In certain quarters, the view for the future of retail is getting worse press than an MP filing their year-end expense claim.
It seems every day we see a new victim, with the high street landscape becoming an elaborate televised fight to the death, much like the film The Hunger Games.
If you have been living on the Planet Zorg for the last 10 years and haven’t seen the film, the Hunger Games pitted 24 lads and lasses against each other in a gladiatorial televised battle. At the end, only one can remain alive and become the ultimate victor.
In a famous scene from the Hunger Games, that arch villain President Snow, is asked about Capitol’s strategy for holding The Hunger Games.
He is asked.. Why is there a single winner?
After finishing unwrapping a toffee penny from the Pic N Mix in a recently closed down Woolworths, his answer has become one of the most famous lines in cinematic history..
Hope is the only thing stronger than fear…….
A little hope is Effective…. a lot of hope is Dangerous…..
In essence, President Snow was trying to control his immediate environment by controlling the levels of hope people perceive…
Too much hope and his fear was the Nation of Panem would rebel and break the current status quo… leading to a much more prosperous outcome for the majority, but not old Snowballs himself.
In my view, there are strong parallels with the above situation to where retail is currently perceived, albeit I appreciate retail workers are slightly less likely to be killed by a crossbow or a two headed mutant dog.
There are some strong visionary people out there backing the future of retail, but most retailers need to take a deep breath, puff their chests out and move away from the FEAR towards HOPE.
I think we all fully appreciate that retail overall is potentially on the ropes, but what it needs to revolutionise is LOTS of HOPE, not the current levels of FEAR that will lead to a self fulfilling prophecy of doom.
So why is this post titled – The £100 Retail Rule!
Currently, most businesses due to the rise and fear of online, are cutting payroll. Where 6 stood on the shop floor a few years ago, there are often now 2 or 3, a bit like the shittiest ever episode of The Weakest link.
Some businesses attempt to allocate payroll efficiently as a proportion of revenue, leading to a cycle of doom, as less team, service less people, and the potential service USP of visiting a store over vanilla online experience diminishes.
If you have a 100 room hotel and close 20 rooms because you currently cant fill, you now have a 80 room hotel!
Successful businesses with retail estates over the next decade will undoubtedly have to work to the following…
- The Customer is the Channel – Forget about Online, Retail, Telesales. The average customer doesn’t care. Just make sure customers can get the same great product from where they want
- Differentiated Retail Experience – A compelling reason for the customer to want to go to store to get it
The one thing that Online cannot recreate is human interaction. People!!
Yet People, due to it being a variable cost, are often the first thing to get whacked at the first sign of trouble. The £100 Retail Rule is a simple principle for retailers to bank in their bonce, to ensure they are building their retail business from a commercial, customer and engagement perspective.
Let me explain using this graphic below…
So as a rough rule of thumb it costs £100 to have an additional team member in every day – £50 for a half day for a busy period.
My point is that we need to stop focussing on the potential cost saving of extensive quiet periods and focus on what we are losing during busy periods.
In the retail business I work in, a team member could do a sale in just 30 minutes that could bring in £500… A weeks 40 hours wage in 30 minutes…
Any retailer worth their salt would certainly make sure they weren’t sitting on their thumb for the remaining 39.5 hours, but they have paid for themselves, quicker than Speedy Gonalez on jelly tots.
More team also gives retail management more scope to lead their teams….
- to have time promote and sell product
- to give differentiated customer service
- for the team to get regular toilet and lunch breaks
- for the team to get better coaching and training
- to get involved in new initiatives
- Minimise the house of cards scenario where one person goes sick and the store becomes like the last 10 minutes of the film Zulu.
Retail isn’t dead…. Boring Retail is!
Haway man, my fellow retailers. Lets get more confident and bullish, work hard and invest sensibly to build a differentiated experience.
To my non retailer friends, get down onto the high street, give us feedback, and help us transform our towns and cities!!
