Time to jump onto the retail controls

“It makes no sense to worry about things you have no control over because there’s nothing you can do about them, and why worry about things you do control? The activity of worrying keeps you immobilised”. – Wayne Dyer.

Recently, I’ve spent many hours in the company of retailers who consume an inordinate amount of time worrying about factors outside of their control. The interest rate decision, the weather, carbon tax, their retail competition, competitive pricing strategies; it’s becoming easier to blame retail unfitness on factors we have no control of instead of concentrating on become fitter by taking control of what we can control.

Becoming a controller rather than a worrier will make you a much fitter retailer. It will force you to review areas you may have previously overlooked and see you implementing operational strategies that will make a real difference to the health of your business.

Let’s take a look at some of the key “fitness” areas you can control:

Your vision and your mission

One of the first areas we recommend for “retail fitness” is revisiting the company vision and mission and truly articulating them. Why are you doing what you are doing? Do you breathe the “why” into your company from the bottom to the top? What are your business goals?

Your differentiation

You cannot be in the business of retail without a solid product or service differentiation and a plan of how you will market this to your employees and your customer base. Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) should live beyond just “better customer service” or “bigger range” – it is about what you deliver that nobody else in the marketplace can or does as part of your bigger vision.

Your image, branding, impact and consistency of visual appearance

Your image sits at every brand touchpoint, from media releases, internal office space right through to your store space. When was the last time you audited your brand for consistency and relevance at every multi-channel touchpoint both internally and externally?

Your positioning, advertising and marketing campaigns

Is your differentiation message, vision and consistent branding coming across in your marketing and advertising campaigns? Customers need to know why they should believe in and buy from you.

Your customer experience

Review and amend your in-store or online customer experience including design, layout and efficiency to maximise sales.

Internal operations

There are a number of internal operational factors that you can control to help build your business fitness, including:

• The supply chain efficiency – speed to market.
• Product ranging, profile depth, quality and design.
• The utilisation of technology to derive “fitter” business decisions.
• The culture of your business – “the way we do things around here.”
• The leadership of your people – creating a motivating goals-driven sales environment.
• The selling performance of your people.
• Your measurement of the vital “health signs” of your business (KPIs).
• Your expense ratios.
• Your retail economics/cashflow and planning.

The hallmark of a “fit” elite business is its ability to control what it can control and focus on being the best it can be. So it’s time to stop worrying about the financial markets and interest rate decisions – jump onto your retail controls and build a fitter business today.

Brian Walker is Managing Director of Australasia’s leading retail consultancy, the Retail Doctor Group.