Retail Strategy Group | The Merchant Life

Insights for Success. Acquiring customers isn’t costly, losing them is. And, they can be lost when a company fails to deliver on what the customer is looking for. But, why should that even happen in the first place? Especially since companies can get more information and insights about their customers than ever before. How can retailers/brands make use of insights for product creation and not just for marketing? We discuss in our latest contribution to Retail Insider. Link to the article is in the comments. #insights #marketing #retail #productcreation

Nike Should Say NIMBY. Nike has apparently “missed the running boom” while brands like ON, Hoka, and Asics have capitalized on it. One way these competitors are winning over runners has been to show up in Portland, OR and engage with the running community in Nike’s backyard. Reps from those competing brands reportedly show up more frequently than those from Nike. Runners comment that Nike doesn’t dominate run culture like it once did. As companies aggressively market on the ground, they can make a move when a runner wants to try something new. Seems like the home team is having their fridge raided. Or are they? Nike’s sales clocked in at $51 Billion in 2023 while competitors like New Balance and ON hit $6.5 billion and (almost) $2 billion respectively. So, there shouldn’t be much to worry about. And therein lies the issue. Open up your copy of Shoe Dog and find the section where Phil Knight writes: "Some banker, creditor, or competitor may try to stop me, but they’re going to have to bleed to do it." It doesn’t seem like competitors today have to sweat all that much, let alone bleed, to take market share. Consider that when we walked the exhibition floor at The Running Event in 2022, there was a ton of activity and hustle at the ON and Hoka booths. In contrast, the Nike booth was dull, empty and lifeless. While others gain traction, Nike waffled on a wholesale strategy, makes lame excuses like “remote work stifles creativity” and reportedly has a climate of risk-aversion. Here’s the deal. If Nike wants to dominate running, it can. It has the money, the brand power, the talent and a history of winning. In fact, if it wants to win anywhere, it probably can. For example, the most popular athlete in the US right now is Caitlin Clark. Nike elbowed Adidas, Puma and Under Armour out of the way to make sure she signed with the Swoosh. Nike is also showcasing new innovation under the brightest lights at the Paris Olympics. So, this isn’t a business issue. Nothing to do with EBITDA or margins or distribution channels or marketing campaigns. This is about embracing the competitive spirit that carried Nike through its embryonic stages. Having a sense of pride knowing that Nike is the OG of winning the market one customer at a time. Knowing that playing it safe means giving opportunity for the competition to pull ahead. And that starts with winning in their backyard first. #nike #running #innovation #retail #winathome

The System Always Kicks Back. Here’s your science lesson of the day: In Chemistry there is such a thing as an “Equilibrium Law.” It is more commonly referred to as Le Chatelier’s principle, named after the French chemist Henry Louie Le Chatelier. To describe the principle in layman’s terms: If you disturb a system, the system always kicks back. Turns out that in retail, processes and systems also kick back. Consider this scenario: Brands have an assortment comprised of seasonless or core/basic items and new fashion items. The seasonless stuff is evergreen in the assortment, while the fashion stuff catches the eye of the customer. So, if fashion is what draws attention, then brands go all in on fashion. But, this leads to overdevelopment and over-assorting products. This in turn leads to excess inventory, markdowns and losing out on margin. Eventually, the system kicks back. SKU’s are cut, open-to-buy budgets are reduced, and inventories are right-sized. However, the assortments are scaled back to the point where they start to be perceived as bland and boring. The system kicks back again. Time to ramp up the fashion part of the assortment to gain relevance. You can see the conundrum here. Read more about this and how brands can do better by heading over to our blog. The link is located in the comments. #retail #processinnovation #innovation #processimprovement #merchandising

Being materialistic is a great thing. So, ignore what the minimalists tell you. Allow us to explain. Accelerating speed to market helps retailers/brands prevent excess inventory, drive full-price sales, and preserve margins. Increasing speed comes from innovating the processes that are used to bring products to market. In other words, how brands go to market as opposed to what brands bring to market. One example of this process innovation is transforming the relationship between design and materials. We discuss this in detail in our contribution to Sourcing Journal entitled "There's No Shame in Being Materialistic." Read more here: http://bit.ly/4c43p9w #sourcing #materials #processinnovation #retail #apparel

It's more than just filling a prescription or getting an eye exam. There are bigger opportunities for optometrists and opticians to build on the retail side of their business. It starts with learning about retail fundamentals and how they differ from marketing. Also, it's about embracing the fashion component of eyewear. Liza Amlani talks about this on the Women of Optometry (WO) Voices Podcast. Follow the link in the comments to find Part 1 of this two-part conversation. #optometry #retailing #marketing #eyewear #fashion

Self-checkout seems to be a hot topic again. Liza Amlani was on CBC National News a few days ago giving her take on the subject. Many retailers are missing the mark by choosing checkout lanes managed by an associate or the technology. It really comes down to to the balance of tech and touch. Meeting your customer how they want to complete their shopping experience with you, asking them what they prefer and creating the cx accordingly. 📺 "Checkout" what Liza had to say! #retail #selfcheckout #technology #retailtech

⛳ The Best Way to Make $10 Million in a Day ⛳ I don’t care much for golf. Candidly, I find it boring. When I was younger, I didn’t really “get” the game. It wasn’t until I saw Robin Williams do his standup routine on how golf was invented that I finally understood what the fuss what about. But, if you tell me I can make $10 million in a day selling golf gear, I’ll change my name to Arnold Palmer. This is exactly what the merchandise sales bring in at Masters in Augusta, Georgia. Exclusive items available only at the event drive the jaw-dropping number. These include limited edition polo shirts by Peter Millar. They also include golf memorabilia and the coveted Master’s garden gnomes. You might say these sales numbers are because the Masters experience is one you file under “once in a lifetime.” I agree. But maybe, this is part of a bigger force in golf retail... 🗞️ Continue the latest Merchant Life read here --> https://lnkd.in/e4wzu43b #golf #golfretail #merchandising #retail

You'll Need More Than Culinary Clichés. A recent WSJ article had an interview with new Macy's CEO, Tony Spring, who loves using food metaphors to talk retail. “It doesn’t take a lot of baking powder to make bread, but without it you don’t have bread.” The meaning being: little things can make a big difference. Tony will need more than culinary clichés to pull Macy’s out of its current location between a rock and a hard place. After reading the article, I felt the need to let my inner foodie shine and share a food metaphor of my own. "Taste Your Own Cooking." Every chef worth their salt (pun intended) tastes their meal while preparing it. Adjusting the seasoning as needed before putting the final product out for consumption. How often does a CEO “taste their own cooking” to understand how their customers experience their brand? Do they shop their stores undercover to get the unfiltered truth? If you read any WSJ article about Macy’s and want your daily serving of outrage, read the comments section. You’ll see many complaints about Macy’s stores across the USA. And if you are out there tasting the cooking and don’t like the taste of it, adjust accordingly. Don’t hold your nose, serve it up and try to convince me that is it gourmet. I truly hope Tony does well in his tenure as CEO. Fending off aggressive investors and their buyout offers is no small feat. But, at some point, if Macy’s fortunes don’t improve, the only culinary thing I will think about is Gordon Ramsay saying: “I wouldn’t trust you to run a bath, let alone run a restaurant." #macys #retail #ceo #customerexperience

A few more days to go until we head to New Delhi to speak at India's Global Textile Expo, Bharat Tex 2024! In partnership with PDS Limited and Techno Design GmbH: ⭐ Liza will be sharing product creation insights, hosting a fireside chats with Pallak Seth, Rajive Ranjan & Sanjay Jain + sharing the main stage with a few global retail leaders discussing the future of sourcing as a service. ⭐ Find Liza at the PDS booth, the official fashion partner of Bharat Tex! #productdevelopment #digitalproductcreation #innovation #supplychain

Brands need to start looking under the hood of their product development practices. Transparency and traceability regulations have arrived in the EU and similar ones will arrive here in time. This means, brands must have clear visibility into all components going into their products and how they are made. Transparency also gives brands the opportunity to simplify product development. This impacts profitability. Imagine a basic cotton dress. • First the cotton is farmed and picked in China. • The raw cotton is shipped to a spinner in India and is mixed with raw cotton from other countries. • The yarns are then sent to a textile mill to develop a fabric in the EU. • The fabric is then sent to China to produce the cotton dress. • These garments are then exported to the U.S. You can imagine the hours wasted in transit, the cost of shipping, and the number of touchpoints before these garments reach a distribution center. Add a trim to that basic cotton dress and more touchpoints are added to make the final garment. Imagine that same basic cotton dress where a brand partners with their factories. • The cotton is farmed and picked in India. • The raw cotton is shipped to the spinner in India. • The yarns are sent to the textile mill…in India. • The fabrics are sent to the factory in India to produce the dress. • Country of origin and export = undoubtedly India. That change can only happen when you know the identity of all pieces in the supply chain puzzle. Creating the paper trail of product transparency will be critical and excuses of not knowing will cost more than a slap on the wrist. It will also cost brands revenue. #supplychain #merchandising #tracking #traceability #retail