Article on retail gazette website By Wayne Usie, Senior vice presidentof Retail, JDA Software

Just reading through retail gazette website when I came across this article-

http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/articles/41412-building-the-nextgeneration-retail-operating-model-five-things-every-retail-ceo-needs-to-know

This brought up 2 key areas for me-

1-You must know your customer

Through all your customers interactions with your brand, you need to know what your customer is doing. Your High Street presence is the face of your brand but your customers will interact with you via your website, mobile website, apps and social media amongst others.  The more of these you can track, then the more you can tailor the experience to your customer.  Having log-ins for your website, tracking in your apps and loyalty cards will enable your systems to follow your customers browsing history as well as purchase history.  Allowing reviews of products via your website sees how your customers use and recommend your products.  Interacting with your customers on social media allows you access to their profile and their friends.  This information can prove invaluable.  Use it wisely.

2-You must know your own proposition

These two areas go hand-in-hand.  You must know in exact detail what you offer your customers.  From this detail you must ensure that all your team know your proposition and can talk about it with confidence to every customer that walks through your door.  Some of the UK retailers that have disappeared over the last few years tried to be too many things all at once - Woolworths, Comet, JJB Sports to name some high-profile examples.

Your customers must know why they are walking through your door. Your team must know how to interact with them.

Not everything can be bought on the High Street - Amazon Prime with TV and film streaming

Comparisons of UK High Street to that of Italy

On a recent visit to Italy, I decided to look at the similarities and differences between the High Streets in Italy and those in the UK.  The High Streets I encountered in Italy were generally more vibrant, with a higher occupancy rate than those I have encountered recently in the UK.

There is more of a focus on the trades in Italy and no High Street is complete without a butcher, greengrocer, fishmonger, cobbler or baker.

Some or all of these have been rolled into one supermarket in many UK High Streets.

This isn't to say that supermarkets are necessarily a bad thing in a High Street shopping area, but that a competitor that provides some expert knowledge and a high level of customer service would be beneficial.

We have seen more of a café culture like our European cousins over recent years, but the difference is marked.  UK High Streets have mimicked the US with large chains tending to dominate, whereas in Europe the trend is for local, independent cafés.

Planning offices need to prioritise the types of business they want to occupy their town centres. When economic times are tough, it is easy to accept whatever business that comes along.

Perhaps a forward-thinking council would get together with local landlords and advertisers to request certain tenants or sectors that they would like to enhance their town centre. That would be a proactive move.

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Speed of service is key for most High Street shoppers

Although quality of service and spending as much time as possible with each and every customer, the dynamic can change for many of your customers on the High Street. There are time constraints, mostly in the week, from the ticking clock on their parking space, childcare, returning to work from a lunch break and generally trying to fit necessary shopping into an already busy lifestyle.

High Street customers have less time than those in edge if town stores.

As quality, successful retailers we react to the reduced amount of time our shoppers have.  We need to man the tills, with a back up available nearby, especially at lunch time. Staff lunch breaks need to be worked around this. Putting a positive spin on this with your team will help with morale.

Stock replenishment needs to be complete before and after the busy hours over lunch time.  This ensures availability for lunch time shoppers (especially important if you sell lunch food items) and keeps your replenishment staff ready to assist customers on the shop floor and tills.

Management need to be visible on the shop floor and available to motivate their team at this vital time of the day.

Let's gear our teams up for this important time of the day and ensure we make the best if our High Street location.

Some things you can't buy on the High Street - Kindle version of The Husband's Secret

BBC article on Justin King's time at Sainsburys

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25960491

Highlights 5 key areas of success in Justin King's time at Sainsburys.

I found the quality/value and the focus points the most interesting and the most relevant.

Quality/Value

This is interesting because the days of low price being mistaken for value seem to have all but disappeared.  Value means being appreciated as a customer, receiving truly excellent customer service and buying goods that exceed expectations.  Even value retailers can't get away with selling things that don't last.

Focus

This seems so basic, such a given, but it is still overlooked.  It determines staffing profile, marketing, social media presence, expansion plans. It must be at the forefront of your mind with every decision. It must be clearly defined and clearly communicated to your team.

Some things you can't buy on the High Street - MP3 download of Crying for No Reason

Payday weekend

Very short note today - this is the first payday weekend since Christmas for many people.  Make the most of it.  Ensure your promotions are spot on and full, ensure your team are well-prepared and motivated.

Although there may be some left-over credit card debt, many people will have some money to spend so make sure that if they come into your store, you are ready with a smile and spend some quality time with them!

Some things you can't buy on the High Street - MP3 of Happy (from Despicable Me 2)

Introduction

Hello

This is a short introduction to an ongoing series of short blogs on retail.  I have worked in retail for over 20 years and in this blog I'll share my experiences and show how these can be fitted to a plan for a retailer to move forward.  I also mention in the blog name about saving the High Street in the UK.  There is much debate about whether it can be saved or should be saved.  It has been the centre of life for many towns for over a hundred years.  It has to change and adapt to survive, but yes - it is worth saving.

I won't reveal my name at any stage my name, the name of any of my colleagues or any of my employers, past or present, as I don't think that this is fair for anyone or any company involved.  I still work in retail, so I value my anonymity.

I will take specific examples from my working life and apply them to a strategy to ensure that retailers have a better time of things (this is specifically vague, as I don't necessarily mean more profit, as this may mean less money in the pocket of you or I) and the High Street is returned to a vibrant place to work, shop and spend time.

Hope this makes a little sense ans starts to get your interest.  All of my blogs will be fairly short and on a single topic, so would make good weekly reading for any retailer, shopper or entrepreneur out there.

Thanks for reading!