Why don’t you stay a little bit longer

n 1997 ailing discount chain Fakta, owned by Danish retail giant Coop, had a fiery- red bottom line. The customers stayed away. The employees fled. The stores were worn down. The chain’s overall reputation was at rock bottom. When CEO Claus Jensen left the company 10 years later, he and the dedicated people around him, including management consultant Peter Horn, by using experience leadership as a critical tool, had succeeded in one of the greatest... Read More

The front-end retail engine room

You can find many advanced studies on how to design a sales-focused retail performance management system. Here is a simple one that works. What you want is: (1) Facts instead of feelings; (2)  Ways of identifying best practice stores and behaviors and (3) Data for improved decision making and investments in product mix and sales campaigns.   by Peter Bur Andersen and Thomas... Read More

A tool guide to quality locations

Authentic retailers have an ability to always find the right location for their stores, which is why they continue to grow and are considered truly successful. Choosing the right location is without a doubt one of the most important elements in a retail strategy, because it affects long-term brand building and business and it is extremely capital intensive.   by Peter Bur Andersen Source:... Read More

Do you need more traffic?

Not more than a decade ago companies that wanted to sell a product would contact a marketing agency, pay them excessively for a campaign and then wait for customers to come into their shop, tearing the discounted products off the shelves. There are many brands that still employ this model today and to a certain extent it works. Most of your sales staff would argue that it definitely is, but this might also be simply a poor excuse!   by... Read More

A HYBRID RETAIL WORLD

In a not too far away future we will be morphing between carbon and bytes, we will be super users of digital services, we will be multi-dimensional and non-local, we will have a sea of floating digital representations and be fascinated by authenticity and humanity. Retailers will need to re-think how they position themselves outside their stores.   by Peter Bur Andersen Source:... Read More

The sincere salesman

Does the combination of selling and sincerity grate on the ear? Then it ́s because you have met too many of so called super sales men who hold the pistol to the head of the customer, giving you an offer you can ́t refuse. He changes jobs eternally and his customers never come back. Including a 5-phase guide to recruitment in retail environments.   by Helle Katholm Knutsen and... Read More