By Nikki Baird, Managing Partner
10/9/2007
There’s a business axiom that has been around so long, it’s almost cliché: You get what you measure. A couple of weeks ago, Paula wrote about how that applies to retailers in general – that with the rise of multi-channel synergies, year-over-year same store sales growth just isn’t adequate a measure of retail performance anymore. But before retailers are going to be successful in redefining how they measure the performance of their company, they’re going to have to start with how they measure their people. More...
Retail Winners Unify Data Across Channels and Departments
By Paula Rosenblum, Managing Partner
10/9/2007
It has been widely estimated that the customer gives you 2.3 chances to get it right in retail. Mess up a third time, and the customer is gone for life. Switching costs are low and relatively pain-free. As my colleague Nikki Baird frequently says, “Success is no longer determined by how and what you want to sell, but by how and what your customer wants to buy.” The customer is more demanding than ever. The meaning for retailers is clear. More...
The View from Abroad: Tesco has Stores that are 'Right' for its Customers
By Brian Kilcourse, Managing Partner
10/9/2007
On October 3, RSR participated in a London, UK event called “The Glass Pipe: Optimizing Supply Chain Visibility.” The event, hosted by McDonald-Butler and sponsored by IBM and Cognos, was attended by many top-tier UK retailers, including Boots, ASDA, Argos, Debenhams, Selfridges, Body Shop, and Marks & Spencer, among others.
The central theme of the event was “visibility,” and how it is the magic ingredient to enable the retailer to make stores “right” for its customers. More...
Footwear Retail: Searching for Traction
By Steve Rowen, Partner
10/9/2007
Pleasing the fickle nature of shoe shoppers has never been an easy task. Yet in a flurry of seemingly unrelated events, three industry powerhouses have recently announced significant shifts in product and go-to market strategy that, collectively, clearly outline how drastically the landscape of the footwear industry is changing.
To start, Timberland is closing 40 of its retail stores worldwide in the early months of 2008. The majority of those locations closing are large-format stores, but several outlet locations are included on the chopping block as well. More...
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