Guest Slot -Analysis Insider – Sarah Wilson

Employees in stores have historically been focused almost entirely on sealing the deal because the retail model has been based around how much can be sold via the physical outlet. Far too much of this in-store. But this is not the future. For shops to be successful tomorrow there needs to be a radical change…

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Guest Slot – Analysis Insider – Sarah Wilson

Purchasing panels, catchment area analytics, focus groups, mystery shoppers, brand image tracking, accompanied shops, and eye tracking, we could go on listing more of the myriad ways that retailers seek to scrutinise their customers. Shoppers remain a mystery  But these are the traditional ways of assessing shopper behaviour and the problem with them is that…

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Guest Slot – Analysis Insider – Sarah Wilson

Cafe Lucca is a modern Italian restaurant serving tea, coffee, cakes, salads and light lunches, but its secret ingredient is a focus on odourless food. Food at Cafe Lucca: Looking good without the smell. The reason for this unusual slant is the location of the restaurant – slap bang in the middle of a lifestyle…

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Guest Slot – Analysis Insider – Sarah Wilson

When Starbucks decided to get a bit more intimate with its customers it took to writing their names on its paper coffee cups. While this might have worked on some levels it quickly began to look a little bit too prescriptive. Not that nice. Such initiatives highlight how tough it can be for large companies…

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Guest Slot – Analysis Insider – Sarah Wilson

Collaboration should be at the heart of a retailer’s competitive advantage these days.  I was interested to hear a delegate at a recent event who had been away from the retail industry for a decade – taking a career break – say that little had changed in terms of her role within HR and training…

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Guest Slot – Analysis Insider – Sue Grist

‘New Look may close 100 stores’ ran the headline in the Financial Times recently, highlighting an increasingly common story of major retail chains off-loading stores as the internet continues to impact on revenues from their physical units. Just one of numerous store closure headlines. But it would be far too simplistic to think that rationalising…

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Guest Slot – Analysis Insider – Sue Grist

Money-off coupons, vouchers, discount codes, group buying offers, and double and triple loyalty point deals are feeding a frenzy of margin-eating activity that has reached unprecedented, and seriously damaging, levels in the retail industry. Discounts and offers taking margins downwards. Offering enticing deals was regarded as a necessary tool in the armouries of merchants to…

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