Change 1: Shopping has become a leisure activity, yet few retailers really embrace this. It’s an easy way to blow a day; head in to the mall, mix with friends, spend some coin if you see something nice. How could retailers enhance this experience, improve socialising aspects, add some experiential surprises, and heighten the overall weekend leisure experience?

Change 2: For retailers, rent has increased as a percentage of business costs. This is radically changing which retailers can make a profit in the prime retail real estate (think malls, airports and high streets). If a brand has it’s own shop, it can make a profit selling to it at wholesale, and then the shop can make a small loss, and the brand still wins overall. This helps explain the explosion of ‘vertical’ in retail, where you can absorb high rents across a deeper profit chain. Unfortunately, this decreases diversity in bricks and mortar retail still further, as any airport shopper will have noticed (every airport has the same luxury shops).

It’s interesting times in retail, and the way to make money will not be the same as it was last decade.

More appropriately to your article the internet provides massive choice. Books is obviously one but I can go to pro-Direct in the UK and choose one of 400 styles of football boots, in any half size and have it arrive on my doorstep in 5 working days at half the price…but more importantly to me I have choice and I am in control of the ”process”. Rebel sports would have 30 styles, unlikely to have your size, have no idea what they are selling or interested in who they are selling it to, they would make us queue up as in a soup kitchen and eventually process my disappointing purchase, without smile or feeling. There is little retail loyalty anymore; the experience is too often flat and miserable…

When was the last time you entered a mall and went wow! I suspect you have seen every damn one of them (retailers) over and over and over again…and guess what they haven’t changed a dot……….and it doesn’t really matter which mall you visit…the lugubrious experience will be repeated.

The demise of many complacent retailers is upon us. They might be propped up and bailed out in the short term but their time is nearly up. Dymocks/A&R/QBD all in the same malls selling the same pathetic range of books at ridiculously high prices (world comparatively) is clearly doomed. This year we will have closures and that will be just the start.

Loved that insight , brilliant as always.

Re, predictable.

The prehistoric crocodile has survived so long – and individuals live for a very long time, unless subjected to Rule 303 – due to two things:
1. It is very observant, adaptable and patient.
2. Its prey is very predictable. Croc notices when and where you pull water at the riverside on day 1, confirms the pattern on day 2, and strikes on day 3.

When living on riversides, always disrupt your daily patterns and keep the croc guessing.
For retail crocs, trading on seasonal predictability, survival has become easy pickings.

Yeah great comments. I have a friends who recently opened a shop on the South Coast (Vintage Surf Boards/ Fashion Store). He does well for the location and come January I had saved my spare pennies to head in and grab a new board and some clothing during the sale. Surprisingly, he didnt go on sale, never has, never will. Was a real culture shock for me however hats off to him, he just offers great products, well priced that meet a local need. The best he has done is 10% off when I spent over $500 on surfboards for the kids at Christmas.

Its a great lesson that every retailer can learn from. He has adopted the idea of becoming a part of the social fabric for the local community rather than become a discounter… he runs cool events, gigs, supports the local surf community well and is alway around town offering advice to kids in the surf. Thats why people go there. Not for the SALE sign.

Ben

There are many things a bricks-and-mortar (BAM) store can offer that online retailers can’t. There is more to shopping than just the best price.

In my opinion, BAM stores have to evolve and start to emphasise their strengths to their customers:

-I need it now!
-I want to try it on
-I need some advice from an expert I can trust
-I want to pick it up and try it
-I want a demonstration and the ability to ask questions
-I want to be able to get a refund or exchange if need be easily
-I want a warranty that works in my country
-I want to have fun shopping with my friends

For many stores their creation of an online shopfront is a knee jerk reaction.

Stores need a seamless online/offline experience, which is another thing that purely online retailers can’t offer.

What about a marketing campaign around “buy it today, take it home today!” If they trained their staff to hone in on propositions like this, they would eliminate online competition from all but the most price sensitive buyers (i.e. the people that can’t really afford it and you don’t want as customers).

Retailers like Gerry Harvey should stop focusing on the tiny 3% competition and start honing in on the opportunities that are unique to them…