Article

Six commandments for retailers to survive

The former executive vice president of Men's Wearhouse shares wisdom needed to make it through the coming months.

February 5, 2009

In 1975, a just-out-of-college Richard Goldman was invited by George Zimmer to invest $3,000 and become a partner in a then-fledgling three-store company called Men's Wearhouse. Over the next 30 years, Goldman would lead the company's merchandising and marketing initiatives, spearheading the move to television advertising and overseeing the brand's meteoric growth. He retired in 2002; today he is the author of "Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World," his newly published book on business success and personal development, and he was kind enough to write this article exclusively for Retail Customer Experience. - Ed.

Go ahead — pick a name — The Perfect Storm, Economic Meltdown, Prelude to Disaster. Retail businesses, small and large, local and national, are all facing the same set of questions: When are we going to get out of this mess? How are we going to get out of this mess? Will we ever get out of this mess?

Here's my educated, informed and incredibly prescient answer: I have no earthly idea. And by the way, neither does anyone else.

So now what?

I won't bore you with any of the old economic dread. You've probably heard enough. However, there are two new pieces of economic dread to consider. One, recent studies have indicated that due to the economic climate, consumers are going to be less loyal to brands and to stores, knowing that there's practically no bottom to prices, while at the same time there is a new found bottom in their ability to finance their lives. Two, consider this recent comment by H. Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart: "I wonder whether shopping habits haven't changed. I'm not convinced that (consumers) are going to have this same immediate desire to go right back to consumption and debt." (Women's Wear Daily, January 13, 2009)

My charge in writing this particular column was to give a real-world perspective on how Men's Wearhouse created an amazing retail experience and what other retailers can learn from that. The answer to that is both easy and extremely difficult: treat your employees with respect. Honor them, and honor their achievements. They're people too, and just like you, they want to feel needed and like they're part of something — maybe even part of a family in their workplace. I can't tell you much more. It's all in the execution.

But I can tell you that given the current climate, it's time to re-evaluate every nook and cranny in your business (or store). So here are my six commandments for having a chance of survival in the second decade of the 21st century:

1. Stop bitching. You'll do little to help yourself or those around you by hand-wringing and comparing negative stories. Bad energy begets bad energy. The economy, the competition, and the weather are not in your control. Work on the things that you do have control over.
2. Get Web smart. The Internet makes for an even playing field for all. You don't have to offer e-commerce to be effective. Getting Web smart will also help you better attain the next 4 commandments. Not sure how to get involved on the web? Ask any kid.
3. Get friendly. As in planet friendly. Is your store friendly? (If you think you are because you recycle your paper, then you need to think again). Is your merchandise friendly? Where are your products made? Where are the materials that go into the products made? Let people know about this. There is a massive and merging movement in the world about how we all live on the same planet and how we're going to have to do a better job sharing resources. Make sure your customer knows that you're part of it.
4. Know your customer. Not the usual nonsense that you might have depended on, and don't tell me that you already do. "Know" as in talk to your customer — one on one, if you can. You can also survey him. People love to comment on their experience and they love to express their opinion when asked the right way.
5. Make your merchandise exciting — talk about it — in POP, in marketing materials, and in one-on-one contact with customers. By making your merchandise exciting and interesting, you can give your customer a reason to buy other than price.
6. Be part of your community. At home, be part of the city that you live in. Join in the city's activities, offer up your store or your expertise to your community.

story continues below... advertisement
		The Best Retail Customer Experiences 2009   Find out which retailers consumers crowned their favorites in five different categories across eight different retail segments. Get authoritative analysis from members of the Retail Customer Experience Advisory Panel on why these retailers are succeeding. And learn which retail technologies win over customers — and which ones don't matter.   Order your copy today!

I've often been asked how the "little guy" can survive against such monsters as Men's Wearhouse. All of the above is exactly how you can. One of the biggest advantages to being the little guy is that you are running a boat, not an ocean liner. If you want to change something about your stores, you can do it in a matter of days, if not hours, and absolutely know that it has been done correctly. When we wanted to change something at MW, we sent an email to the stores and kept our fingers crossed as to whether or not the store manager read it, understood it, agreed with it, and/or implemented it. Go figure.

Here's an interesting experience I had just the other day at a "chain" of camera and photo processing stores: I ordered two 8x10 black and white pictures online, to be picked up at the store near my house. That part of the process was a piece of cake, especially for a techno-idiot like me. Where it got weird and incredibly frustrating was the store experience. When I got there to pick up my prints, I made two tragic errors. One, I paid for them as I was looking at them. Two, I paid in CASH. The pictures were clearly unacceptable, and there was no disagreement with the woman ringing up my sale. So now I needed a refund.

Paying for the pictures took less than 10 seconds. Getting my refund took 10 minutes. I repeat — 10 minutes. Why? Because the store doesn't know how to deal with cash sales (as I was told by the woman). Also, she didn't know how to actually ring up a refunded purchase, and her associate, who was gobbling down a bag of barbecue Lays potato chips, either didn't care, didn't know, or was too hungry to help. When I suggested that she just open the drawer and give me back my $20 (my change was sitting on the counter) she said that she'd love to, but she couldn't open the drawer without keying in all of the required information.

In the above example, if I were the woman at the counter, I would have reached into my own pocket, given me the $20 and dealt with the problem after I left, as opposed to making me watch and wait.

Could something like this happen in your store? I hope not. The actual worst piece of information in all of this is that my experience won't prevent me from continuing to shop there, because this particular store is the most convenient one near my house. But that's a whole other can of worms. The point here is that the big stores don't necessarily have it right all of the time, and that the little guy has far more going on for him than he realizes.

Remember this as we all try to move forward over the next few years. Size doesn't matter — flexibility does. And the ability to cast aside all prior beliefs and be open to anything — everything. That's what the retailer needs to do.