At the risk of showing my age, I recall a pop song when I was younger that was entitled 'Stuck in the middle with you'.” Perhaps that title could easily apply to the many retailers out there who, to varying degrees, are stuck in the middle ...

“Basically we get confused a bit about what retail is. It is really just buying things, putting them on a floor and selling them.” - Gerry Harvey. I don’t think that retail is especially complex After all, when all is said and do...

I have a view that some of our leading retailers are very vulnerable to competition arriving from off shore retail - such as Gap and Zara.  That along with the revolution in online sales growth. Both of these forces are transforming the w...

Tired of the same old humdrum 'stack it high watch it fly'? Bored with the same old retail strategy delivering the same retail results with a variance somewhere between two to 10 per cent up or down on any given week? We all love a little bit o...

Do you remember that wonderful saying by Adam Urbanski? “If we always do what we have always done, we will get what we have always got”. Mid season, end of season, end of financial year, pre-Christmas and post-Christmas sales mean that...

The revolution in retail has been marching steadily on over the past decade. As retailers we must understand the forces driving the revolution and then explore new ways of responding and doing business in order to capture and larger, more loyal base...

In many years of retailing I have rarely seen a successful ‘fit’ retailer move from a primary position in a shopping centre to a secondary position lured simply by lesser rental. I have however witnessed one such occurrence: a retailer i...

No surprises to see that the metaphors between elite sport and elite business continue to be insightful and relevant. Many years ago a prospective employer of mine, said that a defining qualification for him of an employee’s CV was whether or ...

Recent retail indices do not look good for the unfit retailer. The Evans report (April 29) reveals Australia's retail sector will hit tough times in the next six months, with consumer sales, discounting and weakening foot traffic rose as key concerns...

The role of ‘fit’ customer value is the subject of numerous articles, presentations, company values and leadership talks.  And the subject has kept many a CEO and consultant gainfully employed. Yet I do wonder if the broad term of ...

Connecting with customers has always been a crucial factor in any retail business. In the past this was limited to the owner of the corner store knowing their customers on a first name basis and the local cafe remembering your coffee order each mo...

Did you know that the conversion ratio of shoppers to buyers in specialty retail only averages approximately 15 per cent? This means that 8.5 out of every 10 people who walk through your doors leave empty handed! For example. A specialty retail st...

Did you know that listed retail businesses sold for an average of over 10 times multiple profit in the period between February 2001 to September 2008? Sure it’s flattened a little in recent times for all the obvious reasons, although it doe...

Have you heard the adage ‘with all things being equal’ then price will be the difference in the customer’s mind?   This naturally leads us to question, how do you maximise your inequality such that price and margin are...

“You better start swimmin’, Or you’ll sink like a stone, For the times they are a-changin’.” Bob Dylan’s famous words from 1963 still ring true today. The times are changing and it is important as a retailer ...