Wegmans Chain: In the US if Wegmans have a product recall they use their loyalty card data and mass telephone everyone who bought the product – they were the first to do this in the US
Whilst a number of other chains have copied them, nothing beats being first.....
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Monday, 23 November 2009
Landlords' No-brainer Pragmatism Saves Blacks Leisure
Blacks' landlords running the numbers were left with two options today
According to the British Property Federation, landlords felt the choice was between the Company Voluntary Agreement where they agree to pay a maximum of six months' rent on its outlets in return for cancelling its long-term lease obligations. Blacks will remain liable for rates until the property is re-let or until the lease expires (12 years), or a 'pre-pack' administration - where the business collapses and is then sold immediately out of administration following a pre-arranged deal to shed unwanted assets - which could have left landlords with nothing, plus an obligation to pay rates on empty properties.
Paying the rates is a huge issue as it's one thing landlords not taking any money in, it's another them opening their own wallets and paying out. It could be six months until these shops are retenanted, or it could be five years….
These are moves that both local Councils and landlords will have to consider taking in order to help rebuild the retail trade.
The future of Blacks Leisure and more than 4,000 retail jobs were sdecured today after landlords gave their 'overwhelming' (75%) support for the rescue deal.
Incidentally, before parking the problem with the 'greedy' landlords, NAMs & KAMs should bear in mind that this Blacks Leisure hit will be taken solely by the landlords - many of whom are owned by the public and its pension funds.....
According to the British Property Federation, landlords felt the choice was between the Company Voluntary Agreement where they agree to pay a maximum of six months' rent on its outlets in return for cancelling its long-term lease obligations. Blacks will remain liable for rates until the property is re-let or until the lease expires (12 years), or a 'pre-pack' administration - where the business collapses and is then sold immediately out of administration following a pre-arranged deal to shed unwanted assets - which could have left landlords with nothing, plus an obligation to pay rates on empty properties.
Paying the rates is a huge issue as it's one thing landlords not taking any money in, it's another them opening their own wallets and paying out. It could be six months until these shops are retenanted, or it could be five years….
These are moves that both local Councils and landlords will have to consider taking in order to help rebuild the retail trade.
The future of Blacks Leisure and more than 4,000 retail jobs were sdecured today after landlords gave their 'overwhelming' (75%) support for the rescue deal.
Incidentally, before parking the problem with the 'greedy' landlords, NAMs & KAMs should bear in mind that this Blacks Leisure hit will be taken solely by the landlords - many of whom are owned by the public and its pension funds.....
An Offer You Cannot Refuse?
Picture: PacemakerCross-border shopping in Northern Ireland can not only offer €/£ parity, but also cheaper prices on goods that are 18-20% dearer in the South, according to the Irish Times.(See article for more extreme examples)
Whilst Irish politicians' pleas to shoppers not to travel North are obviously falling on deaf ears, the real issue for retailers and suppliers is the growing demand for UK multiples and suppliers to reveal the profitability of their Irish operations in their annual reports.
Otherwise their claims that the price discrepancies are simply due to the higher costs of doing business in the Republic will be increasingly undermined.
Ultimately, a government under unprecedented domestic pressures could attempt to force disclosure via the tax route…..
Whilst Irish politicians' pleas to shoppers not to travel North are obviously falling on deaf ears, the real issue for retailers and suppliers is the growing demand for UK multiples and suppliers to reveal the profitability of their Irish operations in their annual reports.
Otherwise their claims that the price discrepancies are simply due to the higher costs of doing business in the Republic will be increasingly undermined.
Ultimately, a government under unprecedented domestic pressures could attempt to force disclosure via the tax route…..
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Bolland's step forward to M&S, a step back for Morrisons?
The high street retailer confirmed on Wednesday the Netherlands-born Mr Bolland would replace Sir Stuart Rose, the group’s executive chairman, in the New Year, remaining at Morrisons until 31/01/2009….
Serious implications for Morrisons in that the move to employ Bolland was a radical step that worked unexpectedly well. He has been there long enough to lay down the template, but had too short a tenure to ensure smooth succession.
All supplier bets now off, all initiatives short-term, and big pressure on the shares
A sovereign wealth fund approach as the price drops?
Back to the drawing board….Ken?, Ken?
Serious implications for Morrisons in that the move to employ Bolland was a radical step that worked unexpectedly well. He has been there long enough to lay down the template, but had too short a tenure to ensure smooth succession.
All supplier bets now off, all initiatives short-term, and big pressure on the shares
A sovereign wealth fund approach as the price drops?
Back to the drawing board….Ken?, Ken?
Supermarkets underestimating problems of breaking into the banking market?
How about bankers underestimating Supermarkets?
Today's contributors to the traditional banking backlash against supermarkets might consider the following:
- Major multiples don't do 'underestimating problems'
- Shopkeepers operate in an output-focused, numbers-based, 'no-nonsence', customer-orientated environment
- They aim at sharing cost-savings and value with repeat-visit, life-time-value shoppers
Their loyalty schemes give them more usable customer-insight than a bank would be trusted to handle - They constantly strive to enrich the shopping experience
- They operate systems that can turn 50,000 lines 25 times a year, with 95+% onshelf availability
- They play the money markets with daily takings and 30+ day's credit from suppliers, some earning upwards of £200m per annum in the process
- They start with a gross margin of 25% and still make 5% net
- They come with none of the traditional banker 'trust-baggage'
- They are fully staffed during the 'lunch-hour'……
Traditional banks don't seem to appreciate that the game has changed, changed utterly…underestimating the threat posed by new players that learn fast, and don't take prisoners…..!
Saturday, 14 November 2009
Global-shrink stats 2009: UK rate = leaving shops unstaffed 5 days per year with doors open for shoppers to help themselves….key-chart on Kamblog
Pic: The Economist
The 2009 latest edition of the Global Barometer covers 41 countries including the UK, U.S., China, Australia, France, Germany, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, and India. The UK Centre for Retail Research collected data from 1,0689 of the largest retail corporations with combined sales of $822 billion.
- Total global shrinkage (stock loss from crime or waste expressed as a percentage of retail sales) cost retailers in the 41 countries US$ 114,823 million, equivalent to 1.43% of their retail sales.
- Shrinkage costs rose by 5.9% (from 1.35% to 1.43%)
- Shoplifting was seen as the major problem that retailers faced, accounting for 42.5% of shrinkage or $48.9 billion.
- The most-stolen items of retail merchandise within the 41 countries included branded and expensive products: cosmetics and skincare, alcohol, womenswear/ladies' apparel, perfume and fine fragrances, and designerwear. Other highly stolen lines included razor blades, DVDs/CDs, video games and video consoles, small electric items, and fashion accessories.
Think of the impact on retailers' (and suppliers'!) bottom-lines if shrinkage were reduced by 50%
More details + charts on Centre for Retail Research site
Thursday, 12 November 2009
New Nokia Phone Will Scan Barcodes To Compare Prices Instantly
A great step forward for the shopper, but a giant leap for Kamkind in that this clears the way for 'complete' freedom to take photos instore. Could this spell the end of the need for secret photography in the aisle via a camera hidden within a dirty macintosh (coat!), and subsequent interrogation by shop staff, aroused by security-camera output?
(I once had the experience of being challenged by a security-guard in a Carrefour aisle in Brazil, who used his hand-gun to overcome the language issues…)
Have an incomparable weekend, from the Namnews Team!
(I once had the experience of being challenged by a security-guard in a Carrefour aisle in Brazil, who used his hand-gun to overcome the language issues…)
Have an incomparable weekend, from the Namnews Team!
How Low Can You Go…
By John Ruddy, Irish retail analyst, editor of Checkout Ireland magazine and its weekly Retail Intelligence news service.
It may be unfair to lay all the blame for the troublesome ‘new’ consumer at the door of the global downturn, but the 2008/2009 recession certainly has a lot to answer for.
Reduced incomes have made Irish consumers more promiscuous (in terms of store choice), less brand loyal (vs PL) and, in every retail format, more price and promotion conscious.
To react to this, retailers operating in Ireland have had to respond in a number of different ways.
Swathes of PL have been shoehorned into virtually every category – bringing total PL penetration (including discounters) up to around 20%. Promotions have gone from being a bonus (for shoppers) to a must (for retailers), with most multiples now selling circa 30% ‘on deal’. And price communication – once secondary to niceties like provenance, locality and shopper experience – is now the foremost message for retailers of all sizes and formats.
With this experience being mirrored in countless other retail markets, there is nothing particularly new to report here. The real question, however, is how sustainable the current promotional levels are, and whether retailers who built their brands based on more than just a price message can revert to this brand image when things improve in a few years time….More on application to Superquinn, Aldi customer-count, consumer spend-reductions and reactions across the Irish FMCG sector in free paper
It may be unfair to lay all the blame for the troublesome ‘new’ consumer at the door of the global downturn, but the 2008/2009 recession certainly has a lot to answer for.
Reduced incomes have made Irish consumers more promiscuous (in terms of store choice), less brand loyal (vs PL) and, in every retail format, more price and promotion conscious.
To react to this, retailers operating in Ireland have had to respond in a number of different ways.
Swathes of PL have been shoehorned into virtually every category – bringing total PL penetration (including discounters) up to around 20%. Promotions have gone from being a bonus (for shoppers) to a must (for retailers), with most multiples now selling circa 30% ‘on deal’. And price communication – once secondary to niceties like provenance, locality and shopper experience – is now the foremost message for retailers of all sizes and formats.
With this experience being mirrored in countless other retail markets, there is nothing particularly new to report here. The real question, however, is how sustainable the current promotional levels are, and whether retailers who built their brands based on more than just a price message can revert to this brand image when things improve in a few years time….More on application to Superquinn, Aldi customer-count, consumer spend-reductions and reactions across the Irish FMCG sector in free paper
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