FSP Retail

FSP Retail Blog

Reserve, Collect and Spend a Little More

Posted At : 16 June 2009 11:49

I see David Wild has noted that “Reserve & Collect success drives 90% growth in multi-channel revenue” when announcing the Halfords preliminary results last week. What he means is that Halfords are making a killing out of people who can’t be bothered to go and look around the shop, or, more likely, are savvy enough to know that time spent in a fruitless search around the shop is time lost from more worthwhile pursuits. Halfords have tapped into the very sound idea that people can surf for their goods from the comfort of their own home, then pop in to collect when they’re out and about anyway. This saves on the delivery charge for the customer, but has the benefit that these customers are brought into the store anyway, offering Halfords the opportunity to persuade them to part with more cash whilst they’re there. Looks like a win:win to me.

But, with Verdict announcing that “online spending is growing by £2.4 billion in 2009” and “e-Retail is proving to be a star performer in the recession”, where does this leave the average store and the already much-trampled retail property business?

As FSP knows, through extensive research in the retail world, people don’t just shop because they need something. Those that do, who are driven by efficiency, will be the first to make their shopping event even more efficient by use of the internet and such initiatives as “Reserve & Collect”. But, what about the others? There are those who are driven by the purchase itself and those who see it as a social event. With the desire to find something with which they will be really pleased, the purchase driven consumer will still hunt around the shops. Whilst the leisure driven consumer is unlikely to see web-browsing as adding to their enjoyment. For them, shopping is a well-crafted hobby, irrespective of the resulting purchase.

Whether you’re a retailer, a shopping centre owner or involved in town centre planning, you have to know your catchment and then target your stores or product to reach those who want to get out and shop.

Comments (0) |

Send |

del.icio.us |

Digg It! |

Linking Blogs

More Reasons . . .

Posted At : 05 June 2009 14:52

When Morrisons gobbled up Safeway, many of us southerners were a little concerned that the philosophy might not fit down here. I’m not sure how much the philosophy has changed, and how much we’ve been crunched by the lack of credit and are therefore willing to revise our shopping habits, but Morrisons is one of the few just now who are recording increases in their sales.

Our very own retail talking head, Geoff Nicholson, was invited to discuss this with BBC Radio Wales. As he pointed out, Morrisons, which traditionally focuses on fresh food and low prices, is finding favour with the current back-to-basics, cook at home, watch the pennies spirit.

Geoff however, ever savvy to the shifts in retail demand, questioned the long term viability of food only stores. In Wales, from where those tuned in were listening, there are 20 or so Morrisons stores, very few of which are more than 30,000 sq ft and tend to be located in market towns, not the major centres of population. This limits the opportunity to offer non-food, which has greater potential and offers better margins.

We don’t all want to shop in quasi-aircraft hangars, but we are all getting rather used to having our tea, t-shirts and television all in the same place! It will be interesting to see which way Morrisons progress, in the meantime, you too can seek out Geoff’s view by reading it regularly in SnapShop Monthly, or contacting him here at FSP

Comments (0) |

Send |

del.icio.us |

Digg It! |

Linking Blogs

Liberty, Equality, Sorority

Posted At : 03 June 2009 12:54

Sir Stuart of M&S was quoted in the Guardian at the weekend as saying “Women can get to the top of any single job that they want to in the UK. I mean, what else do you want to do, for God's sake? Women astronauts. Women miners. Women dentists. Women doctors. Women managing directors. What is it you haven't got?” (was this a personal rant or could anyone join in?)

I’m very much in favour of equality where all are treated on their own merits and the colour of their skin or what reproductive equipment they have is actually entirely ignored – many congratulations to Flight Lieutenant Kirsty Moore – but I think Sir Stuart is using the success of the determined few to paint an impossibly rosy picture.

I did wonder if I might have it all wrong when I read that the ratio of male to female town planners is relatively fairly evenly split (although this gives no account of status), but a closer look at the ONS figures showed that this is not typical. Sticking to the other trade we know and love, Retail supports nearly 3 million workers, of whom 62% are women. Of the men in the trade, only 43% work part-time, whereas 68% of women do. No matter how damned good those women are, the weightings are against them – how many part-timers do you know who make it to the top?

Sadly, the belief that it’s still a tough slog was echoed by a conversation with my children who pointed out that many heavily female dominated professions, boast a significant number of men at the top – hairdressing, cooking, dancing and, believe it or not Sir Stuart, retail.

Seems ladies, if you want a fighting chance, become a town planner.

Comments (0) |

Send |

del.icio.us |

Digg It! |

Linking Blogs

Getting our numbers right

Posted At : 21 May 2009 15:54

Early on in my FSP career I was instructed in the value of “Value”. The Value of Retail Sales, in the rawest possible form, completely un-corrupted by seasonal fiddles and unaffected by the transmogrification to Volume as defined in ONS speak here:

“The value of retail sales reported via the monthly survey is converted to a chained volume basis using weighted contributions of price indices for various categories of retail goods.”

Right.

So, ONS have their reasons, and the journalists are now on a feeding frenzy as ONS admit they could have done it differently. What is unequivocal is that despite the re-basing to 2005 (they could do that at any time), what FSP has quoted through SnapShop is still true. Seems our decision to stick to Value is entirely merited and I asked Geoff, our MD, to explain why

“For exactly the reasons that have got ONS into trouble. We take the figures as raw as possible. As soon as you start adjusting figures, there is potential not only for error but for dispute. Even adjusting for seasonality, e.g. date of Easter, is difficult to get right. Value is what the retailer sees – most do not formally adjust their figures at all. And why do we want volume – you can’t pay your bills with volume – value is what matters.

“The whole volume issue is fraught because of the issue of comparability. Is the white shirt included this month really of the same quality as the white shirt included last month? The price checking is conducted by market research interviewers and once you introduce people, hard facts get edged out by subjectivity and black and white becomes grey”.

For more on what Geoff thinks, you can read Geoff’s view in SnapShop Monthly and see the ONS Retail Sales Unadjusted Value figures along with other key economic indicators our UK Overview

Comments (1) |

Send |

del.icio.us |

Digg It! |

Linking Blogs

SSM May 2009 - So Typically English

Posted At : 21 May 2009 15:28

Many jokes have been told about the English over the years - about our stiff upper lips, love of scones and clothes made of tweed - but nothing is quite as quintessentially English as a good old cup of tea and a cigarette, is it?

Unfortunately, while tea is still in abundance, its harder to get a cigarette these days than it used to be; you have to be older, hardier and much more wealthy than in the past, and if you want one with your pint down the local then you better be as weatherproof as Ronseal Quick Drying Woodstain, because outside is the only option! Or so we thought…

The landlady of the Cutting Edge in Barnsley has exploited a loophole in the country's smoking ban by opening a "smoking research centre" where drinkers can legally light up.

Patrons must fill in a questionnaire on their smoking habits to satisfy legal requirements before sitting down for a drink and a cigarette, but are then free to drink and smoke as they please! And maybe what they’re pleased to drink could soon be changing too, as the first alcoholic brewed tea drink – called Twisted Tea - is set to hit Tesco shelves later this year.

…Vices? What vices?

Comments (0) |

Send |

del.icio.us |

Digg It! |

Linking Blogs

Many Happy Returns

Posted At : 20 May 2009 11:32

Lots of birthdays going on at the moment – or should I say birth-years - as many retailers seem to be celebrating the fact that they’ve been around for significantly more than the average person (even the cosseted and therefore presumably well-preserved MPs!)

Marks & Spencer are celebrating 125 years, as are Jaeger, whilst Sainsbury’s has clocked up a whopping 140 years! We at FSP can barely compete; what we had considered a reasonably mature 30 years, seems barely pubescent in comparison!

A look at the FSP database of retail information shows that the three grandfathers of retail mentioned above are not alone. The award for amazing durability goes to Ede & Ravenscroft, tailors of distinction. Their timeless offer and niche service offering mean that 320 years on they still have a loyal following and a place in a select market.

The league table of oldest retailers is most definitely dominated by high end exclusivity. You won’t be surprised to hear that retailers older than 200 years include Fortnum & Mason, Villeroy & Boch, Wedgwood, Hamleys, Mappin & Webb, Asprey and Gieves & Hawkes.

The durability of these retailers is undoubtedly a reflection of their ability to afford investment in customer service, along with providing their superior product.

Using FSP’s price classification, retailers identified with an offering any lower than middle were founded much later, although M&Co did made an appearance in 1834 and DE Shoes, Greenwoods and Peacocks were established in the late 19th century.

It will be interesting to see who, out of Primark (founded in 1969 with a Value price stance), Next (founded in 1982 with a Middle price stance) or Mulberry (founded in 1974 with a Premium price stance), will still be around in the 22nd century!

Comments (0) |

Send |

del.icio.us |

Digg It! |

Linking Blogs

FSP values reflected in new board appointment

Posted At : 18 May 2009 15:02

Today we report that our Board of Directors has been strengthened with Ken Gunn joining, a year after moving from CACI to FSP. Ken’s appointment will enhance our already excellent top team and help to grow our business. At FSP we are, however, all fully aware that it’s the team effort that makes us not only an excellent company to work for, but also excellent to do business with.

Today we received praise from two of our SnapShop clients:

“Thanks for the prompt action”

And

“I would like to thank you for your excellent customer service and client care”

As Ken points out in our press release, the way we work allows us to completely focus on resolving client issues. Further to my Supermarket Sweep blog last week, we must be the Sainsbury’s of the Retail Business Consultancy world!

Comments (0) |

Send |

del.icio.us |

Digg It! |

Linking Blogs

Supermarket Sweep

Posted At : 13 May 2009 11:41

The normal categorisation of shoppers, their attitudes, behaviours and lifestages, does not easily apply to supermarket shopping. Shopping can be a social activity, a means to an end and at times, just a chore. The weekly shop falls into the last category and the supermarkets have their work cut out persuading us to frequent their premises. If we didn’t really have to eat, we surely wouldn’t bother trudging round aisles of food?

Having got our attention through lack of an alternative (even MPs with their £400 food allowance have to buy their food somewhere!), they then have to pitch themselves to get the best market share possible. Value for money is undoubtedly much higher profile now than only a short while ago, but, although ASDA and Aldi have lifted their market share recently, it’s barely dented the superiority of Tesco. We already know that more money is spent in Tesco than anywhere else in the country (personally, I take the view that they get enough of everybody else’s money, so don’t get mine). In my town, that leaves my two favourites: Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.

Morrisons has a fantastic, reasonably priced offer, but Sainsbury’s, with an announcement today of everything being on the up, has service AND a smile.

I’m not sure what kind of customer service training programme Sainsbury’s implements, but it works. The staff are always friendly, they always smile and they manage the art so well practised by the Queen, they actually seem interested in you!

I am, of course, basing my view on a very unrepresentative sample of one – my local store in High Wycombe - but as these staff are putting up with difficult circumstances by trading out of a “tent” with limited offer, I would say either the High Wycombe staff are particularly good at customer rapport, or they are representative of Sainsbury’s staff everywhere.

The Sainsbury’s tent is a stop gap whilst the new, shiny and, at 55,000 sqft, truly huge*, store is built. The staff will deserve their new working environment and I shall be visiting them there.

*Telegraph readers note appropriate use of the word – according to SnapShop, an average Sainsbury’s store is only 40,000 sqft of selling space.

Comments (0) |

Send |

del.icio.us |

Digg It! |

Linking Blogs

On The Up!

Posted At : 08 May 2009 16:48

I have never needed the fingers on any hand to count the number of unemployed people I know. There just weren’t any. Undoubtedly environment was a huge factor. Birds of a feather, etc. We’re all white collar, professional, management – all the boring boxes on any census or survey, and nothing that would add substantially to our life assurance premiums. Now I need more than one hand to count my unemployed friends, and all are the type who won’t register on the government’s statistics as they’re living on their past earnings and anyway, surely something’s just around the corner?

Well, maybe it is

A look at the national statistics paints a black picture, but has done for some time. The general decline in value of retail sales (with the only positive effect probably caused by our parliamentary members ensuring they utilise their expense account!), house prices and, well, most things, including our savings and income, can be neatly summarised in the GfK NOP Consumer Confidence survey

Consumer Confidence

But look! There seems to be an upward trend once again (three months counts as a trend, doesn’t it?). The pollsters attribute it to the feel good effect of some decent weather, but are keen to point out that questions were asked before the budget announcement.

However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the upward trend continues. The future’s bright: the newly unemployed do not wish to be, summer’s coming (long and hot) and bath plugs for all I say!

Comments (0) |

Send |

del.icio.us |

Digg It! |

Linking Blogs

SSM April ...And Finally - Two Can Play That Game

Posted At : 28 April 2009 13:48

Entirely used to being the butt of all jokes Ann Summers was on great form this April Fools, both creating their own light-hearted teaser and being the subject of others’…

The infamous, er, ‘lifestyle’ retailer posted a fake listing on their website this year, offering lingerie that becomes invisible in the rising heat of the bedroom!

The listing, found here, proclaims the ‘heat-sensitive polymer technology’ will ‘lift and support in all the right places while making it look like you’re naked’…we wonder if that’s what Jacqui Smith was looking for during her recent visit!.

Comments (0) |

Send |

del.icio.us |

Digg It! |

Linking Blogs

More Entries

or alternatively Email FSP