Billy Rudnick’s Post

More evidence supporting my comment stating we as retailers are witnessing the most challenging window of time in the history of retail... 7,000 stores were closed YE-2024... that's a shocking a 57% uptick over YE-2023... The vast majority of the closings (in the US) were from Family Dollar, CVS, & Big-Lots. In my humble opinion... 2025 will see significantly more challenges... most notable in 2025 we should expect to see more store closings, increased bankruptcy filings across the board... staffing issues, team member engagement, & hiring the right person for the job, logistics problems specifically around road-pirate theft events, supply chain processes specific related to inventory availability... lastly in the food service sectors (grocery, QSR, casual dining) we will continue to see concerns regarding associate & customer safety events, in addition to food safety concerns specifically with increased product recalls... but I digress... In short, 2025 has just begun, physical inventories typically start the 2nd to 3rd week of period 1 (January)... now more than ever, we as retailers must keep our collective heads on a swivel... focused on operational execution.... while supporting our store team members.

Negotiating for the Customer: The Buyer's Manifesto! As a buyer, one is constantly involved in numerous negotiations each day. Some proceed according to plan, while others do not. What should be the primary objective for a buyer? The most compelling response I've encountered comes from Claude Harris, Walmart's first buyer, quoted in Sam Walton's renowned book "Made in America," where he articulates: “There’s a difference between being tough and being obnoxious. But every buyer has to be tough. That’s the job. I always told the buyers: ‘You’re not negotiating for Wal-Mart, you’re negotiating for your customer. And your customer deserves the best price you can get. If that’s being hard-nosed, then we ought to be as hard-nosed as we can be. You have to be fair and upfront and honest, but you have to drive your bargain because you’re dealing for millions and millions of customers who expect the best price they can get. If you buy that thing for $1.25, you’ve just bought somebody else’s inefficiency. You can’t let them get by with anything because they are going to take care of themselves, and your job is to take care of the customer.” #Buyer #BuyingandMerchandising #category #categorymanagement #negotiations #samwalton #walmart #ModernTrade #Retail

👇🔻The 7 Ps In Perfect Store✅ 💕The "7Ps" in a perfect store refer to key elements that contribute to its excellence. Here are the 7Ps: 1.💕Product*: The right products, in the right quantities, at the right time. 2.🍅Place*: Convenient location, easy accessibility, and attractive store environment. 3.🎆Price*: Competitive pricing, clear pricing strategy, and effective price management. 4.🎁Promotion*: Effective marketing, advertising, and in-store promotions. 5.💫People*: Well-trained, knowledgeable, and friendly staff providing excellent customer service. 6.🎀Process*: Efficient store operations, effective inventory management, and streamlined processes. 7.💥Physical Evidence*: Attractive store displays, clear signage, and well-maintained store appearance. 8. *Productivity*: Maximizing sales and profitability while minimizing waste and costs. 🎋These Ps are interconnected and contribute to creating a perfect store that attracts and retains customers, drives sales, and ensures long-term success.

What matters MOST in retail? Spoiler: It’s not the fancy uniforms or the perfect shelf display. It’s KNOWLEDGE We measure everything in mystery shopping, from store layout to staff appearance. But when we asked customers what mattered most, they all said the same thing: product expertise. So, if your staff isn’t knowledgeable, nothing else matters. Focus there FIRST

This move helped our same store sales grow 7x First of all: you really do have to visit your stores. It could be a part timer or agency or you or your team. But you need to get boots in there representing your brand Stores have thousands of products to manage. They won’t prioritize you as a small company So my process was simple: I visited this store personally and saw that our product location had very poor visibility Made friends with staff and I moved it to a higher traffic end cap location in front of the entrance / exit, and added a simple but enticing sign My sales in the DAY after the move were greater than the entire WEEK leading up to that If you’ve heard of big brands like Frito Lay having their own DSD distribution and store teams, this is effectively what they’re doing Is it scalable for you or someone on your small team to visit hundreds or thousands of stores frequently? Hell no. But there are great teams that can do this like Dirty Hands or Basemakers or you can get scrappy and hire some part timers in your different regions to do this type of stuff for you. Just get creative and make it happen. WHY? Because if you could theoretically 5x your sales in your top 25% of stores, you would essentially double your total revenues Btw, other things I was able to do by visiting the store: -print out customized price signs for our products -get the store to promote us on their social media -sampled with staff and told our story #grocery #cpg Chris Robb Will Ahearn Levi Filkins

Went into the #pgatourstore for my upcoming golf trip in Vegas yesterday. Pants on the course are rare due to the scorching heat, and I had a striking experience with the lack of communication from store employees. No words were exchanged, no assistance offered as I browsed, and even in the dressing room, no one checked in despite walking by multiple times. After 30 minutes, I finally had a pleasant encounter at the cash wrap. The man was friendly, engaging in small talk, a stark contrast to the rest of the visit. Retailers, if you're concerned about top-line sales, train your employees to take care of customers. It's not their fault if standards aren't set. Your employees want to be successful; provide them with tools and training to do so. I would have made more purchases if someone had helped me, talked to me, and shown a real interest. #consumerbonds #feelthevibe Remember, don't let your customers go in the dressing rooms without following up. It's the best place to engage and perhaps upsell, but it can also lead to #retailtheft. No one would have known if I had walked out with clothing in my purse, as there were no security tags on the clothing, making it easy. Good thing I am an honest person. So my final thoughts are: 🔷 Inspect what you expect 🔷 Take care of your employees. Train them well, follow up, set expectations and they will take care of your customers 🔷 Lead by example. Leadership starts from the top down, not the bottom up and remember, no one takes a job and wants to fail. Our employees want to be successful so, give them the tools to do so. #CustomerExperience #CommunicationMatters #RetailExperience #customerengagement #retail #retailers #training #TopRetailExpert International Retail Group, LLC

The Linkedin Algorithm has been serving up several posts about physical retail stores being a solution for last mile distribution. Here are some thoughts on that strategy: In the early 90's we worked hard at Target to develop strategies to increase the store visit frequency of our typical guest. Greatland and SuperTarget were two concepts that emerged. The goal was to increase the visit frequency to weekly from the over three week period we were experiencing. While not all strategies or tests worked we were somewhat successful in increasing the visits. Curbside pick-up is highly transactional and will not typically get the guest in the store where you can possibly pick up some incremental sales through presentation, adjacency and selection. Instore pick-up could be replaced with great inventory management with reliable instocks. Focus on your core guest. Provide them with a great instore experience, reliable inventory instocks, value and quality. Get the guest out of the car.

There's this supermarket that manages to make me angry every time. Specifically, their employees get me angry. So it got me thinking.... People that hire sales attendants, how come you don't know what to teach them? #marketing #advertising #supermarket #retail #sales