We returned home from an almost three-month residence in Europe with extended stops in the Azores, London, The Algarve, and Tenerife (Canary Islands).
Our own Raj Dhiman summitted Mt. Teide in Tenerife (3,715 m) in the middle of the night. Reaching the top at 8:00 am local time, greeted by the sunrise along with snow and howling cold winds.
He took this panoramic shot during his descent.
Along with picturesque shots, we have updates and opportunities to share with you this month.
Liza sat down with Dan Berthiaume of Chain Store Age, to discuss the current state of merchandising.
Takeaways include:
Process innovation will reduce unnecessary overbuying and overdevelopment.
Getting to know your customer and closing the feedback loop is critical.
Leveraging insights to build a relevant product assortment and evolve WITH the customer.
The full discussion can be found by clicking here.
Download the referenced Merchandising Benchmark report, in partnership with RSR Research (Retail Systems Research) by following this link.
Ranging and assortment planning have always been key skills for retailers. But with the rise in e-commerce and marketplaces, just having the biggest range does not mean it's necessarily the best answer.
Curation is a critical skill that transforms how your customer sees you and your brand. Meanwhile, fast fashion retailers are reinventing the whole product innovation space to drastically accelerate time to market and growth opportunities.
To uncover how ranging, curation and new product development can drive your business, tune into episode 225 of the Retail Transformation Show podcast.
Starting in the springtime, we will be hosting several events.
These will include:
Breakfast meeting for senior leaders in retail tech. Our meeting will focus on the current selling environment for software providers. Topics of discussion include shifting from growth to profitability, barriers towards entering new markets, and growing existing accounts.
Breakfast meeting for senior leaders in merchandising and product creation. Our meeting will touch on topics including accelerating speed to market, forecasting demand, and process innovation. Our first of these events will take place in New York in June —> location and agenda are in the works.
You will walk away with ideas and insights that will be valuable to your efforts for this year.
And, the food is on us - you’ll also walk away with a full belly.
To make sure you have skin in the game, we’ll charge a small fee to attend.
After each event, all proceeds will go to a charity.
More details about these events (and other ones in the works) will be announced in future editions of the newsletter.
We’re borrowing a line from our informal mentor, Alan Weiss.
“If you don’t blow your own horn, there is no music.”
Leaders are telling us they recognize the importance of thought leadership but are strapped for time to put pen to paper.
In short, the instruments are silent.
Meaning a missed opportunity to generate demand.
We’re getting knocks on our door with requests to create content to drive specific business outcomes.
Our guess is that these are not just one-offs.
These are signs of a greater need.
So, we wanted to ask you:
To what extent would it be useful to have a ghostwriter for your company?
Please send your feedback directly to Raj Dhiman as he handles the ghostwriting already completed/in progress with our clients.
E-mail: raj@retailstrategygroup.com
We’re back with Volume 40 of The Merchant Life on March 1st.
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