Category: Uncategorized
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New retail: Shoppers feeding food deserts
Food deserts, by definition are neighbourhoods where there are few or no food stores within convenient proximity. Depending upon the source, the definition varies, often including socio-economic factors (income, culture and ethnicity) or delineating between healthy and non-healthy food options, as well as affordability.These under-served neighbourhoods exist everywhere – and Toronto has its fair share….
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Why retailers should care about their washrooms
Washrooms are neither a glamorous subject, nor one that immediately comes to mind in the retail world – yet washrooms, restrooms, bathrooms or toilets, depending upon where you are in the world, are an essential amenity for large footprint retailers such as department stores, housewares or bookstores. In these cases, they need to be thought…
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Making retail personal
Retail should be personal. To be successful, a retail brand needs to make retail personal by connecting personally with each and every customer. Regardless of the retail channel – bricks & mortar, mobile or on-line – a brand’s personality and actions must speak to each customer in such a way as to tap into his…
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Retail is everywhere and everthing is retail
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that everything we own and every service we use has been acquired as a result of some form of retail. By definition retail, is the selling of goods. Simply put, retail requires a product/service, seller and buyer. Even the biggest ticket item and often intensely emotional purchase, our home, falls…
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Perfect Retail Marriage: The Bay & Kleinfeld?
In May, The Bay is set to launch a Kleinfeld Bridal shop in their downtown Toronto flagship – the first of its kind in the world. If successful, the retail concept could pave the way for additional locations helping to position The Bay as a leader in the bridal market. But, will The Bay be…
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Differentiate or Die: Lole takes on Lululemon
In the retail world, the words “Differentiate or Die”, devised by Jack Trout over 13 years ago in his book of the same title, still ring as true today if not more so. With increasing international competition and customers overwhelmed with choices and bound by time constraints, now more than ever, retailers need to take…
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Store Design: Successful retail isn’t all about design
Design isn’t everything! Strange words coming from a designer? Let’s be real though – there’s more to retail than store design. As a designer, part of me dissects and critiques the design of every store I enter. I believe that a well-designed, branded experience is the key to successful retail – but there are other…
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Customer Experience: The web, evolution & where we are now
As the 25th anniversary of the web passed last week, I considered how the retail world had morphed since 1989. Aside from the obvious birth of e-commerce and the eventual dawn of omnichannel retailing, what fundamental change did the web incite in retail? With the ability to source information (& products) from virtually anywhere in…
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Customer Experience that hits the mark!
For months I had walked past the construction site of the Nespresso Boutique Bar in in the Yorkville neighbourhood of Toronto. Having admired the minimal designs of their coffee machines I was curious. Yet, I was skeptical. The size and location of the space seemed over the top – even for an “experience” store. Really,…
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Can a storefront make or break the brand experience?
There was a time when a retailer’s storefront created the important first impression. Essential in attracting attention, it allowed the experience to begin outside, setting up the customer’s expectations of what was yet to come. With e-commerce and social media channels becoming powerful initial brand touch points, the storefront’s role has evolved. It may not…