Hybrid selling / 58 Retail predictions

By PETER HOLLAND www.linearstructure.com

Over the last two years, you’ve been at your desk and able to provide rapid email and telephone responses to client requests.

If you’re now back on the road, with increased travel time and reduced access to email, this can create a problem. Many clients I’ve spoken with say they are no longer able to provide customers with the immediate response they have grown used to.

This can leave you feeling overwhelmed as you try your best to manage the situation effectively. Unfortunately, your customers may feel frustrated by the ‘apparent’ reduction in responsiveness and service levels.

If this sounds familiar, take heart – you are not alone! Here are three simple steps to correct the issue and boost your productivity at the same time:

1. Communicate Don’t suffer in silence. Arrange a call with your customers and simply explain the change in your workday circumstances, and reset expectations on what is realistic and possible.

Discuss with them the best way forward. What is their preferred method of communicating – email, text, phone or Zoom? Find out the best time of day to reach them – is early morning or later in the day more convenient?

Create a plan together that allows you the necessary time to respond and provides them with an assurance you’ll get back in a timely manner. 2. Re-educate Sales has changed. To be productive with your time, you need to incorporate virtual meetings into your schedule.

But your customers may not immediately be open to holding some meetings on Teams or Zoom. During your next face-to-face meeting, why not discuss the benefits of using video conference for some of your meetings, and then demonstrate how simple this is to set up if needed?

3. Triage your meetings Now that virtual meetings have gained widespread acceptance in the business world, we need to review our productivity.Should we simply go back to our former workday schedule? How would incorporating several virtual meetings into our week affect our productivity?

Why not review each customer interaction beforehand to determine the most appropriate format? Could some conversations be handled over the phone, and would others only require a brief virtual meeting? Which ones would really benefit from that personal, face-to-face interaction?

Imagine the impact of triaging your calendar in this way – the huge time saving possibilities, and your ability to handle more sales opportunities, whilst reducing that stress! Why not discuss this topic as a team at your next sales meeting?

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Membership provides businesses with a range of benefits such as bespoke technical support and advice through our technical team, helping businesses to understand current legislation, influence new standards and develop product specifications.

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By DAVE HUNTOON www.intalytics.com

Since the beginning of the pandemic, and due to the associated closures, consumer behaviour changed – making forecasting exceptionally challenging.

However, although there will be ongoing outbreaks and mutations from Covid-19, which will have an impact on consumer shopping habits and demand, these will now be anticipated by retailers, and will be relatively predictable.

Steady ecommerce sales gains Online shopping skyrocketed during the pandemic due to a combination of store and restaurant closures. As a result, online sales saw a significant spike, with the ecommerce market growing at an exponential rate (in the US, nonstore sales skyrocketed by more than +25% in Q3 2020 alone, according to a Digital Commerce 360 analysis of US Department of Commerce figures).

However, online purchasing as a proportion of total retail sales has now returned to historical levels. In the US (again referencing Digital Commerce 360’s findings), online retail sales jumped from 12.4% of total retail sales in Q3 2019 to 15% in Q3 2020, and settled back to a more historically consistent 14% in Q3 2021. Looking forward, as the market settles, retailers can expect a slow but steady rise regarding online orders. Therefore, an omnichannel strategy will be key, with a mix of brick-and-mortar stores and an online presence needed for retailers.

To generate profits, these businesses must be guided by their customer demographic when deciding their offering, making sure they’re leveraging all the data available – the average customer spending and customer profiles (age, gender, etc) – which will enable the forecasting of behavioural patterns.

From here, businesses can devise a steadfast omnichannel strategy that puts the customer first and does not solely rely on website algorithms – instead, this approach will consider location intelligence.

Inflation (an excuse to raise prices, at last) Retailers have been constrained in their ability to raise prices for the past 10 years. However, rising labour costs and issues with supply chains have resulted in higher price points for consumers. Expect price increases, or corresponding reduction in value, to persist throughout 2022, bringing little clarity for businesses regarding long-term inflation trends.

Private equity rollups The private equity world will continue to target selected industries with significant numbers of independent operators, looking to realise value through increased buying power, operational efficiencies and best practices.

The growth of the customer-centric rerspective Retail expansion has historically focused on the projected financial returns afforded by one-off store deployment decisions, or by investments in ecommerce and logistics. Successful operators have adopted a customercentric approach – what combination of physical stores, ecommerce, shopin-shops, channel partnerships and new prototypes will best serve existing and potential new customers? How to cater to audiences and provide the most profitable returns will be an ongoing and ever-changing conversation this year.

Asset reprioritisation As an adjunct to the customer-centric theme, tenants across various industries will increasingly look to reassess their existing brick-and-mortar deployments and close or relocate stores where appropriate. This is most significant for regional shopping centre tenants, who need to reposition soon if they want to stay relevant