Wednesday 9 April 2008

lords, sirs and bad times

i found myself wide-eyed at the monument to bad 70's architecture that is the london hilton metropole on edgeware road, still reeling from paying 16 rand for each of my few pounds. all around there were signs such as the image below.



i didn't need a second invitation to read this as another chance to bask in the glory of the springboks triumph in the other event that went by that acronym. sport though wasn't the purpose of my visit to the land where the retail industry sustains a weekly printed publication (retail week) which follows its trials and tribulations. i was there for the publication's annual gathering.

i will write more on the two days i spent listening to the british retailers discuss their game, and i will try to draw insights applicable to retail here.

for now though i would like to comment on a theme that emerged from many speeches, be they on private equity in retail, csr, the future of value retailing or any other of the many topics covered.

two words: bad times!

the retail game in the uk, apart from a few shining stars (john lewis partnership a case in point), is batoning down the hatches for a storm that most speakers estimated could last into 2010. this situation has taken the swagger often associated with the lords and sirs that litter british retail, and lead to honesty and frankness during the discussions. all in the audience wanted to know how long? how bad? and what to do?

there was a lot of talk of practical and operational to-do's, especially from charlie dunston of carphone warehouse. the famous buffetism of "only when the tide goes out can you see who's been swimming naked" was even rolled out. if i had to take a strategic theme from the speeches and panels however, it was the overwhelming urgency to differentiate.

differentiate in the eye of the shopper.

when money is tight they need a reason to come to you and you need to be famous for something. it can be location, quality, assortment, service or a multitude of others, but it must be something.

seth godin calls it the purple cow, something remarkable. tom peters calls it the rpov, remarkable point of view. jerry garcia says "you do not merely want to be the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do.”

so it is not a new idea, but it is an imperative in the bad times. shoppers don't buy average when money is tight. ask any fashion retailer and they will tell you that the good styles clear at the same rate as in the good times.

in this country truworths and mr price have carved out spaces that they can largely call their own. this, together with good, honest retail operations, brought them through the last quarter of last year better than most. i recently worked with the brave management of a retail chain who have heeded this advice and i am expecting big things from them.

so differentiate, differentiate, differentiate...the sirs said so!

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