Retail Must Innovate Now and I'm Not Talking About the Tech
Caring for employees hasn't kept up with emerging tech.
“Corporate will never change. It’s pointless.” Someone said to me recently.
“So, I should just give up? Change doesn’t happen if you don’t try.” I replied.
“Well, I mean, yeah, try.” They said.
Uh-huh.
Another Way
My goal with my work is to get people talking about how to make retail better so we can collectively drive change. Not just for retail employees but for customers, too.
The industry has been gutted over the past twenty-five years. I watched it happen.
Management training programs have been cut.
Full-time positions have been thrown out.
Raises are meager, and companies keep pushing bonuses out of reach.
Corporate asks retail leaders to do more with less at every turn. Companies cut payroll and leave their stores operating with a skeleton crew. It’s brutal. It’s also bad for business.
What if there was another way?
There is another way. We have to be bold enough to try something different.
Patagonia closed their retail stores this holiday season from December 26th to January 1st. That is unheard of in the retail industry.
Faherty closed their stores on January 1st.
Hooray! Some companies are making moves. I posted about this on LinkedIn, and many commenters wrote, “Patagonia - take all my money!”
See that? Customers want you to care about your employees. While being closed for seven days is a considerable commitment, being closed for one day is a great way to test the waters, as Faherty did.
Being open on New Year’s Day is a waste anyway. It’s totally slow. Upper management and the corporate offices are closed, so nothing happens. The volume that day is pretty bleak, so just be closed.
(Obviously, some markets are different).
The Bigger Question
What do we want our society to look like? That’s the bigger question. Do we want stores open every day? If so, why? Do we need everything available at all times? I don’t think we really need all items available immediately.
There’s a small, local restaurant down the street from me. They’re closed on Monday and Tuesday. It makes me want to go there more. Their food is straight-up delicious, and the fact that they take care of their staff by being closed a couple of days a week is totally rad.
It aligns with my values.
(That was my corporate speak. Like it?)
Yes, it seems I always want their food on the days they’re closed, but whatever. I go later. It’s no big deal.
Do we want service workers at work every single day? Do we want to pay them the bare minimum and tell them to figure it out? Or - what if - hear me out - we treat them like humans? We pay them a living wage.
What if we figure out our slowest day and just be closed? Would the finances work out? Maybe they would. Maybe they wouldn’t, but we don’t know unless we try.
What would it look like if we honored the people who make our lives a little easier? I want to know. More companies would benefit from trying something original.
Rule followers drive me bonkers. Do you want to follow the rules, or do you want to try something new?
Do we really have to follow the mall hours, or can we pay the fine for the day we’re closed? I don’t know, and neither will you unless you shake things up.
Also, closing for a day isn’t the only option.
Allocate more payroll.
Hire another manager.
Let your leaders work four days instead of five.
Whatever.
Think about it. Talk to your frontline leaders. I’m sure they have something to say.
Innovate or Lose
The retail industry is on the edge of the Grand Canyon. What are we going to do? Keep our blindfolds on and take a step, or take them off and build a bridge with the people standing next to us?
The industry has changed rapidly technologically, but the people part hasn’t kept up.
Sure, those payroll cuts worked five years ago, but do they work now? Now that stores must keep up with shipping online orders and manage the “buy online, pickup in-store” programs.
Retail companies must reassess their business strategies this year, or they may suffer the consequences. Cell phone company Nokia recently went under, and this quote from their CEO is striking.
“We didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow we lost.”
Innovate or lose.
I’ll be back next week with new editions in this newsletter's Mailbox and Level Up Your Leadership sections.
Until then, have a killer week and
Stay Rad,
Kit
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Based in Southern California, Kit Campoy is a former retail leader turned freelance writer. She covers Retail, Leadership, and Business.
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A great call to action! The Grand Canyon analogy was inspired!!! Also, throwing in "corporate speech" is hilarious and I want more.