The reason that US bookshops are failing is not because of competition from the internet but because selling books in big box out-of-town warehouses dos not work, suggests maverick Financial Times columnist Tyler Brûlé in his latest Fast Lane column.
We need to “challenge the ingrained notion that … a super-size store is a superior place to shop.”
Mr Brûlé does not declare an interest but his Monocle shop just of Marylebone High Street in London is one of the smallest I have visited. However, on the subject of bookshops he argues that if you ask most people what the perfect one looks like they think about:
Small windows stocked with titles selected by the shop’s long serving staff
Well worn tables stacked with a combination of new releases and classics
A comfortable atmosphere with room to browse
Decently paid staff able to offer advice, the men wearing “cosy cardigans” and the women favouring “loafers, kilts and turtlenecks”.
“Perhaps the most important detail is that you can see all the way to the back of the shop from the front door but once inside you discover there are enough cosy nooks and corners to get lost in…”, he adds.
Moving on to corner shops and convenience stores, what do you imagine the perfect shop looks like? What do you think your perfect shop looks like?
This is a great exercise for you to do with your team; holding a meeting to write a long list of all the things you believe a great local shop should offer. Then try and edit the list down to the really important things and measure yourself against these things. Before tackling the news and grocery channel, get people to start thinking by using the bookstore example above.
Armed with a short list of what you believe makes a great shop, send the team out to look at how good your competitors are and then benchmark your own business. Encourage people to identify three things that you are doing well and three areas for improvement. Always keep the focus positive.
A second thing to remember is that you should always add value to what you sell to shoppers in a way appropriate to the product.
Carefully putting goods in your own bags conveys that you value what you are selling. Encouraging your team to engage with shoppers on how they will use goods and then to suggest extra purchases shows you are concerned with adding value. Appropriate little touches make a big difference.
We need to “challenge the ingrained notion that … a super-size store is a superior place to shop.”
Mr Brûlé does not declare an interest but his Monocle shop just of Marylebone High Street in London is one of the smallest I have visited. However, on the subject of bookshops he argues that if you ask most people what the perfect one looks like they think about:
Small windows stocked with titles selected by the shop’s long serving staff
Well worn tables stacked with a combination of new releases and classics
A comfortable atmosphere with room to browse
Decently paid staff able to offer advice, the men wearing “cosy cardigans” and the women favouring “loafers, kilts and turtlenecks”.
“Perhaps the most important detail is that you can see all the way to the back of the shop from the front door but once inside you discover there are enough cosy nooks and corners to get lost in…”, he adds.
Moving on to corner shops and convenience stores, what do you imagine the perfect shop looks like? What do you think your perfect shop looks like?
This is a great exercise for you to do with your team; holding a meeting to write a long list of all the things you believe a great local shop should offer. Then try and edit the list down to the really important things and measure yourself against these things. Before tackling the news and grocery channel, get people to start thinking by using the bookstore example above.
Armed with a short list of what you believe makes a great shop, send the team out to look at how good your competitors are and then benchmark your own business. Encourage people to identify three things that you are doing well and three areas for improvement. Always keep the focus positive.
A second thing to remember is that you should always add value to what you sell to shoppers in a way appropriate to the product.
Carefully putting goods in your own bags conveys that you value what you are selling. Encouraging your team to engage with shoppers on how they will use goods and then to suggest extra purchases shows you are concerned with adding value. Appropriate little touches make a big difference.
The Sun today says that Borders is about to file for administration in the US adn that the number of US book stores will shrink by 90 per cent in the next 10 years.
ReplyDeleteThe FT says today that shopping centre landlords stand to lose millions of pounds because of the rise of internet shopping. How does this work? Shoppers browse in the store and shop on-line, it suggests.
ReplyDeleteSome statistics it publishes:
29 per cent of electrical sales in the run up to Christmas were on line
13 per cent for homewares
10 per cent for clothing.