or your money back – that’s how confident they are that you will love them. In fact, the Piri-Piri and the marinades are considered to be within the best sauces on the planet. So, when you have a product that’s made with all natural ingredients in the UK to the highest standard then it’s something that you just have to get behind. And there are more than one way of getting behind a product as good as this. The first step is to try it. The Meat Marinade is created to marinate all red meats such as pork, lamb and steak but, it’s actually also delicious with any kind of fish or seafood. The Curry Sauce lets you make the most delicious and healthy curry in your own home, without any hard work or effort! And they can be found at http:/mannyssauces.com Once you’ve tried the sauces and I’m sure that you will love them, it’s time to be a brand advocate and make sure you share your love of them on social media. Mannys Sauces can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Mannys-Sauces-182624281912692/timeline/ on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MannysSauces or check out their YouTube video at https://youtu.be/9gSO1jGftyM

My blogs always look at the process of being a retailer and how your actions fit in with your overall brand, and being an ambassador for a genuine, authentic product will help your overall business as their name and your name move through the social networks. When you find a product that you can see is on the way up then your instinct as a retailer is to get behind it. And I feel that Mannys Sauces is one of these products. The next step for you will depend on where you work. I know that my blog is read by independent retailers and those who work for larger organisations. If you are an independent retailer then, using Mannys Sauces as an example, you should get behind a UK independent, genuine, authentic product by becoming a stockist. If you are working for a larger organisation then you should be as aware as you possibly can be of these genuine, authentic products appearing on the marketplace and seek out the producers to see if you can provide them with a platform for their product.

Something else I repeat on this blog is finding out what you are good at and then making sure you can produce it day-in, day-out. Expanding your empire should come at a time when you have got a complete grip of what you are currently doing and you are ready to move on. Well, Mannys Sauces have done just that with a range of continental meat lines that would perfectly expand on what they already do, as these are great for snacks, tapas and sandwiches etc. These are more great products and you can currently choose from Portuguese-Style Chorizo, Chicken Chorizo, Paio, Presunto or Pork Belly. These make a perfect plate if you don’t have as much time, or if you want something lighter.

The products are backed by enthusiasm and a dream – the story of Manny. I’ll let him tell the story himself here-

“As any other person in the world, I had a huge dream - to open the first Piri-Piri Chicken Restaurant in the world, and then spread this dream to every corner of the planet. It wouldn’t be easy to achieve, but neither was it impossible. I had the will, the courage, the faith and family support to make it come true. Early in 1985, I sold my home to open the first piri-piri chicken restaurant outside of Mozambique. CHICKENLAND was the chosen name and Johannesburg, South Africa was the birth place of my dream! After a short while, I was making, bottling and selling a range of 5 different Piri-Piri Sauces and Marinades. After a slow start, the business was a stunning success! The name quickly spread across the city and everyone was talking about this new food place that was taking the food industry by storm.

The business success was proven! The next step was expansion to other parts of the city, country and abroad, and many people tried to get financially involved. Expansion included a need for capital and people, and so in 1987, I sold some of my business shares to two young men: one of Portuguese origin and the other, a South African of Jewish origin. Shortly after they joined, the business name was changed to NANDOS. Chickenland was a nice name, but according to marketing experts at the time, it was felt that the business should be backed by a personal name before the expansion took place. BetweenMANNYS and NANDOS, I was out-voted two to one, and the latter name was chosen. Despite a few initial problems, the expansion started taking off and now more than ever, the success was tremendous!

A few years later, the rug was pulled out from under my feet and I was forced to leave my business. I lost my dream; one of the best things in my life after my family. After this happened, I opened a few other restaurants including Chickenland in Portugal, but these weren’t my dream. It was a way to make a living, but it wasn’t my passion. It took me a long time to recover from what happened, but I was determined and pushed through until another dream emerged; to make the best sauces and speciality food products in the world! MANNYS SAUCES is now my new dream! Once again I can see this new dream taking shape and growing strong all the way to the TOP! The passion is back and I again have the will, the faith, the support of my family, and the support of so many loyal customers that know and appreciate the high quality products that we make. I am forever grateful to my family and my customers for their support and the divine forces for showing me the way.

Manny x”

So, shop local is about more than paying lip service to spending some time and money in your nearest High Street every now and again. It’s about getting behind genuine, authentic products that show the World (and the World of social media) that the brand choices you make change people’s lives.

Looking back at 100 blog posts - part 1 - The High Street

As I look back at the blog, and the 100 posts that have come before, I will take the next five blog entries to look at the themes that have emerged during my time writing this.

One of the main motivations for writing this blog was the decline in the UK High Street, and what could be done about it. Although the blog hasn't focused on that completely, I have returned to that subject time and time again. I think that some of my blogs have been about comparisons, some have been moans and some have been looking at ways of stimulating the High Street again - not to it's former glory, but to a modern-day vibrant place to shop, eat, park and spend leisure time.

I looked in an early blog about how to make the most of the customers you have through your door when on the High Street. The key to your customers that are against the clock is speed of service. On the High Street, as a pose to those shoppers at out of town retailers, there is the pressure of time. This typically comes from parking charges and the fact that a lot of your customers will be on their lunch break. The blog below looks at preparing for this and being ready.

http://mytimeinretail.blogspot.com/2014/02/speed-of-service-is-key-for-most-high.html

I have tried to tread a fine line on this blog between protecting the High Street, but not at all costs. I think that retail has to adapt to it's surroundings and move with the times. Modern retailing has embraced the online offering, often matching it with the ability to Click and Collect. In this blog, I looked at the modern High Street embracing the advantages technology could offer.

http://mytimeinretail.blogspot.com/2015/01/you-can-have-online-offering-and-not.html

And I wondered in the blog below if there is a major retailer that would take up the plight of the High Street and become a true champion. I think that a big retailer should look after the smaller independent retailers around it. A vibrant High Street or town centre is a benefit for all who live near, shop there and have an outlet there.

http://mytimeinretail.blogspot.com/2014/05/is-it-time-for-major-retailer-to.html

After a visit to Italy, I briefly looked at the differences between the two shopping cultures and the two shopping areas created and used by us and the Italians-

http://mytimeinretail.blogspot.com/2014/02/comparisons-of-uk-high-street-to-that.html

NOT EVERYTHING CAN BE BOUGHT ON THE HIGH STREET