newsoct08

Sales Opportunities & Solutions

October 2008

In This Issue

* Value: Consumers' New Definition

* Why Developing a New Concept is More Important Today!

* Change: Scheduling To Please Your Most Demanding Shopper

* Around the World of Retailing with Chris Ohlinger: Blarney, Ireland

* SmIleRS...thoughts to make you smile from SIRS

* inSpIRationS...thoughts to inspire you from SIRS

Value: Consumer's New Definition Back to Top

Today, where shoppers choose to shop is very dependent on whom they believe offers the greatest value. But how shoppers define Value has changed - as have their definitions of Quality, Service, Selection, Store Conditions, Convenience and even Low Prices.

HOW HAS CONSUMERS' VALUE EQUATION CHANGED?
Price
Yesterday: 60% of shoppers" ID'ed "correct" prices on 50% of the top 100 food store items
Today: 14% of shoppers" ID'ed "correct" prices on 50% of the top 100 food store items
Tomorrow: From EDLP to Targeted Loyalty Incentive Rewards - Providing the Lowest Prices on Items or Reasonable Alternatives that I Want and Need - while saving on shopping related expenses, including Time and Resources

Service
Yesterday: "Hi, Bye, Thanks, Did You Find Everything
Today & Tomorrow: Agenting is Key

Convenience
Yesterday: Location
Today: One Stop Shopping for Products
Tomorrow: One Stop Shopping for Services and Solutions

Store Conditions
Yesterday: Neat, Clean and Orderly
Today: Interactive Experiences & Technology

Quality
Yesterday: Branded Merchandise and Made in USA/How Long it Lasts vs. Throw Away Society
Today: a Branded Store (not necessarily selling Branded Products)
Tomorrow: Service + Trust

Variety
Yesterday: Selections of Brands, Products and Departments
Today: Always Have What I Want
Tomorrow: Selection of Solutions and Services

Emotion
All great art - prose, poetry, music, painting, sculpture, architecture - has one element in common: its communication strikes an emotional response. The most successful retailers will COMBINE ALL of these elements to move people in a three dimensional world.

Why Developing a New Concept

is More Important Today! Back to Top

Since the late '80's most major retailers have gone for years without developing a new breakthrough concept. The result was a perceived "sameness" in store offerings.

REASONS: WALMART'S DECLINE
Now, an opportunity is on the horizon. Several years ago, for the first time since their inception, Wal-Mart showed a serious decline in their brand strength among shoppers, creating the perfect opportunity for innovative retailers.

BIGGEST NEW CONCEPT MISTAKE: Waiting until it's too late.

The worst mistake a merchant can make is to NOT spend resources creating a New Concept Store - BEFORE HE HAS TO. Sears, Kmart, and Winn Dixie are just a few examples of merchants who rewarded the status quo for too long and developed a culture incapable of developing and executing a successful new concept.

Over the past two decades, the best new concepts have been developed by merchants who didn't HAVE TO develop them as a means of survival (i.e. Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Central Market).

TODAY'S WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR INNOVATIVE RETAILERS
The only constant we will continue to see is that some of the largest chains will disappear and new powers will emerge. Only today, change will happen sooner rather than later.

The consumer market and competitive conditions that exist today make the chances of success in the development of new store concepts the highest they have been for more than 30 years. It's the perfect condition for New Retail Concept Development.

Change, Change, Change: Scheduling to Please Your Most Demanding Shopper Back to Top

Both Presidential hopefuls claim to be the candidate of change. Change can be good and bad. It can mean different things to different people. The same is true with change in the retail environment.

A retailer's image can change, decline or improve, over time among shoppers. However, did you ever consider that this image could change during different days of the week or even during different time segments of a day? SIRS research has shown that it is very common for a store's ratings to vary by day of week and by time of day.
Shopper Segments

OPPORTUNITY
As the graph above shows, a consumer's perception of a store usually declines on the weekend and in the evening. Why is that? First the demographic or lifestyle composition of shoppers change through the week and during the day.

One such example is that on the weekend and later in the day, the average age of a shopper is younger. Also, there is a greater chance of encountering a shopper from a two income household on the weekend and later in the day. Both of these shopper segments are more demanding in their expectations and more critical of store conditions. What do you do?

SOLUTIONS
Schedule for your customers not your DM. Schedule your more experienced personnel in the evening and on the weekends when the more demanding shoppers are in your stores. Review delivery schedules and stocking routines to peak at the right time (not too early) and insure proper conditions when the part-timers are manning the store.

Around the World of Retailing:

Blarney, Ireland

with Chris Ohlinger, CEO

THE BLARNEY WOOLEN MILL - A Complete Adventure with Tradition, Trust and Price
I recently traveled around the world reviewing retailers in "out of the way" places and Off the Beaten Track. In each of our newsletters, I'm going to share with you observations about what I consider the best stores in the world that I visited.

Blarney Woolen Mills three-floor, 30,000 sq. ft. flagship store is located in the picturesque village of Blarney in County Cork. This store is housed in one of Ireland's oldest and most authentic Irish woolen mills.

A great Irish one-stop shopping store, Blarney Mills offers a huge selection of departments & the Best of the Best products of Ireland - merchandised in a way that screams "Authentic" and "Value."

The store carries extensive selections of Waterford & handmade Heritage Irish Crystal, Beleek & Royal Tara China, jewelry, fine arts, silverware, linens, music, books & prints, souvenirs, pottery, family crests, food, and personalized embroidery. They also carry sportswear including a collection of Guinness clothing that was second to none.

The décor is far from plush but very warm and welcoming. And you really do get the feeling that you're in a store that sells real products made in Ireland and inspired by Leprechauns.

Blarney Mills enhances their "Value" statement by offering a Bargain Shop on the 3rd floor. This was also the only store I visited that offered to refund the VAT (Value-Added Tax) on premise - rather than have shoppers apply for it weeks later.

In the tradition of many great concepts, this store incorporates restaurants and other entertaining activities - both indoor and outdoor.