Size really doesn’t matter!
August 26, 2009
During this time of uncertainty there is ‘a new type of consumer who is characterised by concern about the future and lack of trust in many major institutions’ – so said Andy Bond, CEO of ASDA at the British Retail Consortium Annual Retail Lecture. This is an astonishing statement; he is effectively saying that his customers don’t trust his company. It should also be seen as a great encouragement to independent retailers. As long as you really know who your customers are and what drives them to your shop, then you are well on the way to weathering the economic storm we are currently in. However, he also said that ‘all businesses would have to concentrate on stripping out all unnecessary waste costs and delivering true value to their customers’. So how is this done? A good start would be to look at your stock and really question whether it is there to bring in your customers, increase their spend once they’re in or is it purely filler – if the last then get rid of it, dead money is no good to anyone.
