Recent Blog Posts

 Here is a Vancouver Sun article on Build Direct.  

Its a great example of entrepreneurial startup, growth, branding and e-commerce innovation.

http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=f6290893...

Retail BC's annual Passion for Retail Conference is just a few weeks away. The Green Retail theme for this British Columbia business showcase is especially timely considering the increased challenges in becoming more sustainable when dealing with the uncertainty of a tough economy.  

This event will certainly help decision-makers and those serving the sector alike.  Always the ultimate networking event for the BC retail community, this year's Conference should be a real winner.

David Ian Gray is honoured to be named the Conference Chair. In addition to setting the agenda within the Green Retail umbrella, he has used his network to bring together a standout group of presenters from the region and beyond.

This includes Peter Robinson (David Suzuki Foundation and ex-CEO of Mountain Equipment Co-op) and noted author and green biz leader Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farm and Managing Director of Danone Europe.  Retailers represented include London Drugs, Pharmasave, Lululemon and two innovative independent retail entrepreneurs.

The 'recession pricing' for this event is an incredible deal.  For more information and to register, please click this link:

http://www.retailbc.org/InformationEvents/Events/PassionforRetailMay2009...

At the same time research firms continue to lever phone surveys, build expansive web panels and focus energies online, the importance of sound in-store research for retailers is more crucial than ever.

Retail executives and product vendors are paying close attention to the overall store experience as core component of the brand and competitive strategy.  This includes staff interaction, messaging, merchandising and display...ultimately the rich, holistic customer experience. Is the point of contact not then the proper place to gather shopper opinion of this experience?

Research suppliers' are heavily invested in web development and call-centres. Brands and products are the focus of their major, non-retail research clients.  This
Unfortunately, cost differences between techniques combine with these factors to persuade some researchers to present to retailers inappropriate options. Yet the retailer must still dictate their need for timely, in situ feedback on the store experience, rather than general survey questions posed weeks or months after a store visit.

Onsite research can be quantitative (in person surveys via pen-and-paper or handheld devices) or qualitative (companion shopping with a trained interviewer, or ethnographic observation).  These are the best ways to deeply evaluate the store experience.

These techniques can also be the best means to reach certain segments (there are less optimal virtual reality models, but these are very costly and not as true to life). Consider hard-to-reach populations, such as shoppers of a particular niche specialty store.  For sufficient quantities for a survey sample, these can be impossible to reach through research firm web panels. Or at least they will require a massive starting sample to work down to qualified shoppers via web or phone. 

In these cases, an in-store approach can be a money-saver.  Granted, in-store otherwise is more expensive than other techniques on a per-complete or per-respondent basis and therefore is not a good substitute when a panel or phone approach can deliver the right findings.

However, there is one cost-effective hybrid approach often endorsed by DIG360. This is used when the subject matter allows for a response away from the store, after the store visit.  Survey participants are generated through an active, well-conceived in-store promotion. This is much more than tacking on a web address to a receipt. This will be the subject of a later post.

Retailers and researchers must continue to seek ways to include store-based feedback that suits the retail business need and budget.

 This is a great post by Seth...http://preview.tinyurl.com/dbzfuq

Retailers need to be cognizant of the language they use that they all too often mindlessly 'cut-and-paste' over and over. Why should customers relly sign up for e-newsletters or in-store contests?  I would add this is also endemic in the market research industry with their cookie-cutter survey introductions.  

What's great about Seth Godin's response if he presents an equally compelling, but far more respectful approach.

http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451b31569e201156f5d6a81970b

For those who are interested, you can connect with me on Linked In and Plaxo (updates via Pulse), or follow me on Twitter.

Linked In and Plaxo

I mostly share smaller snippets through these two network sites: general projects (don't name clients, nothing confidential though); links and articles; and current areas of study. Please note: I generally only link here with people I have met or know in my professional circle or who associate directly with same or are referred through other connections. There are always exceptions though...

www.linkedin.com and www.plaxo.com

These are much more professional versions of facebook.  For those who don't like to share everything to the world, but build a tight work, professional, industry or career network...linkedin and plaxo are the best bets. 

Twitter

My twitter name is @davidiangray.  I use this to scan info daily on retail themes or sustainability (from a supply chain, consumer pov).  And to follow some interesting thinkers.  I share with followers repurposed articles of interest, or quick links to emerging data.

Twitter has its detractors and its limitations.  The attraction for me is that it focuses on sharing knowledge, rather than connecting people - there are plenty of tools for the latter.

www.twitter.com

 DIG360.ca

Don't forget, you can set up an RSS feed from this, the www.dig360.ca website. This will cover periodic articles or longer opinion pieces.

With Canwest (Canadian newspaper empire) on the brink and various agencies getting quiet, it is obvious Canadian retailers are following US counterparts in cutting ad spend this year.

While perhaps prudent fiscally, there is a great risk that a prolonged paring of image building and reinforcement can lead to longer term brand damage that transcends any recession.  This will be compounded where retailers shift from their current value proposition and brand platform to a low price/value position in store.

The better approach is not a culling of messaging, but rather a shift from content to creative message delivery.  How can we continue to get our message out in a clever, cost-effective manner?

Too many retailers short-change the potential impact of their physical stores ... a great latent media source in their own right.  Our research repeatedly confirms the importance to shoppers of storefronts and windows triggering first-time visits to stores, more so than any other media in most cases.  Rare exceptions being the hyped store openings of high profile global chains (such as H&M).  Stuart Hemerling has shared his related findings below from an ecommerce study by his firm, Prophis eResearch.

Most importantly, retailers own this media channel.  Perhaps now is the time to consider compelling refreshing of windows and storefronts, and merchandising inside, while continuing to develop insight as to shifting shoppers emotional wants and needs beyond tangible product and price.  It costs relatively little to craft a compelling visual narrative ... and the payback can be big.

Yesterday's announced purchase of the 750 stores of The Source is likely just the first of retail M&A activity we will see in 2009.  And this is a biggie and frankly I did not see this one coming.

The Source is Circuit City's rebranded Radio Shack locations in Canada, having been acquired from InterTAN five years ago this month.  It has been on the block since late last year - not due to weak performance itself, but due to the receivership and collapsed support of Circuit City in the U.S..

Known suitors were The Brick, Best Buy Canada and a current management group.  However, Bell's move is a shrewd one. Prime competitor Rogers has been successfully leveraging its retail channel to be a one-stop outlet for its communications and entertainment offerings.In addition to selling, high traffic retail windows are an inherently strong brand and media channel in their own right.

Bell needed to catch up on outlets, particularly in the West.  No figures were revealed, but this must be at a significant discount given current market conditions and an expedient way to develop profound mall exposure in one fell swoop.  Not to mention the likely long-term severing of Rogers' access to consumers through the existing Source agreement.

My only caveat is the historic inability of tech and telecom companies in Canada to do great retail (Dell and Apple excepted, think A&B Sound). BCE has announced The Source will retain its brand and be run as a distinct unit with incumbent leadership and staff.

This is the right step, if they commit to in long-term. While tempting to be exclusively "Bell", the consumer may be turned off by merchandise disequilibrium this could cause. Either way, it remains to be seen if management will be able to focus on continuing its reinvention begun by Circuit City. Radio Shack had become stale and a convenience-store version of better offerings from Best Buy/Future Shop.  Even with solid refreshment and better product mix under The Source, sales growth was more muted that that of the overall electronics category. 750 stores can become deadweight fast should Bell allow it to slip back to mediocrity. 

As the NHL Trade Deadline looms, this is the biggest "deal" so far in 2009. Watch for more rescues and hostile takeovers as part of retail consolidation in over the course of the next 12-16 months.  

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Andrew Willis' blog makes additional point that this may also strain relationship with Bell Mobility franchisees (but that would never be a deal-breaker for Bell)...  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090303.WBstreetwise...

The following is an op ed by David Ian Gray in this week's Globe-Net newsletter, developed following the very successful Retail Summit on Sustainability we ran in concert with Retail BC (and the tremendous support Metro Vancouver, BCHydro, and VanCity). 

The Globe-Net e-newsletter is an excellent industry resource managed by The Globe Foundation.  The article is reprinted below, and here is a link to the original context: http://www.globe-net.com/other_news/listing.cfm?type=2&newsID=4010

______________

The Canadian retail sector has been slow in responding to the pressures of environmental responsibility, notwithstanding long-time leadership from the likes of Mountain Equipment Co-op or The Hudson Bay Company.  Retail executives polled in our surveys on social and environmental responsibility acknowledge this, ranking themselves no better than at par with, if not lagging, other sectors on sustainability. 

There are a few reasons for this:

1. Retail is a lower-risk sector and relatively benign when compared with petroleum, mining, forestry and manufacturing.

2. It is fragmented with a few large players, a number of smaller chains and many mom-and-pops. Two-thirds of stores in Canada are considered independent, or non-chain. It is harder to rally the sector and easier for outsiders to spot what is not being done.

3. Retailers filter and manage the intersection between people and "things". They are strong on tactics and execution, great at micro-adaptation and adoption, but not so lauded for innovation and long-term strategic change.

However, change has come.  Movement towards sustainable business has had a long, slow burn, but seems to have passed its tipping point. Canadian businesses are acknowledging a revised social contract.  It is time for our retailers to define their place in this new world.

And they are doing just that.  Since 2007, more and more retailer action is reported, from the largest chains down to innovative start-ups.  Those surveyed executives agree sustainability is a growing priority for their business.  A recent DIG360/Retail BC dialogue on sustainable retail drew the cream of retail leaders in British Columbia. A great energy was maintained throughout the discourse.  Occupying a unique position of influence (with customers, staff, and suppliers), retail is rife with possibilities.  The store is the face of business the public sees every day. 

Wal-mart’s initiatives are surely striking in their scale.  However, this is not just about big retail. Independent stores are a fertile ground for innovation - once you get past the numerous operations that simply make-work for owners. A green retailer is not sustainable if it is not fiscally viable. Many will sink. Their legacies will be the creative Darwinian evolutions that engage shoppers to rethink their actions, and that inspire the major players in the sector to adopt new practices.

Retail is tremendously dependent on others. Silos must be broken inside retail organizations, between competitors, and with landlords, vendors and other stakeholders.  Retailers can control their own operational impacts, and this is where most are working today.  However, in terms of shaping the product life cycle or creating better global social conditions, the breakthrough solutions will occur when retail co-creates with others.  Canadian retail leaders must become more comfortable sharing ideas with their peers.  The progress made by Mountain Equipment Co-op working with direct competitors Nike and Patagonia on ethical sourcing is a great example.

Intense competition, low profit margins (in good years), deflationary products and consumers persistently expecting ’sales’ (which drive the need for volumetric growth): retailers face fundamental challenges. Facing exponential growth of "green" recommendations and contradictions, environmental departments nor internal think-tanks are not feasible.  Independent advice is needed from those who understand retail operations and work with retailers to adapt and adopt.  Green advocates should ask how they can help, not just tell retailers what to do.  Retailers should recall lessons from technology adoption: pain can be sidestepped with a clear vision from the top and articulation of needs.

Ultimately, recognition is needed that this is not really about "green" but about change.  While retail can adjust prices and re-stock stores quickly, it is much less comfortable with business transformation.  Yet technology businesses, for example, seem to embrace change.  Perhaps there is opportunity for retailers to use sustainability as the latest catalyst to rethink the business.  Can retail can become more strategic while retaining the executional edge that makes it so successful?  Those reluctant to open that box should look no further than the parallels of the 1990’s with the internet and the rise of e-commerce.  Many viewed websites as funny yellow pages ads, others ignored the internet as a fad, and many crazy ideas arrived fast and disappeared as quickly. The reported death of retail proved false.  But a decade later the web has transformed how we do and view business.  "Green" will do the same.

Canadian retail survived even thrived through disruptive forces.  It should confidently tackle the tough questions and develop its own approach to sustainability.  It does not need to do this alone, but it has plenty of room to show leadership and rally others to create the future.  A green dollar store will confirm the retail landscape forever changed. With creative brilliance and adequate financing, this will happen - well, maybe a green two-dollar store. 

The following is a BC Business article presenting tips for new retailers on site selection... and maybe a refresher for others.

http://www.bcbusinessonline.ca/bcb/business-sense/need-know/outside-offi...

Too few of us remember, in the northern climate, February 2nd is an auspicious Day.  Groundhog Day.  The Day for us prognosticators, as the renowned Groundhog forecasters Wiarton Willie (Canada) and Puxatawny Phil (US) reveal their outlook for the remaining slate of winter.

But was of the missed opportunity to help generate not only groundswell but provide a respite in the bleak days when winter is like a party that has just passed its peak fun. 

I'll hold back my annual call for a Stat Holiday in this post.  But seriously... what about injecting a little fun at a traditionally tough time in retail?  I have spoken of the opportunity for Groundhog Day promotions in the past. 

A colleague today forwarded this e-flyer from Pier 1 - great idea!  Please let me know if you see any malls or other retailer running something similar.  Now is the time for some creative business-building!