If you want to know something about retail, you’ve come to the right place. On this page we offer you an opportunity to read from a list of retail articles & success tips. There are over 150 interesting pieces to read. Sit back and enjoy!
Click on the heading of the article to read it.
$20 Fish Named Cotton Candy – “The ‘Big Al’s’ guy treated me like I had huge lifetime value to the store, when all I wanted was a $20 fish.”
5 Steps to Getting Customers on Demand (Infographics) – Imagine you had a button you could press that would magically make customers appear during a slow period. That would be pretty awesome right?…
5 Ways to Increase Traffic (Infographics) – Higher foot traffic generally means higher sales. Here’s 5 ways you can do that…
6th Pillar of Retail – It started out with 4 pillars (or 4P’s): Product, Promotion, Price and Place. People did not count for much back then.
10 Pointers to Increase Retail Sales – During really busy times it is more difficult to get an accurate read on your associates’ performance. When customers are in a buying frenzy, and even desperate, it doesn’t always take a lot of skill and knowledge for an associate to make the sale.
14 Steps of Time Management for Retail Managers – Of course, we left out things that do not apply to people who work in the field in retail and other service industries…those who cannot simply close the office door or get to the bottom of their inbox by working late!!
75 Ways to Build a Retail Performance Culture Worth Millions – Did you ever wonder how some retailers manage to build a superb performance culture within a retail organization? You know, that culture that makes people outperform all others; the culture that inspires everyone and turns average employees into Super Heroes? …
2nd Half Sales in Retail – The 2nd Half is about to start… or, maybe it’s just gotten underway, depending on your fiscal year end. It’s going to fly by, as you well know. You can take steps to prepare – NOW – for top performance during the busy times.
Amazing Little Store vs. Sluggish Giant – Today, we’re going to look at an important, but often ignored, part of running a profitable business… using a couple of enlightening (and very brief) anecdotes from my recent shopping adventures.
Another Day in the Life of a Customer – This chain has been in business for many, many years and, in my wildest dreams, I could not imagine that they would not have an electric can opener for sale. So, assuming that I was just not looking in the right place, I sought out an employee to help me.
Are You Losing Sales? – If you are of the opinion that you can hire associates, have them complete ‘new hire’ paperwork, tell them a little bit about your store and your customers, train them on how to use whatever equipment they will need to operate on the job and then unleash them on your sales floor…you are losing sales.
Artificial Intelligence in Retail – Solutions such as automated inventory management, demand forecasting, customer assistance, predictive analytics and more to enhance retail operations.
Back to Basics: At DMSRetail, when it comes to performance, we place the highest degree of importance on people. When all things are equal, people make a big difference. In fact people make a huge difference even when everything else is not equal. We have seen stores out performing other stores that are located in much larger market areas with higher average income levels within the same retail chain.
Basic Sales Process for the Retail Newbies – Basics of the Sales Process, This report was designed for people who have no experience in the retail/service industry.
Change your conversation, change your life – The danger we face while taking in all of this bad news is that we may actually begin to focus on nothing but the bad news. We may start to believe it completely. When we believe completely, there is a much higher chance of it being so. More
Check Up on Staff Turnover – In retail it is no secret that turnover is fairly high.
Communicating for Profits and Customer Satisfaction – The real reason retail personnel appear to be indifferent to their customers…. The President of a 200+ store division of a major retailer learned of a serious communication problem and commented that ‘this was to be expected in large organizations’. Well, that clears everything up. Many retail executives don’t believe that communication is important enough to get it right by coming up with a methodology that will ensure accurate and timely communication to field personnel…
Conversion Nightmare – In a busy regional mall, which has been operating for approximately 30 years, and which has undergone several renovations, there is one very unusually positioned store.
Crying Over Lost Revenue – Some retail teams don’t seem to understand the importance of ‘making the sale’. Why?
Culture: What a difference it makes! – Have you ever wondered about the impact a true leader can have on the culture of a company? Having worked for several prominent retail organizations I have seen the impact of both positive and negative cultures on the workforce, the customers and, of course, the success of the business. Have no doubt whatsoever, the head of the organization dictates, through words and actions, what the culture will be…
Customer Experience & Customer Satisfaction – This guide is intended to provide a basic understanding of the role of a retail sales associate or retail customer service employee.
Customer Experience Overhaul – We all seem to know how important the customer service is – if we are going to be successful in retail. Then why do we keep getting lousy service everywhere we go?…
Customer Lifetime Value – Use sophisticated analytics and artificial intelligence to estimate attrition and retention scores.
Customer Perceptions – Perception is how we make sense out of what we experience. Your interpretation of what you see and hear is just that-your interpretation.
Customer Service and Empowerment – I have recently been subjected to three of the most unbelievably bad customer service experiences of my life. In all three situations, large well known companies were involved. One is a prominent, on-line travel provider; one is a monopoly in the telephone service industry and the other is a huge conglomerate…
Customer Service as a Loss Prevention Technique – Shoplifting creates losses of one of the company’s most significant assets – inventory…
Customer Service Fanatics – Be a Customer Service Fanatic and be proud of it! If more retail managers were Customer Service Fanatics we would see a much different picture in the service industry. All customers, not just a fortunate few, would be properly treated as they part with their hard-earned and over-taxed dollars. Isn’t that the way it should be? …
Customer Testimonials – What our customers saying about DMSRetail products and services?
Cutting Edge in Retail Sales and Training – “Cutting Edge Sales” is in and of itself a buzz phrase describing a competitive sales advantage that every retail sales associate is looking for, a bit like the fountain of youth. Like the fountain, though, “Cutting Edge Sales” is something that is more inside of oneself than something concrete to be found…
Dear Bobbie – Your Very Own Retail Advisor for FREE…Just Ask ‘Dear Bobbie’!
Don’t Take Your Hungry Market for Granted – Here’s a story about taking your market for granted. You might find it interesting.
Downside of Self Scheduling – Self scheduling creates headaches for Store Managers! Calendar girls…or calendar guys…absolutely love the sight of a calendar with an invitation to choose when they will, and will not work…
Empowerment – Shaping Customer Perceptions: How one seemingly reasonable company policy or one staff member who is not empowered can single handedly disappoint a top customer with a huge life time value…
External Conditions – Most retailers generally plan their targets, or budgets, based on the actual sales of the previous year. As the saying goes ‘past performance is a great indicator of future performance’. But every wise retailer will also carefully look at external conditions before committing a target or budget to paper; before using the numbers as a basis for buying merchandise and setting expense budgets…
Everything Old is New Again – Now that so many grocery stores, gas stations, banks…you name it, have moved to self serve, or barely serve, those of us who actually want to serve customers can stand out.
Final Word on Interview Questions – There are as many interviewing ‘styles’ as there are people doing interviews. Some have training on what to ask, what to look for, etc. Many do not. Those interviewers go by the seat of their pants.
First Response – Cut Hours/Wages at Store Level – Retailers often respond to a financial problem by cutting hours and wages being used at store level…
Follow Up or Foul Up – It takes a lot of effort and energy to follow up on all of the tasks and directives that we, as leaders, assign to our subordinates on a daily basis.
From $7.00/Hour to $100,000.00/Year in 5 Years – I started working in a retail store for the same reasons most people do – I needed a job. I dropped off my resume at a few stores.
Get Out of Town – Really – It is impossible to direct an operation without knowing how it works. How it really works, not how it is supposed to work. If you are in charge of a retail operation and don’t have your next out of town store visit trip booked …do it now. It’s more important to visit out of town stores more often than you visit stores in close proximity to Head Office.
Highly Successful Retail Manager and Customer Service – Highly successful retail managers (HSRM) are passionate about delivering exemplary customer service; they treat customers with the respect they deserve – role modeling on the sales floor so associates can see and hear exactly what exemplary customer service looks and sounds like.
Hiring in Retail – For a successful 2nd half of the year, look at your people. They have the power to make or break you just by being who they are and by doing what they do.
How Can WOS Report Help? – The WOS report can be a great help for DM’s who want to be on top of their inventory picture, district wide.
How I Went from $7.00/Hour to $100,000.00/Year in Less than 5 Years Working in Retail – A True Retail Career Success Story
How Important Retail Associates are to Your Retail Business – A study recently published by Wharton, University of Pennsylvania and Verde Group discusses the findings of a survey of 1000 randomly selected consumers. The objective of the survey was to discover what problems shoppers were encountering during their shopping experiences at retail stores and which of those problems were most likely to be discussed with others and which actually put customer loyalty at risk…
How to Hire Aces in Retail – Hiring Aces has been written to help retail managers take a new look at a very old process and show the reader how to go about hiring people that can be described as Aces.
How to Hire Right and Keep Them – Recruitment isn’t just about hiring, it’s about retention, and that means hiring the right person in the first place rather than someone who merely appears to be the right person. It costs far more to hire and train a new employee – on any level, in any industry – than it does to retain them…
How to Lift Your Retail Spirits During Slow Times – All we hear these days is how bad the last few months of the year are going to be. The National Retail Federation, in the United States, is predicting an increase of approximately 4% over last year, and they generally predict a bit on the bright side so the reality, in North America at least, is probably somewhat less than that…
How to Lose Customers – If you don’t have a strong service culture in your organization, it’s going to be difficult to gain loyal customers. In fact, some of your employees may even take pleasure in arguing with your customers, and trying to proving them wrong.
If it’s not on the shelf then we don’t have it – Or how you lose retail sales for no good reason or for no reason at all.
Insane Retailing – It has been said by many that an appropriate definition of insanity be ‘repeating the same actions time and time again, expecting different results’…
Interrupted by Covid – Covid 19 certainly did interrupt our lives, didn’t it? Who would have expected such a thing to happen to an unsuspecting public?
Inventory Planning -Effective use of a good Inventory Plan is the first step to prosperity, growth and the path to recognize and exploit opportunities.
Is Conversion King of the KPI’s? – Sometimes the easiest way to solve a problem is not the most obvious. When sales are down from a previous comparable period, or under target, when people are not performing as well as they need to and when all you hear are excuses day in and day out…
Know how to interpret your Retail KPI’s? – Gaining an understanding of retail math lets the Store Manager put everything in perspective. Once competent in making all of the calculations for KPI’s pertinent to his/her store, the Store Manager gains new insight into exactly what is going on in their store. It’s like having the blindfold removed. Suddenly, everything makes sense…
Know How to Interview, Hire and Train – The Highly Successful Retail Manager (HSRM) knows the ‘cause’** is maximizing revenue and profit and that he must hire people who will further that cause.
Lead by Example – Leading by example basically means role modeling expected behaviors, in everything you do. It means being in an ‘on stage’ frame of mind at all times.
Leave Head Office to Learn – There’s something about ‘the office’, isn’t there? It’s that place where we get quiet time to get our thoughts together. We can close the door and really get some serious work done.
Loyal Customers – Make sure your efforts, to attract new business, don’t offend your loyal customers.
Manager Unfairly Perceived as Negative – To really learn about field operations, retail executives need to nurture their relationships with Store Managers. Many Store Managers have a lot of valuable information to offer the organization. They are rarely asked to contribute but often offer it anyway. And that is where the problem starts.
Managing by Numbers –The first time a Retail Manager realizes that their company, district or store, and their performance in managing that, is being judged by the numbers they quickly understand that there is more to managing retail than getting all of the work done, making everything look nice and being good to customers.
Managing in Pay for Performance Environment – At DMSRetail, the retail success company, we operate within the philosophy of the 6 pillars of retail; one of those pillars being people. The effectiveness of that particular pillar is optimized through the implementation and maintenance of strong, performance oriented compensation plans.
Max ROI Store Visits – Conducting Informal and Formal Store Visits that Produce Winning Results Takes Know How!
McDonald’s Is ‘Fast Food’ Still a Thing? – If we continue to accept sub-standard service, food, and other products then we really deserve what we get, don’t you think? Based on experience it seems that this is a reasonable question for McDonald’s Is Fast Food Still a Thing?
Missed Opportunities: Quantified – Retailers need to take a closer look at their missed opportunities; they need to quantify lost sales. I am going to do that right now, for a large office supply chain with very little competition…
Missed Sales – Are you calculating your missed opportunities on a regular basis? If you are then, presumably, you are doing something to reduce them. If you aren’t, you are leaving money on the table…maybe lots of it!
Morale Hygiene – We know, through survey results, that motivating employees is very high on the list of challenges faced by retailers. It’s no wonder that motivation is very important when you think about the fact that your store employees are meeting your customers every day; representing your brand and your company every day…
Motivate Customers and Staff – Particularly during busy times, when you see increased customer traffic in the store, you will need to come up with a short and sweet message to give to your staff heading out onto the sales floor every day.
Motivation & KPI’s – It is extremely important, for the motivation and well being of the management and staff, that all of the KPI’s be looked at relative to one another. It simply does not work to single out one KPI and rush to judgment. It’s just not a very smart thing to do. And here’s why…
Multi-Channel Retail – One Critical Key to Success – More and more retailers are realizing the benefits of multi-channel retailing. Leveraging brand equity in multiple touchpoints has been proven to drive loyalty and interaction among consumers. With trends clearly showing the Internet as the core component to pre-purchase research, brick and mortar brands can ill-afford to take a wait and see approach as it relates to core multi-channel offerings…
New Processes Reshaping Retail – Technological change hаѕ ѕеrvеd rеtаіlеrѕ for dесаdеѕ, hеlріng thеm to соnduсt thеіr buѕіnеѕѕеѕ more еffісіеntlу, but tоdау’ѕ tесhnоlоgу is ԛuаlіtаtіvеlу different.
Omni Channel Retailing – What is it?
One of the Tools of Store Management – Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan…as the saying goes… In a retail environment, it absolutely does pay to follow that advice.
Pay for Performance Debate in Retail – We think it’s high time DMSRetail weighed in on the subject of Pay for Performance compensation plans.
Pay More, Expect More, Get More – It’s time for more retailers to test the ‘pay more expect more, get more’ theory. It seems that retailers have always argued against higher wages, benefits and full-time positions citing exorbitant wage costs as the reason. While it is true that the expense, in dollars would increase it certainly does not follow that the actual wage percent would increase. And it is the percentage that is key…
Performance Culture and Retail – A recent shopping trip to a store – one of many stores in a large, well recognized chain – indicated clearly, that a performance culture does not exist in that organization.
Planning for Successful Retail – There are many ways you can describe the direction of your retail business to your employees.
Prepare for Sales Success – We start our selling process with preparation. All professionals prepare properly and our routine is no exception.
Product Knowledge: Use it appropriately. Good product knowledge will help even the most reserved sales associate.
Promoting from within – A case study
Pushing for Performance – The fiscal month is coming to a close. The store’s sales performance has been lackluster for several months but, this month, they are doing much better. This coming Saturday is the last day of the month. The Store Manager wants to take the day off to do something with family members. The District Manager says no…
Relationship Selling in Retail – Can be defined as a selling process which focuses on long term satisfaction and repeat business maintenance for both parties (seller and buyer).
Retail Analytics – In an industry notorious for expensive real estate, slim margins and tenuous customer loyalty, retailers in every category need as much support as they can get when deciding where to operate, what they should stock, which customers they should fight to retain, and how to communicate with them.
Retail Associates & Sales Tools – Even though I was working incredibly hard, I still wasn’t getting the sales I knew the store was capable of generating. Then, one day, I really started taking a close look at what my Sales Associates were doing.
Retail Business Plans – The best way to show bankers, venture capitalists and angel investors that you are worthy of financial support is to show them a great business plan.
Retail Business Promotional Ideas – Retail business promotional idea list.
Retail Business Turnaround – The retail story is actually very big and quite complicated. While the process of selling products to customers is simple, the back story is fraught with problems that need to be solved. How a particular retailer solves those problems, day in and day out, will determine the level of success achieved.
Retail Comes Alive with Big Data – Big Data refers to data sets so large and complex that they must be processed in innovative and strategic ways.
Retail Communications – Meet With Your People…Often.
Retail Customer Profiles & Segmentation – A customer profile is a series of descriptive phrases that paint a picture of a selected retail consumer target. A good profile will answer the questions “Who are these people?” and “Where do they live?”
Retail Digital Transformation – “Digital Trаnѕfоrmаtіоn” іѕn’t juѕt a buzzwоrd. It’s a core соnсерt оf new buѕіnеѕѕ mоdеl, аnd I hоре bу the time уоu’rе dоnе rеаdіng this уоu’ll knоw whу іt should be a core соnсерt of уоur оwn business.
Retail Disasters & Victories – Throughout history, there have been many, many examples of people who have succeeded in a given field, or discipline, through the application of common sense, hard work, firm principles and, above all, great leadership skills.
Retail Employees vs. Customers – Customers are NOT the retail employees’ enemy. After viewing a ‘down with retail’ website today, I find myself very disturbed at the distance that has developed in the understanding between some retail employees and customers. Wild generalizations are being made such as ‘customers have no respect for retail employees’ and ‘retail employees don’t care about their customers’…
Retail H.O. Darlings – You know who they are. Their names may have already popped into your head. Every company has them. Some retail companies have quite a lot of them.
Retail KPI’s: A sample of Retail Key performance Indicators.
Retail LP Specialist Duties & Tasks – Job Duties and Tasks for: “Retail Loss Prevention Specialist”
Retail Market Basket Analytics – These are used to analyze the relationships among items that a given consumer purchases.
Retail Market Potential – Increased competition and shrinking profit margins in the retail industry have necessitated a demand for sophisticated predictive analytics and artificial intelligence.
Retail Marketing – In today’s CRM landscape the old analogy comparing the rifle and shotgun approaches to message and / or offer delivery is perhaps more appropriate than ever
Retail Management Accessibility – Successful retail managers do not manage from afar with little or no contact, and just hope for the best.
Retail Management Dashboards – Cost effective high value business intelligence capabilities and value-added analysis services that enable retail companie to get the most relevant information to business users as quickly as possible.
Retail Management Resources – Information on retail associations, magazines and more.
Retail Math – Managing by Numbers – The first time a Store Manager realizes that their store, and their performance in managing that store, is being judged by the numbers they quickly understand that there is more to managing a store than getting all of the work done, making everything look nice and being good to customers…
Retail Math Training – You’ve probably heard of the saying: “If you can’t measure, you can’t manage”. That is an important and true statement.
Retail Math – Why It Is Important – Sales – Expenses = Profits Retail organizations – in fact, any type of organization – have figured out this equation. Or have they? Plenty of businesses go ‘Out of Business’. Maybe they didn’t have it figured out.
Retail Owners and Managers Develop Insomnia and Ulcers – If you manage, or own, even one retail store, you probably know that it’s true. And if you happen to be a perfectionist, well, there’s no telling what condition you might be in.
Retail Planograms – Planograms are diagrams that show where products or merchandise should be placed on a shelf or other sort of display.
Retail Sales Associates & Sales Tools – You really can’t miss any of the steps until you’re very experienced; experienced enough to read the customer and to make changes to the process…changes which enhance it; not changes to shortcut it.
Retail Sales Metrics – In a retail environment, there are 3 key factors that have an immediate impact on sales performance. Sales = Traffic (Footfall) x Conversion Rate x Average Sale
Retail Sales Tips – Benefits help you tune-in to your customer’s mental radio station, WIIFM, “What’s In It For Me?”.
Retail Sales Training – Don’t fall for this training lie!
Retail Staff Bullies the Customer – At Costco, no one expects or needs much assistance while shopping. Here’s what happened…
Retail Staff Motivation and KPI’s – As any retail professional knows, KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) provide valuable information about the retail operation as a whole, and about individual business units – stores, for instance…
Retail Staff Realities – Whаt dо уоur customers think аbоut your store when thеу are grееtеd by your staff? Arе they іmрrеѕѕеd оr hоrrіfіеd?
Retail Staff Trained to Think – When faced with a customer who has a problem, do you expect your employees to consider options and come up with a win/win for your company and your customer?
Retail Store Categories – The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) has replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.
Retail Tips for the Holidays – Here is a handy checklist to help you make sure you’re doing everything you can to make the most of the holiday traffic that comes into your store…
RFID Applications in Retail – Rаdіо-frеԛuеnсу identification (RFID) tесhnоlоgу hаѕ bесоmе a muѕt-dо fоr rеtаіlеrѕ, wіth potential for massive cost savings аnd nеw rеvеnuе opportunities.
RFID in Retail – Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology that uses radio waves to communicate between devices, such as RFID tags and RFID readers.
Sales vs. Task Orientation – It is reasonable to expect people to do well in activities they enjoy, or at least, do not find difficult and unappealing, then it would be reasonable for sales associates who enjoy selling to be more successful, and to make a bigger contribution than those who do not. For the individual who does not enjoy selling-either because s/he does not have the skills or simply does not want to do it – a position in a retail store may still attract them due to ease of entry. Store Managers should be very wary of this individual.
Sam Walton’s Rules of Business – As the creator of one of retail miracles, Sam Walton deserves a lot of credit. As I came across the website of the Walmart Museum, I could not resist the temptation to spread the word.
Save the Trees – Doesn’t anyone think about saving trees anymore? There was a time when everyone and their dog was into saving trees. Don’t print anything, they said.
See and Feel the Relationship Between You and Your Customers – Stop looking at your stores through your own eyes, and start seeing them through your customer’s eyes…
Setup to Win – Setting Expectations & Setting People Up to Win. Make sure your new hires know what is expected of them.
Solving Retail Performance Problems – In this report, we are going to look at the reasons for performance problems. We are first going to give you the highlights and later take each point and expand on that point.
Store Management Process – illustration of the various dimensions, skills and actions a good Store Manager performs and demonstrates on a constant and continuous basis from performance management point of view, we call this the Store Management Process.
Store Manager is the Key to the Success of Your Store – Have you еvеr wоndеrеd why уоur rеtаіl store іѕn’t аttrасtіng аnd kееріng аѕ many customers as уоu wоuld lіkе? The аnѕwеr hаѕ muсh to dо with уоur store mаnаgеr.
Sustained Motivation Through Performance Discussions – We know that many Retail Business Owners and Store Managers look for ways to motivate their employees. Rightfully, they believe that motivating their sales associates will increase business. Creating a motivational environment and culture, and maintaining the positive effects are not easy; but not impossible either…
The Effect of Incompetent Middle Managers – Retail employees can rise up through the ranks fairly quickly compared to a lot of other industries. It makes a great career in that respect. Entry into retail is easy and promotions come quickly provided the individual can operate a retail store, make the sales happen, follow the Policy and Procedures manual to the letter and always say the right things to visiting Head Office executive…
The House Account – A case for using it. – Retailers use different methods to record and monitor sales and to compensate their associates. Some allow, and in fact insist on, the use of a House Account and others forbid it.
The Retail Training Equation – Economic times are cyclical. At present, the cycle is in a down phase and needs to recover as quickly as possible. During such times, it is people who will make the difference in your business. It is most often the people who have been trained appropriately that rise to meet and overcome these challenges…
The Sales Floor Leader – During the holidays you can expect to see heavier traffic volume in your store. This requires a different approach on the sales floor…
The Store Manager is a Lighthouse – Throughout history the lighthouse has played an important role in navigation and pilotage at sea; its purpose is to guide, to show the way, to warn of danger and generally provide safe entry into harbors. The Store Manager is the lighthouse for the employees of a retail store and the Head Office is the lighthouse for all of their retail employees nationwide.
The Value of Professional Training – Industry specific training provides a myriad of advantages to an individual within that field. They will gain confidence in dealing with day to day challenges. Having the knowledge that professional development training provides can enable the individual to approach, assess, evaluate and resolve problems with less stress and expedite an appropriate solution much more quickly…
Top Line, DoDo Birds and Retail Success – Do your people really care about making the sale? Talk is cheap…
Tough Times at Retail – What Can You Do? – Retailers in many parts of the world are entering their busiest, most hectic and usually most profitable time of year. For those retailers these last few weeks of the year are the ones that can normally be counted on to bring home the profits. Retailers take some comfort in that. Not so comfortable this year.
Trained to Think – She just followed the rules. And she wasn’t at all pleasant about it.
Training Retail Staff – One of the major reasons for the high degree of customer dissatisfaction and resulting lost sales in the retail industry is poorly trained employees who do not have a clear understanding of what is expected of them.
Unreachable? – What? The executive team is unreachable? Impossible, you say? Retail executive, like any others, need to be accessible. Imagine a situation where employees and management cannot have any access to the President. Far, far from the open door policy, there are some retailers who allow absolutely no access to the top executive in the company…
Weak Managers Avoid This – Here’s Why Weak Managers Avoid Pay for Performance Compensation Plans…Let’s first establish that Pay for Performance compensation plans are the better way to go because the employer gets a better return on payroll with that plan.
Weeks of Stock – For a district manager who regularly travels between different stores, and for store managers, weeks of stock can be a very useful number.
What is the Real Source of Turnover in Retail? – The biggest impact on ET is bad management. Did you know that 49% of retail associates leave their retail position due to bad management?
What’s Your Organization’s HC Type (Human Capability) – Most people would agreed there are reasons why some businesses are…Hugely successful, other are just keeping their heads above water and others are abject failures. But Why?…
What Makes a Great Retail Manager – Infographic
When retail performance management is missing…– We decided to tell this true story to illustrate just how horribly things can go wrong when you’re not really on top of… Performance Management
Where Have All the Salespeople Gone? – Have you been approached by a real, live human salesperson lately? For years, we’ve seen a steady decline in the amount of active selling going on in stores. Even taking Covid 19 and social distancing out of the equation, in recent years human interaction hasn’t been what it was even in the early to mid 2000’s.
Why Every Manager Should Understand Design and Visual Merchandising – Your store should be your #1 Brand Ambassador, providing an image and feeling of your brand that connects with your customer on a gut level and makes them want to buy something – anything – just to take that feeling home with them…
Why Retail Managers Shоuld Get Mоrе Rеѕресt! – Arе уоu a сurrеnt or former mаnаgеr іn a rеtаіl buѕіnеѕѕ? Do уоu work in a сlоthіng, shoe, оr discount ѕtоrе? Arе you mаnаgіng an еlесtrоnісѕ, jеwеlrу, оr specialty ѕhор? Stаnd рrоud. Chаnсеѕ are you dоn’t gеt muсh respect, but уоu ѕhоuld. Yes, уоu have a thаnklеѕѕ jоb with tеrrіblе hоurѕ, mеdіосrе benefits, and a раусhесk thаt bаrеlу соvеrѕ rеnt, utіlіtіеѕ, аnd thе Value Mеаl Dеаl. But уоu wоrk hard.
Word to the Retailwise I – The majority of retail employees can tell you at least one story about something ‘weird’ or ‘unexplainable’ that their POS (Point of Sale) system does. Honestly, you would be surprised at how many of these systems are not user friendly.
Word to the RetailWise II – Consider the story, below, about an employee who stole company time and charged up huge telephone bills by calling a 1-900 number! It goes without saying that retail stores, being open to the public, are prime targets for thieves.
Word to the RetailWise III – The Buyer’s in your retail operation may be incredibly talented…but they are not mind readers.
Word to the RetailWise IV – Make sure your new hires know what is expected of them. And I want to illustrate that with this short, but very telling story.
Word to the RetailWise V – Prepare for Sales Success. The selling process begins with preparation. All professionals prepare properly and a sales person’s routine is no different.
Word to the RetailWise VI – Presenting options to your customer initially and during the add-on or upsell stage.
Word to the RetailWise VII – There is no denying that working in a team can inspire each team member to do his very best. However, that doesn’t mean it will.
Word to the RetailWise VIII – Never implement policies or procedures without asking the critical questions first.
Word to the RetailWise IX – Price isn’t everything. It is the value that counts.
Word to the RetailWise X – Sometimes, we go all out for new business. Sometimes, that means we offer new customers something special, right? And that’s really nice for those prospective customers.
Word to the RetailWise XI – To manage your time effectively, you have to understand why Retail Managers need a unique approach to time management.
Word to the RetailWise XII – Business must have picked up a bit lately because, over the past few weeks, I’ve been stuck in checkout lines fairly regularly. I’ll tell you a short story below…
Word to the RetailWise XIII – Keep an open mind when it comes to hiring people who are well educated, and trained, in another field.
Word to the RetailWise XIV – People tend to draw incorrect conclusions when they don’t have enough information, knowledge and facts. This can lead to demotivation, demoralization and lack of productivity. Who wants that? Below is an example to illustrate…
Word to the RetailWise XV – I was right…something was up. At the end of the transaction she handed me my receipt and circled a website name printed on it.
Word to the RetailWise XVI – Retail organizations – in fact, any type of organization – must have figured out this equation early on…. Sales – Expenses = Profits Or have they?
Your Retail Business & Your Dreams – At that very moment, he realized that he had invited every problem, every issue, however important or insignificant, to be his and his alone…
“Dominate Holiday Sales” – Click on the Banner:
Some of Our Customers’ Organizations
ABC | ACCENTURE | ACE MART | ADIDAS | ADVENTURE HQ | AL DAWAA | ALMUTLAQ | AML FOODS | ANN FONTAINE | ARAMARK | AVON | BEST BUY | BOSE | BOSTON COLLEGE | BROOKSTONE | BROWN SHOE | CALVIN KLINE | CANADIAN TIRE | CAPGEMINI | CHICO’S
