Store Operations Excellence: Why All That Glitters Is Not Gold

Online stores continue to gain market shares, making it crucial for brick and mortar stores to defend their piece of the cake. An exceptional customer experience and store operations excellence are two promising strategies to keep customers coming despite more convenient channels.

This article is about the operational excellence of brick and mortar stores in times of digitalisation, and why technological innovation will not suffice when it comes to providing an outstanding customer experience. (more…)

The Art of Creating Successful Store Concepts: Manage the Complexity Trap

Amazon closes down all physical book stores, pop-ups and 4-star stores in the UK and US. Do you want to learn how to avoid their mistakes?

Despite the initial media hype and large investments in technology, the stores failed to deliver the expected returns. And while that does come as a surprise, we questioned whether packing stores with digital gimmicks will make up for missing the essentials of retailing right after their opening.

(more…)

Partner Retail is Still the Smarter Retail and Here’s Why

Own and operated stores are a favoured brick & mortar channel, but heavy on investment. In comparison, partner (aka franchise) retail is a capital-light strategy and often far more profitable.

While luxury brands clearly prioritise growing own and operated retail, successful premium brands (i.e. VF or LEGO) invest in growing both. But professionalising partner retail remains a challenge for many brands.

(more…)

Brand Retail Best Practices – Six Areas to Work on this Year

We had two rollercoaster years for the brand lifestyle industry around the globe. Reading the interim financial reports suggests that the majority of top brands have grown, despite pandemic and the global supply chain crisis.

And brand retail continuous to be an essential part of the past and future growth.

(more…)