RetailBizBlog

I was forwarded an article about several quotes from Costco Founder and CEO, James Sinegal. Quotations From James Sinegal He mentions several things that I think most retailers should listen to. I particularly like two of the quotes: 1. "I think the biggest single thing that causes difficulty in the business world is the short-term view. We become obsessed with it. But it forces bad decisions" With all the growth that has occurred over the last several years, many retailers got caught up in the short-term, and did not make wise decisions that would protect themselves from the inevitable slow down in the long-term. I think Mr. Sinegal hit the nail right on the head with that one! 2. "This is almost like show business. I mean, every day you're opening up and it's show time." This has actually been a saying I have heard in variations for years. Those who practice it do very well. This translates to everything from the cleanliness and visual standard of th...

AOL started it. With very popular chat rooms and a skeletal, but functional, social network. Myspace , Facebook , Twitter , Bebo , Friendster , LinkedIN and several others have since emerged. All offering something unique to make their platform the biggest and most successful. As I learn more about blog writing/internet marketing (yes, they go hand-in-hand), it is clear that these sites drive the "personality" that the online society has taken. To be successful online, it is clear that a strong and steady participation and presence on these sites is critical. This blog generates reports that allow me to view the sources of my daily traffic. So far, Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn, are responsible for a LARGE portion of my visitors. I am pretty much a "nobody" writing on a topic that interests me. I realize how amazing it is that because of the internet, people from around the world are reading what I am writing!! I wonder how powerful these sites would be...

As with Whole Foods, Starbucks is another major company that has taken a look at themselves and are offering something new. A Starbucks that is not a "Starbucks"!! NPR reported Saturday, Starbucks Goes Into Stealth Mode . Starbucks, a company that has done pretty much everything it can do, has found a way to continue to grow in their same niche. They looked outside themselves, the ones who commercialized and popularized the industry, to find out what more they could do. They "dropped" their own name, and essentially the brand recognition that they have "taken over the world" to achieve, to offer a "mom-and-pop" feeling coffee house experience. Two more additions to this new venture is the addition of alcoholic beverages and live music. I do admire and even encourage major corporations to take a look at themselves to discover opportunities for growth. However, I do have a criticism on this Starbucks approach. If they identified the late(r...

In a time when customers are demanding value and are really trying to stretch ever dollar to it's limit, some companies are doing their part to help. Whole Foods Markets are giving "value tours" to their customers to show them that even at a store with a pricey reputation, value is within reach. You can read more about their approach in Hawaii's Star Bulletin's: Getting the Whole Picture. I previously discussed the importance of corporate image to consumers. Whole Foods, embraced their reputation as a high-priced grocery retailer. They offer a level of quality and freshness that has raised the bar in the grocery industry. Instead of lowering prices and sacrificing the bottom line to grow their seemingly cult-like following, they took a more pro-active approach by educating their customers on more cost-conscious ways to shop. This is the kind of "outside-the-box" approach that more companies need to explore.

As I was walking the mall this past weekend I noticed a few strange trends. There were a lot of people in the mall, but there were lots of stores without a single customer. I chatted up some of the employees, and consistently received this generic response, "Yeah, it has been kinda slow lately". Then I went into some of the more "crowded" stores, and heard things like,"We are beating last year!", "Back to school seems to be starting early!", and "The mall seems to be picking up.". How can this be? I did notice one common thread that distinguished all of the slow stores from the busy stores. The stores that were slow were messy and dark. There were fingerprints allover the windows, dust-bunnies in every corner (one actually swirled around the table when I picked up a bag), and lights out around the store. If it is so "slow" how is there no time to clean or change lights? Then, to top it off, the employees had this ki...

Employee confidence has been a major issue that I have tried to address. I read an article today detailing plans of AOL's new CEO Tim Armstrong. "Can Tim Armstrong Think Different at AOL" His description of the "core" problem at AOL, was the employees have a "crisis of confidence". I LOVE that expression!! That fits almost everything I have been saying about the state of many employees! AOL, has been a major web player, well, before I even knew there was a "web" (25years!). Previous CEOs have taken on numerous projects and partnerships (Time Warner), all in an effort to keep AOL competitive with the exponential growth of competitors like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. Mr. Armstrong, (formerly of Google's advertising division) has a "new" vision for AOL. What struck me, is it is not far from the "original" vision of AOL. I really wish AOL the best of luck. I am excited to see a Leader remembering where their s...

This is a question I keep hearing as I work on this blog. It seems that no matter where you go, that companies pride themselves on putting the customer first, but that doesn't really seem to be the truth. I have found nightmare stories from telephone customer service operators, to in store employees. But I have also read some amazing stories of how an employee went well beyond their job description to make a customer happy. When I got into retail in the early 90's, customer service was king. Empowerment for employees to that end, was almost unlimited. Recognition for the individuals going above and beyond was common. It was a time when companies realized it was their people and their people's ideas and successes that drove the company's success. Southwest Airlines exploded by taking a radical approach to customer service. At the same time they also took a radical approach in the treatment of their people, doing such things as "costume day". Work was f...

I wanted to let everyone know, in response to reader feedback, I have decided to revamp the "appearance" of this blog. Please be patient as some of the features from the old page are re-incorporated into this one. My priority is getting my "archive" working again. In the meantime, if you would like to view previous articles, there is an "older post" link at the bottom of this page. I hope you like the "new" look! "Good things come to those who wait!" -Heinz "57" Ketchup

We have now discussed everything from recruiting top talent to actually hiring top talent. Now, time has passed and it is time for a performance review. Are they really top talent? Performance reviews when administered effectively can be the single strongest training tool a company can offer. Unfortunately, due to the nature of a performance review, it can also be the single thing that discourages an employee, ultimately ending in their resignation. Performance reviews are designed to give feedback in an effort to help an employee grow and to increase their performance. Rarely, is all the information discussed positive. Sometimes, it can even seem more negative than anything else. So, the goal is to immediately put the employee on the same page as the reviewer. Surprises are where long lasting issues arise. When writing the review always ensure that you are remaining 100% objective about that particular individual. Also, reviews should be properly balanced. I once had to adm...

There are many different areas in which a company can look to cut their costs. But there is one area in particular that I believe should remain "untouchable". People. Whether it is training, or salaries, or benefit packages, the investment in your people will always remain your best investment. Training should be of paramount importance to all companies. The growth and development of your people directly translates to the growth and development of your company. Training should be an ongoing process. Many companies will run a training seminar, only to never talk about it again. The expense of hiring and training a new employee is very high, so decrease your turnover and cut your costs by keeping your employees well trained. Many companies have scaled back or even eliminated employee benefits and bonuses. It is common knowledge that payroll will always remain the most controllable expense, so it seems natural to institute pay-cuts. That is not the right way to go abou...

As we are all searching for the next best way to cut costs, I ran across an old article about an approach Delta Airlines took in the mid-90's. They asked their employees! On an employee suggestion, they removed the lettuce leaf that was served in their food trays as garnish to an astounding $1.4 million in annual savings! http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/win93/delta.html I recently worked for a company that was so incredibly operationally inefficient that I was amazed they were still in business. Three months later, they weren't! From having way too much lighting in the stock areas, to a time-wasting price change procedure, to unnecessary shipping costs($4ship fee for a $.99 item), to incredible wastes of paper (I actually counted a minimum of 45 sheets per day wasted...in one store). This store had so many little things that could have completely changed the cost of business, it is a shame they didn't listen to their employees. Employees may not have t...

Unfortunately, I read several articles today detailing the decreasing sales of several major retailers (in fact most major retailers) over last year same store sales. I have been attempting to keep my posts encouraging and solution based. I have made mention to creativity as a necessity. It will be the dominant trait in those that bring us forward. But as detailed here: http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=467 , we ALL have that creative trait. Just believe.

The other day I took my daughter to see her doctor. While we were waiting in the office, I notice a quote framed on the wall attributed to Mahatma Gandhi "A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so." I really liked this quote, especially in today's retail climate. I really feel that these words almost summarize much of what I have been saying in my blog thus fa...

Wow, so this will be my first "look what I found" entry! While surfing the web for some inspiration for my next article(s), I stumbled upon a website called www.customerssuck.com. It is pretty much a site for retail employees to share their "customer nightmare" stories. Anyone who has worked in retail has had their fair share. I remember one guy poured a bag of wet laundry on my cashwrap and demanded reimbursement for all of it, because the shirt from our store (the only item from our store) bled on his clothes and tinted the entire load blue. To take it a step further he brought in the tag that was attached to the shirt detailing the unique dye-process would "run" and to wash with like colors (that was his proof our shirt was the culprit). One of the posts I read described a situation when a customer started pulling on locked doors to gain entry into the store five minutes past closing time. He was very "rude" because his watch told him he...

With all the talk of decreasing traffic, and customer conversion, many companies are not trying to ask for the undeliverable, they are doing their best to help you. Mailing lists, and customer information gathering has been around forever. The "old school" thought is that it is crossing a "privacy" line, and many employees don't feel comfortable asking customers for personal information. Some employees will disregard the procedures simply to save time during the checkout process. Times have changed. Email is rapidly replacing "snail mail". As percentages of households owning a computer increase, so do business opportunities for almost every retailer. Direct mail advertising is disappearing. It is resulting in less and less customer impressions, is expensive, and is not very "green". People are getting more comfortable with giving out an email address. It doesn't necessarily give out their name, it doesn't tell where they li...

In my last post, I referred to the customer experience as being a major part of a corporate image. I received a few responses asking me to discuss that a little more. With the rapidly changing economic conditions, retail has had to evolve very quickly. Companies are being forced to reevaluate the way they are doing business, and more importantly, reevaluate the customer experience within their stores. Creativity is necessary to increase consumer spending. Ikea is known for their "maze" of sales floor, that is designed to get you to "imagine" all the possibilities to decorate your entire home and office. They incorporate a powerful combination of creative merchandising, aggressive price point marketing, an easy to find sales staff and consumer psychology. They have built a successful business model entirely centered around the customer experience. From their lay-flat packaging, to their low cost food court, Ikea is the extreme model of the customer experience...