Carol Spieckerman’s Retail Insights
EVP Linda Hefner Shares Vision: Serving Member Needs the Sam's Way
The following is a recap of Sam's EVP of merchandising, Linda Hefner's presentation as part of the Bentonville Bella Vista Chamber'sWalStreet speaker series in Bentonville - with additional NMB insights.
Ready for some good news? How does this sound—the club channel is growing, Sam’s Club is growing within that channel, and Linda Hefner, Sam’s EVP of Merchandising, says that Sam’s is “hungry for more.” Fantastic news for the ballroom-filling group of Sam's suppliers that convened yesterday morning to hear Ms. Hefner’s presentation, “Serving Members' Needs in a Uniquely Sam’s Club Way.”
Muses, Messes and the Search for Meaning
Last Friday on Retail Wire, I commented on department stores’ reliance on exclusive brands for differentiation in apparel. Of course, just having exclusive brands can’t be a point of differentiation, since every retailer from Dollar General to Macy’s does. So by default, the differentiation has to come from a retailer’s choice of brands and from the total brand portfolio that they offer to shoppers. J.C. Penney’s combination of Flirtitude, Fabulosity, Fergalicious, and so on, must be perceived as more compelling than Macy’s lineup of Kenneth Cole Reaction, the upcoming Material Girl line from Madonna, Kouture by Kimora (who also is responsible for J.C. Penney’s Fabulosity), and a host of others.
But is exclusive branding long tail retail at its finest . . . or has it turned into a dart throw?
Flooding
In a little over a week’s time, Walmart announced job cuts at Sam’s and the appointment of Shopper Events, a third party marketing company that will guide Sam's new "Tastes and Tips" event and demo program, a round of sweeping organizational changes, the formation of a “global.com organization,” and a new global sourcing strategy which includes a sourcing alliance with Li & Fung (interestingly, the move that has analysts and investors all aflutter). This sort of deluge isn’t for the faint of heart and fortunately, that no longer describes Walmart. They’ve gotten mighty comfortable running offense after weathering a rough patch of defensive plays (a flaming baton that Target unwittingly caught and now must extinguish).
Nail the Sale Chapter Three: Shopper Marketing Choice Cuts
In Chapter Two of Nail the Sale, I shared my suggestions for improving Best Buy’s in-store sales process along with ways that other retailers are forfeiting sales, sometimes after providing superior “customer service.”
Chapter One was picked up by Retail Wire last week and can think of no better way to wrap up the conversation than by sharing some choice cuts from the Retail Wire panelists and contributors. I love, love, love the insights that these guys and gals brought to the table!
Nail the Sale Chapter Two: "TRUST" Not Enough (at Best Buy or anywhere else)!
In my last blog posting, I detailed a recent visit to Best Buy, one that was perfect right up until it was time to seal the deal. . . My friend and I walked away empty-handed after spending a couple of hours fully engaged with store associates. I’ll address that specific foregone opportunity in a minute but first, the reason I’m bringing all of this up to begin with. All the retail-speak about “customer centricity,” “shopper marketing,” “connecting her world,” etc., leaves out one important point: if a customer leaves the store, the chance of nailing the sale (particularly a high-dollar sale) DECREASES exponentially, and that has never been truer than right now. The store may not be the beginning of your shopper’s process, and it may not be her intention to make it the end . . . but these days, it needs to be because once you set your shopper loose from your controlled store environment, she’s off into the wild blue yonder where any number of factors can derail all of that touchy-feely goodwill you’ve built up.
Nail the Sale Chapter One: A Shopping Trip of Reverse Proportions
. . . I can be a browse-resistant, Benjamin-shooting machine and up until last weekend, Best Buy has never given me any reason to change my M.O. It’s worked out well for both of us. All of that changed last weekend . . . and not to Best Buy’s benefit. After I had one of the greatest customer experiences I can remember, Best Buy forfeited a doozy of a sale (upwards of $5,000)—and they had sunk a big chunk of time into it, too. Here’s how it went down (and BTW, I'm using the recent Best Buy trip as an example. Y'all know I'm about patterns, not anomalies, and I'm seeing this situation lots of other places).
The Wisdom of Crowds: Localization Roundup!
Judging from the great insights that flooded in on the heels of our Retail Wire discussion on Monday, retail localization is in its infancy. In that piece we addressed the historical tension between centralized and localized buying, the perceived benefits of both strategies and recent attempts at localizing assortments through centralized buying structures. Here are some highlights. (Warning, only major retail geeks should press on)!