Trends evolve and become part of our customer’s expectation. Ignoring or fighting them is like swimming upstream against a current stronger than you. Soon exhaustions will set in from the energy you expended and you will succumb and drown. Businesses drown, in spite of good intentions, from misguided beliefs. Energy spent on embracing trends vs […]
Category Archives: Retail News
Buyer’s Toolbox Series: Manage Purchase Orders Join me in this Buyer’s Toolbox Series as I cover the tools I used on a regular basis while I was a corporate buyer. Feel free to learn, interpret, and adopt anything that might work for your business! The Inflows As the lead buyer managing a $20m business across […]
I was recently in Vancouver with my wife to see Justin Timberlake, I know, don’t judge. I may or may not have a little man crush here. While visiting different cities, I love to go shopping. Not to shop so much as to explore and see what various cities, districts and malls are doing to […]
Last time, I spoke about taking the long view with difficult customers, and how it is critically important to keep in mind the lifetime value of the customer when you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to let a customer walk all over you and treat you poorly […]
As specialty retailers and small business owners we judge ourselves. We evaluate the performance of our business and we are looking for constant increases in sales, market share, and our bottom line. Is this constant crave for BETTER/MORE/HIGHER actually toxic to our business and making us perform worse? What is improvement? Improvement can be measured […]
Caught In The Weeds Caught in the weeds, putting out fires, so many ideas but no time get stuff done. Are these phrases part of your everyday vocabulary as a retailer? We have all at times suffered from the “Immagunna” bug. When I have the time I’m gunna achieve this goal or solve that issue […]
Clothing Retail? Sure, I lovvvvve clothes… Retail is a fickle beast. It can suck the life out of you, or invigorate and inspire you. It’s really about your perspective on any given day. Tomorrow is a whole new day with a whole new perspective. Here’s five things I wish I knew about retail before I […]
As a specialty retailer it’s so easy to feel betrayed by your customers. Even your most loyal customers can burn you. After all, how many times have you gone the extra mile for a customer only to have them show up at your store to return that specialty wetsuit that you bent over backwards to […]
The 2018 Retail Showdown: Black Friday vs Boxing Day Which of the two biggest days for sales will reign supreme? By Chelsea Rho, Account Lead, FKA Lest you’ve been living an idyllic hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the northern reaches of this country, you’ve likely noticed the ascent of Canadian Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions from […]