Retail Flux supercharges the way you do business with your customers

As a retailer, you need to know every angle to make sure you get the most from your operation. Analysing aspects such as the best products to stock, correct staffing levels and promotions are all part and parcel of a successful retailer. And most successful retailers have these elements under tight control. But there is a vital part of a retail operation that is often overlooked, but you should be all over to ensure success.

Watching the way that people behave in your store is far more than just an interesting pastime. It actually gives you vital data that will help you –

·         Reorganize the layout

·         Place the most effective promotions

·         Supercharge the way your team interact with your customers

And this is where Retail Flux comes in. Using cameras high above the sales floor, they are able to deliver data that can transform the way you do business with your retail customers. Looking down on the way that people behave when they are browsing your store will give you all the information you need to know about how your current layout is affecting behavior – and how to make changes that will bring you more.

High quality information

Now it would be easy to watch the cameras you already have in store and see if they offer any clues to how people interact with your store. But that’s a low-tech and time-consuming way of seeing what is happening. Retail Flux has the high-tech solution. We analyse the data streams, based on the movements around your store. This provides you with heat maps, so you can see –

·         Where all the hot areas of your store are

·         Any cold areas that produce low footfall

·         How effective your in-store promotions are

·         What effect the layout of the store is having on the way your customers shop

And this is delivered by showing the flow of shoppers, number of visitors, the routes they take and the way they queue.

It is easy to set up, as Retail Flux can adapt most systems that are already in place. This means that you don’t have a massive cost installing a new system and there is no disruption for your team or customers while systems are fitted. The information you get is ideal to help you manage the effective operation of your store. This is the next level of data that will allow you to be successful and stand head and shoulders above your competition in terms of planning and control. Retail is detail – and Retail Flux gives you detail beyond what you could have ever imagined.

See the real power of Retail Flux and maximize profits

Looking beyond the ordinary is what we all aspire to as retailers. But without the systems to offer something truly different, how can you make that happen? Retail Flux helps you to get the very most from what you do every single day of the week. Check out their YouTube channel to see exactly how this works in the real world.

And the way it can boost your retail business is real. Think about the massive effect that subtle changes can have, such as –

·         Making the marketing and promotions you use much more effective

·         Designing a layout that gets the most from every visitor

·         Make higher sales by placing your key products in the right places

·         Align the resources you have with what the shopper actually wants

·         Maximize your profit by looking at high margin items in high footfall areas

Now all of this gives you the insight you need to generate the maximum sales from your retail operation. No more guessing what might work for you. Have the knowledge you need at your fingertips with Retail Flux.

THANK Bunny supercharges your retail business

Retailers need to stay on top of all their data to make the most of every opportunity. But so many either –

·         Keep notes on pen and paper OR

·         Have no management information at all

This means they are working in the dark. That’s where THANK Bunny comes in. It is the perfect cloud solution for all retail brand management needs. To manage your business efficiently and generate more revenue, you need to have complete control of –

·         Your inventory and pricing

·         Your customers

·         Loyalty programmes and offers

·         Your vendors or suppliers

And that’s where THANK Bunny takes your retail business to the next level.

The ultimate in retail automation

Being able to automate parts of your retail company transforms the way you do business. You get to control all the vital aspects of what you do. THANK Bunny takes the customer-first approach in managing retail operations.

A retail merchant gets the ability to delight customers and drive loyalty. All of this while managing vendors and inventory for the smoothest process possible. The platform’s real-time reports and sales forecasting give an edge for the retailer. Tracking, measuring and managing all the operations of your retail business is the only way to operate. Don’t delay – signup to THANK Bunny today to streamline your retail operations.

Black Friday is all about the early sales

We are in the grip of madness. Black Friday is all over the TV, the internet and the newspapers. The latest I have read says than one in four of us feels pressured to buy in the Black Friday events. What are retailers thinking about? Black Friday is an American thing one the day that follows Thanksgiving. It s like what we used to call the New Years Sales when I was a kid. This followed a path to Boxing Day sales, Christmas Day sales online and many retailers are discounting heavily before Christmas.

But that doesn't appear to be what Black Friday is about. Little in the way of discounts are to be found. They are playing the game when it comes to being able to advertise something at a discounted price.

We shouldn't look for discounts - we should look for value.

What is the premise?

Black Friday is a non-event in the UK. What is really at stake here is your Christmas cash. There is only so much to go around, so retailers put events on like this to secure it as soon as possible. Generally if you get all of your presents, you will stop shopping. This is the same for most people whether you get all you need before December or on Christmas Eve.

So if they can secure your cash early, then you won't go and spend it somewhere else. This is the sole reason Black Friday has been imported to the UK. It soaks up your money as early as possible. Retailers want to hit their targets nice and early and avoid the rush to genuinely cut prices in the weeks or days before Christmas.

Where do independent retailers fit into this?

With so much competition from the big boys, the small independent retailers can get lost in all of this. We tend to associate Christmas with the big stores and the smaller ones fall by the wayside. The Christmas adverts all over the TV are for -

• John Lewis
• Amazon
• M&S
• Argos

And the smaller retailers don't have the money to compete.

But there is Small Business Saturday on 2nd December that is deigned to remind people to shop locally. If you are an independent retailer then try to get your share of trade this Christmas by reminding people about Small Business Saturday on your website, in your shop an on social media. Make an event of it, maybe get together with other local stores.

Retailers - plan ahead for the next Bank Holiday weekend

Retailers large and small do well over the bank holiday weekend. This weekend in my part of the world, the weather wasn't typical of a bank holiday and the crowds flocked to the shops for beer, barbecue items and all the other reasons people like to spend! Town and city centres were very busy with people spending their wages on the three-day weekend. It only happened a few times a year and any retailer that was caught on the hop this weekend needs to think about getting ready for the next one at the end of May. To add to this, it will be payday weekend where people will have just been paid. It is the ideal time to boost your sales early in the financial year.

Retailers need to look at these mini-events through fresh eyes because it really makes a difference to their trade. Nor being prepared means losing out on potential sales. Many of the small retailers that read my blog will benefit from a few extra thousand pounds in sales. So you need to think about what the next bank holiday weekend will mean to you.

Opening hours

If you are a small retailer then it can be difficult to alter the opening hours of your business. Your team deserve the bank holiday weekend to relax but you want to make the most of that extra passing trade. Opening on the Bank Holiday Monday can feel like a pain but if the other stores around you are doing it too then you can get a big uplift in sales.

Think about when you are open over the weekend and plan ahead, which leads to...

Staffing

You and your team need to be ready for the trade on that weekend whether you are opening longer hours or not. If you have access to extra staff then it may help to get them involved that weekend. People like to shop somewhere that ha staff on hand to help and can control their queues even in the busy times. So look at your staffing schedule now to see if you can draft in extras. It will be important at the busier times of the day.

Stock

A quick visit to my local Tesco this weekend showed that even the biggest companies can get it wrong with stock. A rush on certain items meant that they lost out on sales. the bigger stores can more easily divert customer to alterative items, but smaller stores don't always have this luxury. Think about what you will need, keep a close eye on the weather and decide where you need to keep extra stocks.

Promotions

If you are going to the extra trouble of staging an event or opening on the Monday, then you need to let as many people as possible know. With social media and websites, we can more easily let customers know that we are ready and available for trade on those days. Get your team to speak to your customers in the weeks before so they know you are open for them at that busy weekend.

As a retailer you need to remember the little details that make a difference. The big events such as Christmas are always planned in advance, but it is easy to overlook the smaller events that can add up to more sales. Get ready for the next one!

Have a happy retail Christmas! Beware of Boxing Day

It's that time of the year when many retailers are rushed off their feet. I know my traditional readership falls at this time because people are too busy. I wanted to take this opportunity to say Happy Christmas to all of those that follow me. I know that my readers consist of independent retailers and people who work for bigger companies. This short blog today is going to be about the current debate on Boxing Day opening.

I have worked in retail for a long time and I know how tough it can be at this time of the year. Often the most important people in a store only get a day off at Christmas as they are needed on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. This is far too much pressure with the pay to match.

I know of many good retail managers that will look after their people. Most workers will get some time off over Christmas or the New Year period if it can be worked properly. I completely sympathise with all of the people that are signing the petition to stop retailers from opening on Boxing Day. I can honestly see a huge amount of sense in it but in my eyes it does not solve a problem. There are so many people from different industries that have to work on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day at all timed of the day and night that it is impractical to take one part of one industry and exclude it. If the shops were not open then people would shop online and then the pickers and delivery staff would be working anyway. There are no real winners here.

Healthcare, hospitality and taxi drivers are some of the many people that work on these days. Retail staff cannot be made an exception.

So what can be done?

I have worked with many retailers who try to make this as fair as possible. In the places I have worked with in the past it was either done on a 'year-on, year-off' basis or worked that it was voluntary where possible. Some (particularly those with older contracts)  are rewarded with higher pay rates on these days and are happier to come in as a result. Take a look at what might work for you.

As I said, this is only a short blog and a chance to say 'Happy Christmas.' I think that there will only be one more blog before Christmas so if I don't see you again have a good one. Here's to a fantastic retail 2017.

Retailers need to solve an image problem to recruit top talent

Retail has an image problem with potential employees. Although working in retail can be interesting, rewarding and provide career progression it is seen as a dead end job taken only by those that can't get anything else by too many graduates. A high proportion of retail workers are 2nd income earners that go out to work in shops as a supplement to what the main earner brings in. But it doesn't have to be this way. The fact is that retail can provide good pay and conditions, career progression and a lifetime of learning.

What high quality potential new recruits want to see is where they can take their career and how quickly. This is even more important for the millennial generation (more of these in a moment) to be attracted to these roles.

Retailers have a duty to make their career progression more structured and promote this as widely as possible. The discount retailers, particularly Aldi and Lidl, have made great strides in recruiting people recently by offering a great salary and advertising it well. This has attracted good talent and these retailers will have a good chance of retaining that talent, even though they have a reputation for working people hard.

But what are other retailers doing? Where is the search for quality candidates? What can a retailer offer someone who graduates from a top university?

Many retailers need to look differently at how they position themselves in the recruitment market. They talk in similar tones to the likes of McDonalds in terms of camaraderie and fulfillment but the current group teaching the job market (towards the end of the millennial generation) want more from a career than that. The average millennial wants-

• To work for a company that shares the same values as them
• They are high users of technology and social media
• They want a challenge at work and need to be stimulated

Now the clever retailer will hear their recruitment to these needs and find the best talent. Millennials can be found online, on social media and want to be engaged by potential employers. As a retailer you might well need to up your game. The content that you put out there will really help you to connect with millennials and show that you understand their space. How you go about changing the perception of retailing as a career is going to be down to the way that you present the opportunities you have. Giving your team the chance to get involved with the social media marketing or to work in different areas of the business will give people more of a reason to consider working with you. It might make the difference when you are looking for talent to fill your next vacancy.

Does Black Friday actually exist?

Today is Black Friday. This is something that obviously started in the United States as the sales on the day after Thanksgiving. It makes sense there as it is something that is the equivalent to the UK sales that used to start in the New Year when I was a kid and now start on Boxing Day (or earlier.)

But rather than a genuine sale where retailers get rid of stock they couldn't sell in the run up to Christmas (or Thanksgiving in the US) these are marketing gimmicks that are used to shift goods at the right time. This leads me to ask the question-

Does Black Friday actually exist?

I mean this in the sincerest of senses. Black Friday as a day of sales does not really exist in the United Kingdom. What does exists is two forces that work together to make a great day to sell products for retailers but doesn't do a great deal for customers. We will have a look at the two forces below-

People only have a limited amount of money to spend on Christmas

Now I know that the sentence above might not feel true at times when you watch people leave stores with armfuls of goods day after day from the start of the Christmas season when Halloween finishes right through until closing time on 24th December.But once all the presents are bought for all the people they have to buy for then the vast majority of people stop.

So Black Friday is a great opportunity for retailers to get in there as soon as they can. If they become the first port of call for people when they are making their Christmas gift purchases then they stand a better chance of a bigger slice of the pie. If you leave your Christmas events until the week before the big day then you will end up missing out on all the consumers that bought on Black Friday.

The earlier you get people to spend their money with you then the less chance they have of spending it anywhere else. It makes sense in this way. But when you factor in the other force at play then you can quickly realise that this doesn't necessarily lead to bargains.

What constitutes a sale item

You look at a product. the retailer tells you is used to be at a higher price and you think that you are getting a bargain. That's how it works, isn't it? But many retailers are playing games with consumer at this time of year. For an item to be described as being in a sale it has to have been sold at a higher price for a certain period of time somewhere in that company.

And that is where the games can start. If Company A lists a product for sale on their website at £50 in the summer for that qualifying period of time then they can cut the price for Black Friday and call it a sale. They may have had no intention of selling any at the higher price. The newly-quoted sale price might be exactly what they were always intended to sell it for, but because they have played the game they can call this a sale item and hook customers that might have normally walked past.

So as a consumer, check out the sale prices and see if they represent value to you. If you are a retailer then play straight with customers and stop the games.

Retailers need to be ready for the Christmas rush

This is the time of the year for retailers. I have worked in retail for a long time and Christmas saves many businesses that have struggled the rest of the year. I know of some companies, including some national U.K. retailers, that look to break even all year round and get all their annual profit in the next six weeks or so.

But it isn't about opening your doors as usual and hoping that more customers will walk through them. Retail doesn't work like that and even with plenty of empty units out there you will still face be a lot of competition. It isn't always easy to see where your competition is coming from nowadays either with the internet undercutting many traditional retailers. Here are the things you need to get right for a successful retail Christmas.

Stock

Having the right selection of products on your shelves as well as enough of them is vitally important. You need to do something to supplement what you already offer. People are looking for something completely different at this time of year so make sure that you are in a position to provide it. Look at your range and see how it can be adapted and added to for this time of year.

People shop differently at Christmas. They will be buying gifts for people and will take a guess at what they might want. The refund and exchange counters at the big stores are packed after the big event with people taking back gifts they didn't want. You need to cater to the demand of people who don't quite know what to get. Either have a gift selector on your website or make sure your team are ready to help here. This brings me on to the next part.

Your team

You may need extra bodies at this time of the year to cope with the rush and to keep up your service levels. Think about taking on Christmas temps to help you out. You can give them short term contracts to see you over the busy period. You may have extended opening hours (more on this later) so you may see your existing team spread a little thinly. Try to counter this with help.

Make sure your team are geared up for Christmas. It might seem like they will just cope with whatever you throw at them, but show that you care. It is a hectic time for most people so help them unwind and keep up the spirits. Your customers will notice.

Extra training may be needed if you are offering new products or services. Get your whole team involved in this to get the most from it. Retail is all about the experience you give your customers so make it the best possible.

Opening hours

Shops do open longer over Christmas. You may find that the rest of the retail units in your town or shopping centre open later for one or more days per week. Look at the number and type of extra customers this will bring in and make your opening decisions based on this. With out of town large shopping malls often open until 11pm or midnight and the supermarkets and online retailers open 24/7 you can't compete with everyone on this. Choose your battles wisely and extend your hours where it will help you the most.

It may be that opening earlier helps people in their way to work pick up things from you. It may be that you are more likely to attract extra trade by opening later. Work out what you need, get your team in all the right places and do what will work best for your customers. If you don't have an e-commerce website to sell all hours of the day and night then think about getting this sorted before next Christmas.

This is a hectic time of the year and it can come with a lot of stress. If you get things right before Christmas hits though you will be able to enjoy it more.

What's your favourite part about Christmas as a retailer? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you.

Retailers - what are you selling?

I browsed and shopped in a major shopping centre yesterday and something really struck me. Retailers seem more and more indifferent to their customers than ever and customers seem less and less bothered. The reason I say this? It's all linked to customer service - or the lack of it. So many places I shopped or observed had long queues, tills that could have been opened and staff in the shop floor. But none ventured to connect the three and put the extra staff on the tills to reduce the queues. In fact on more than one occasion there were team members chatting to each other (whether it was work related or not I couldn't say) while very near to the queues at the tills and did nothing to either halt their conversation nor to deal with said queues.

What is the problem? Is there a problem? Has retail moved into a new phase?

I think that there is a problem because the customer deserves better when there are resources available. I have worked for and with retailers for a very long time  and it has always been a huge focus on serving the customers waiting at the till. If every retailer develops the attitude that this isn't important at the same time then the customer loses out. But if only the slack retailers develop this attitude then the smart retailer can win.

Lack of management presence

I see a real lack of management presence on the shop floors of UK retailers and it creates an issue. Wether this is a change in strategy or the fact that management teams have other priorities I don't know but I do see a large movement away from supervision and this leads to self-supervision. People will often make the decisions that makes life easier for them and not necessarily the customer. What I witnessed yesterday was people finding shop floor tasks easier than serving at the till and abandoning customers. With a management presence on these shop floors this wouldn't be allowed to happen.

I think that contrary to popular belief there is a need for middle management to look after the relationship between shop floor staff and their customers. This protects the company's bottom line far better than cutting costs.

Cost control isn't everything

There is a drive with many retailers to keep down the costs and reduce waste. While I applaud this general idea there is more to retail than this. If you cut one cost too much (particularly if it is staffing) then you lose the balance between price and service and your customers go elsewhere.

It all comes back to the initial question of "what are you selling?" I don't believe that a store is simply selling the stock on their shelves. They are selling emotions and thoughts-

• The feeling that tou have the latest fashions
• The feeling that you offer great value
• The feeling that you are on-trend
• The feeling that you only sell quality products

But this isn't enough without the customer service to back up the proposition. I queued for 10 minutes  yesterday to but two T-shirts from a quality and hugely popular clothing retailer yesterday because the staff on the shop floor didn't react to the queues. In fact I'd say that the store is proud of its queues because they rarely work hard to reduce them. I won't shop there again.

Do you have a pet hate when it comes to retail? What would you change instantly? Let me know I'm the comments below.

An easy-to-use solution to all your ID card design and printing needs

At ‘My Time In Retail’ I help the independent retailer to find solutions that help their business run more smoothly. Today I take a look at a solution for the small business, organization or club to produce ID cards, membership cards or loyalty cards. The solution that you have been looking for to develop and produce high quality cards like these is http://www.idcardworkshop.com

This is a great piece of software that enables you to design and print cards for all of your needs-

• ID cards
• Membership cards
• Visitor cards
• Employee badges

And much more.

Imagine the ability to get these great-looking badges for all of the people who work for you so that you can all look like one team.

Think about how your customers will feel with a professional-looking membership or loyalty card to show that they are an important part of your company.

The software is easy to use and also has a feature to store and manage the content you have used, so you don’t have to start all over again every time you have a new card to print. The images and words that you use on one card can be easily transferred to another, saving you precious time.

Independent retail is about the friendly and personal service that you can offer to your loyal customers. www.idcardworkshop.com enable you to wow your customers with professional badges for use by your team or your customer is a great way to step up to the mark and enhance that feeling. But independent retailers can sometime struggle against the might of the big boys. To be able to meet them on their own terms with name badges and ID cards that look every bit as good (if not better) than what the competition offer then you can really stand out from the crowd.

The software includes the ability to make badges in different sizes so it fits all your badge-making needs. You can make membership or loyalty cards or your customers, name badges for your staff or any other badge you need all from the same piece of software.

You can upload and use the images you want so your cards and badges will look just the way you want them to.

All in all this is a great solution to a longstanding problem and www.idcardworkshop.com gives you all of the answers you need. Try it today!

Tesco cuts back it's 24 hour operation - what can retailers of all shapes and sizes learn from this?

A story caught my eye in the news this morning. It is regarding the fact that Tesco is paring back it's 24 hour operation in a large chunk of their stores. The reason quoted in the article is the fact that online shopping is eroding their in-store customer base.

I can see that an upturn in online shopping (with a similar downturn in customers physically visiting their stores) can have an effect on how long you need to keep the doors open. I know that big retailers have been backwards and forwards will having their stores replenished overnight or not. But this is more like a complete change in strategy for Tesco rather than a tweaking of a few opening hours.

The 1990's through to the last couple of years have been all about expansion got the big retailers, particularly the supermarkets. They bought up land, drove into new markets and employed more and more (often part-time) staff. The recent scandals and the competition from the discounters has put Tesco on the back foot. It has also given them an opportunity to assess where they are and where they want to be. 

Expansion for the sake of it means nothing.

If it's not an area that makes money then why bother with it?

And that brings me to your business. I'll ask the exact same question-

If it's not an area that makes money then why bother with it?

It's time to assess all aspects of the retail business that you work in and decide whether they are all pulling their weight. Your business needs to be as efficient as it can be. Unless an area generates footfall that you need. The National Lottery is an example of this. The income it generates is poor but it drives people through the door that may buy other things.

The best way to do this is to break down your business into different areas and attribute costs to each of these areas. This can be staffing costs, materials, energy use or whatever resources this part of the business consumes. Then measure this against the income it brings in. You will soon generate a list of the performance of every aspect of your business. From there you can see the top performers and those that aren't quite doing so well. Assess the likely impact of removing some parts of your business and moving the resources into others.

• Does this work?
• Will it being more income?
• More profit?

It is by analysing everything that you do that can make the difference between profit and loss. Don't wait for a major event to hit you like Tesco. Act now.

Retailers have a duty of care for their employees. See why it's more important in results season

It's the time of the year where retailers announce their results that cover the busy Christmas period. It's good to keep abreast of these, particularly those that operate in the same sector as you. Two that have been announced today are Morrisons who reported better than expected sales and Debenhams who report their sales as "strong."

This has got me thinking about sales figures and how they affect your team. When I worked for BP it was always a horrible couple of days with customers angry at petrol prices when the company was reporting multi-billion pound profits. I suspect that Starbucks employees had similar issues when their tax affairs were made public.

My readers are generally split into two main camps - independent retailers and those who work for larger retail operations. The difference in these two is enormous and only widened by the public reporting that is required of publicly -listed companies. There are lessons to be learnt whichever camp you are in and today's blog will look at this.

Larger chain retailers
And this especially applies to those that have regular reporting of their figures, because this is where you can get examples such as the BP and Starbucks ones above. It is important for those earning massive salaries to protect their workers that are on the front line. It is difficult for customers to differentiate but the comments, ill-feeling and sometimes abuse that a BP worker gets is completely disproportionate to their role in the process.I have always spoken to those customers that voice discontent at the prices of the retailers I work with about my lack of role in the process that dictates prices. If I am working in a store, for example, then my ability to affect the price that the company sells their products at zero.

But not every employee is this insightful or confident with what they do. As a large organisation the people at the top and (more productively) the marketing, media or communications department needs to ensure that they soften the blow for the lower level employee. BP used to produce a press release for us to hand out to discuss with the customers. It explained the difference between BP Retail and BP Oil and how it isn't legal to cross-subsidise one with the other. It separated the customers who were interested in the affairs of the company from those that just wanted to have a moan. Large organisations have a moral obligation to pay their workers better, pay their way in taxes and to look after their front line workers - and this includes provisions for when publicity affects their work.

Independent retailers
I think that there is mileage here in having some sort of published results for your own independent retail business. This is an especially good idea if you can compare and contrast this with the competition from larger chains.Firstly you can share an edited version of the results with your team. Perhaps breaking it down into percentages rather than actual cash will protect your personal data. For example-

• 45% of our costs are for staffing
• We paid 25% of our income in tax, whereas our multinational rival paid only 6%
• Our profit margin after all costs and taxes have been taken out is 9%

These figures will highlight to your team what a difference a small pay rise makes or the benefit of selling one extra item per customer or whatever you want to highlight. and this is where joined up business wins out every time. If you understand your results, understand what you want to make better then you can help your team to understand what differences they can make. For example, if you want to increase the sales by 10% to give your team a 5% pay rise then use the annual figures to explain this.

The second point is for those that are a little bolder with what they do. It's best explained by way of example and I'll use a coffee shop for example. It's about comparing and contrasting your operation with a multinational rival and using this as marketing ammunition. Imagine this press release, or something similar, appearing in your local newspaper-

"Use your local coffee shop as it benefits the community

Local coffee shop Coffee For Me has just published it's annual results and it makes startling reading. In contrast to the American-owned coffee chain XYZ Seattle, who only paid tax of 4% on  their UK earnings, Coffee For Me paid 20% of their earning sin tax. They also employ 5 people from out town, all of whom then spend their ages in our town. The owners, Mr and Mrs Jones, have lived here for over 20 years and they shop locally with other locally-owned businesses.

If you want to ensure that you support local people and people who pay their fair share of UK taxes, make sure that the next time you go out for  coffee it's at Coffee For Me, and nor one of these chains that are taking money away fro the town, the region and the UK."

It is for those with a little more aggressive marketing approach but the impact for me would be a huge one. It's all about making your customers think about their purchases and to make a decision on the greater good.

All in all, retailers have a duty of care over their colleagues. Whether it's to protect them from negative media coverage, to help them understand the business or to prompt their customers to shop locally.

See why you shouldn't manage your retail shop in the style of Jose Mourinho

There are real lessons to be learnt from the tenure and sacking of Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. His second stint in charge of the club finally came to an end yesterday, after weeks of speculation. It's always difficult to totally understand why someone loses their job when you view it from the outside. Like most businesses, football is a results-driven business so it's on the field that makes the difference. But there has been a continual message from Mourinho this season. It has undermined his own position. There's a common phrase bandied around in situations like this -"he lost the changing room." It means that the players (or at least some of them) stopped playing at 100% for him. When this is one or two from a squad of around thirty players then it's easy to not pick them. If this spreads and significant players stop pulling their weight then it's a major problem.

Mourinho very publicly chastised the medical team early in the season as this caused immediate disharmony. He has since hung his players out to dry on more than one occasion. Whether this caused the rift with the dressing room or exacerbated it isn't clear but there was most definitely a rift.

What does this mean for me?

Well, as a retail manager and leader of people, you need to be vary of the Mourinho effect. It's by having your team on board with your message and your vision that gets the team working for you. This doesn't mean that you never discipline them, just that you never hang them out to dry.

And it's by having this vision and explaining it, reinforcing it, singing it's praises and celebrating it's successes that your team know where you are all going.

Did Jose Mourinho have a lack of vision? Maybe not but I think his communication of the vision became garbled and this can lose the team just as easily. He went from proclaiming his team to chastising them, from stating he was building a dynasty to talk or only staying for a few years. It's this lack of consistency that also undermined his authority. I use the word authority to mean something different to just power or bring in charge. Authority as a leader includes having people listen to you, understand what you  say and respond with their actions.

If your team don't know how to respond because what you are saying contradicts your overall vision (or what you said last week) then you lose credibility.

So overall you need to remember to-

• Have a vision
• Communicate your vision
• Keep communication levels up
• Be consistent

It will help you all to achieve your goals. Start by thinking about what your vision is for your team and take it from there.

This week is the MUST DO week when it comes to assessing how your Christmas sales are going

It's a hugely important time of the year for most retailers. I know of some retailers that trundle along through the rest of the year happy to break even or make a small profit on the basis that their Christmas trade will make up for it all. Many retailers I've worked with report that over 50% of their annual trade will happen during this quarter of the year. And there's the sales after Christmas to take into account as well!

With this time of year being so important, so busy, you can often forget to take a small step back and assess things. So ask yourself this question today-

How is it going?

Really. Find some time this week to answer that question. It's vital to the success of the rest of the year.

The big retailers have cottoned on to one truth that I'm going to share with you today-

Customers only have a finite amount of money to spend at Christmas.

It sounds pretty straightforward doesn't it? But it changes the way they operate. Their whole ethos is based around getting you (and your customers) to spend it with them and to spend it early. Look at the incentives-

• Extra loyalty card points
• Tesco Clubcard exchange
• Sainsburys Nectar point exchange
• Boots points events nights
• Boots Star Gifts and weekly offers
• Black Friday
• Cyber Monday

And the list continues. The idea is that you incentivise your customers to shop with you early. A typical Christmas list might read-

• Wife
• Eldest
• Youngest
• Mum
• Dad
• Mother-in-law
• Sister
• Brother
• Niece
• Nephew

And once there's a tick next to every name on the list, then Christmas gift shopping is pretty much done. So if it's done at a Boots points event, for instance, then the spend at Boots will minimise the likelihood that there will be any spend in other retailers nearer Christmas.

As for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, these are not American imports, as the press likes to label them. These events mean more to the British market than the American one. In the USA, it's our equivalent of the January sales - they are selling off post-Thanksgiving stock that didn't sell. They don't do Christmas in the same way we do. Over here it a great tool for retailers to get those sales in early.

So have a look at what you have done and what you have planned and see how you can secure those early sales. It will make a big difference to your performance for the rest of the year.

A purely retail task on The Apprentice, a Welsh village taking a stand and a message to the multinationals

At last there's been a purely retail task on the current series of The Apprentice. It will strike a chord with my readers that are independent retailers themselves.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06q7jtl/the-apprentice-series-11-7-discount-store

The task was to operate as a discount retailer by selling and reinvesting the proceeds in the items that have actually sold well. Which is independent retail in a nutshell.

There's the obvious and repeated issue with The Apprentice of many pieces of expenditure being totally ignored when it comes to calculations of profit and loss at the end of the task. I looked at it in a previous blog here - http://mytimeinretail.blogspot.com/2015/10/see-lessons-to-be-learnt-from-this.html

This week the ignored items included-

• Rent
• Staffing costs
• Tax
• Licence on the stall

I know it's the land of television and normal rules don't apply, but it's just not a level playing field.

Which brings me to my second story this week. It's about a village in Wales that is trying to level the playing field when it comes to competing with Starbucks and Amazon.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crickhowell-welsh-town-moves-offshore-to-avoid-tax-on-local-business-a6728971.html

The tax structures of local business and multinational business are so different that it allows the biggest companies to move their money across divisions and borders to minimise their tax burden.

I personally think it's time for the government of the day (whichever party they may be) to stand up. The message needs to be-

If you want to do business in this country then you'll have to accept lower profits.

The message is stark but necessary. Reduced profits for these companies mean several things-

• Higher wages for the lower paid in society
• Smaller tax credit burden on the government and tax payers
• Large multinational corporations paying their fair share in tax

I'm sure that everyone would agree that these are positive things that we can all get behind.

Why this week's The Apprentice (and a shopping trip) leaves me fuming

I hate homemade signs. I hate handwritten signs even more. I REALLY hate badly-made handwritten signs. After watching The Apprentice last night I despair even more!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06phn4w/the-apprentice-series-11-6-handy-man

Mergim felt the need to make a signs for their handyman business. I understand his motives but the execution was never going to win any design awards.

I've been out in a local town centre today conducting some mystery shopping (I talk about my mystery shopping in this blog) and I spotted loads of homemade and handwritten signs, complete with poor formatting, bad handwriting and spelling mistakes. I don't know what goes through retailers heads! The effect is unprofessional and does absolutely nothing positive for your brand, store or products.

The retailers I saw these signs in today included-

• A gift shop
• A nail bar
• Boots
• Holland & Barrett
• A sweet shop
• Several cafés and restaurants

So it's not an independents disease, nor that of a certain type of retailer. I really can't see any excuse if you're working for a major retailer. Every piece of marketing material is approved and provided centrally, it's even something that I've been asked to check up on during the mystery shops I carry out. If you want to know more about my mystery shopping and how you can become a mystery shopper then check out my blog- http://mysteryshopperblog.blogspot.co.uk/

Even independents can move quickly enough in their feet to avoid this. Having a good marketing, design and/or printing company to hand is a simple solution. Even getting training on design or using a friend with design skills will be better than handmade. By planning ahead and putting as much time as possible between thinking of the sign and using the sign gives you time to get the materials produced.

If you don't have the skills yourself or know anyone who can help you out the fiverr.com could provide you with an answer. It's an online community of freelancers that can produce one-off items for the low, low price of $5. Provide an outline of what you want and a timeline of when you need it and you'll find a willing designer to produce a file for you to print or have printed. Give it a look and you may find your answers.

You can find my profile at  https://uk.fiverr.com/homeestates