- Education - Escapism - Entertainment - Aesthetics

Education Consumers enjoy experiences that provide a forum for education. This can be via cooking or tasting classes, educational leaflets and information provided by your team. Today many people want to be healthier and more educated, and therefore talks on your products with tips on how to use them to enhance customers lifestyle will be a major draw. Escapism Consumers want escapism, they want an environment that takes them away from mundane, they don’t want to walk down rows of shelves, they want to experience boutique layouts and areas that are themed to a particular lifestyle statement. Lifestyle Garden Centre in South Africa invites garden designers to create garden rooms based on products that can be purchased in garden centre. This has proved to be a huge success and has made Lifestyle a destination. Entertainment Entertaining your customers gives you an opportunity to let your imagination go wild. In recent months I have come across face painters, clowns, drum demonstrations for children, list is endless. The secret is to provide a consistent package of entertainment away from your core business. A shopping centre in Las Vegas uses ‘living sculptures’ (actors dressed up as statues) in their centre….. you’ve got to dare to be different! Aesthetics Aesthetics, could include how you use aromatherapy, music and create an atmosphere for your customers. Keep music at less than sixty beats per minute, it will relax your customers. We can learn from Brista Brava coffee bars in Washington DC. Their motto is “Our business is providing customer experiences, our industry is coffee.” Change word coffee to whatever is relevant for your business and then you have a motto for future of your business.

Supply chain management really means supply chain integration. We all have to work together.

Why now? There are a number of reasons. The dominance of Wal-Mart’s (the world’s biggest business) slow growth in retail sectors, high inventory levels and high out of stocks have forced retailers and suppliers to analyse supply chain and look for means of improvement.

Where do you start? Start with store, re-look at category with customer in mind, develop best shelf practice planograms, list shelf strategy and work backwards towards vendor.

This process is a challenge for all concerned. It is more than looking at IT strategies. It includes taking on board RFI (Radio Frequency Identification), something all Wal-Mart suppliers have to have implemented by 2005. It includes re-looking at distribution channels and who organises and pays for channel.