'Now' is the new 'normal'

I get to speak to a lot of retailers during the course of my day job.

Many of them are struggling to keep their heads above water and most of them think they know why;

'It would all be different if the government taxed e-commerce'
'The economy will pick up after the election'
'It's been a warm winter'
'Everything will go back to normal when the football season finishes'

These reasons all have one thing in common - they all assume that the present trading conditions are abnormal and that the sector will somehow return to 'normal' when this or that thing happens.

Last week I met a retailer who offered a more realistic assessment of the retail industry;

'Now is the new normal'

Experience design

The retail industry loves phrases and buzz words - they keep a lot of consultants and analysts in business.

'Experience design' is one of my favourites - it sounds exciting and usually leads to multi or omni-channel strategies that cost a lot of money.

The best in-store experience you can provide for your customers is.......customer service, delivered by an engaged and knowledgable sales person.

Two ways to increase profitability

After twenty five years in the industry, I'd like to think I know a thing or two about retail.

For example, I know that there are only two ways to increase profitability - increase sales or decrease costs (read 'cut wages/staff')

Some CEOs understand that doing the former means that they don't have to even think about the latter however many CEOs only know how to do the latter (which makes the former even harder)

The customer service paradox

Ask most retailers and they will tell you that their customer service is exceptional.

But ask any customer and they will tell you that customer service levels in B&M stores is dreadful.

The fact of the matter is that they are both right.

Some stores provide outstanding customer service and some don't.

The challenge for B&M is that when customers are asked about customer service, they think of the whole retail sector and not specific shops.

The service that your neighbours provide is associated (in the customer's mind) with yours.

We have all received bad customer service but most of us do nothing about it - perhaps it's time to start demanding better - your own business might depend on it.