The SGF Conference took place in Edinburgh last month and SLR was there to hear from a wide range of industry experts, all giving their definition of retail excellence and how it could be achieved.
By Kevin Scott
It was with a new format in a new venue that retailers and suppliers from across Scotland gathered for this year’s SGF Conference. Moving from the weekend family format to a one day business seminar, with the major addition of an Awards programme for SGF members, the day was held at Prestonfield House Hotel and hosted by Kaye Adams. The format was relaxed and based on the theme of ‘Retail Excellence’, with the association getting the mix of presentation and discussion just right.
After an introduction from John Drummond, SGF Chief Executive, the first presentation of the day was given by Costcutter Chief Executive Darcy Willson-Rymer, who talked about how Costcutter is working with its retailers to achieve retail excellence. Focussing on merchandising, he gave the example of one retailer who took out 1,400 lines deemed superfluous, and saw sales double. “That’s an extreme example but we’ve found that on average we can take out 1,000 lines and see an uplift of 20%,” he said. “We’ve seen this happen with retailers who have been around for a long time.”
Room for improvement
The message was clear: there is always more that retailers can do.
Willson-Rymer asked the retailers in the room if every customer left their store satisfied. “If they didn’t it’s because they didn’t get the product they wanted or the service they should have.” The target, he said, is “every customer every day”.
He told the story of an independent retailer who, admirably, invested in a mystery shopper. “His first score was at 70% and he managed to grow it to 90%, which he was happy with. He never had one at 100% though and got annoyed when I pointed this out to him, but it means he still had customers who left the shop dissatisfied.”
The key, said Willson-Rymer was to use the people that you have in your store. “This is something I learned when I worked with Starbucks,” he said. “I asked HR if they could find out why staff left. Her simple assessment was that we were hiring people who could do the job, not people who wanted to do the job.”
To counter this, Starbucks stopped doing CVs and application forms and started hiring based on a psychometric test based on people’s likes, which allowed them to find people who would enjoy the work. While that may be beyond the means of the average local retailer, the principle is clear. “That’s the difference between good service and bad,” said Willson-Rymer. “Have you done everything in your power to make sure that every customer leaving your store is happy?”
Up next, was a face familiar to Scottish retail. Spar UK’s Head of Marketing Philippe Rondepierre may have left CJ Lang for a nationwide role at Spar, but said he still felt at home in Scotland. He may have used an English Spar store to highlight what was possible in local retailing, but he was absolutely right to do so with the inference being that there are no borders when it comes to standards.
From his presentation, Parkfoot Garage looks like a stunning store. “An example of retail excellence,” said Rondepierre. He spoke of the importance of partnerships, of brand synergies. “You can invest big or invest little and often – from local marketing, to new chillers, energy efficiency and much more. The Scottish trade will continue to move forward and must continue to invest and by invested in by symbol groups and supplier. In the symbol sector, we face bigger challenges than each other.”
He also discussed the increasingly important role of the pound mark, fresh food, own label and community involvement – all elements that must enter the mix if a retailer wants to achieve excellence.
Healthy options
This linked seamlessly to a presentation by retailer Linda Williams on the SGF Healthy Living Programme. As she said, promoting the health and well being of customers while improving your business isn’t a decision that should require much though. “Locals shops can’t be ‘fags, mags and bags’ anymore. Customers expect more than that. Fresh can be daunting. What do you buy? Where do you put it? And what about waste?”
Common questions, and ones that she pointed out were answered in the HLP brochure, which is given to participating retailers, along with a DVD that can be incorporated into a training programme. She showed off the new slimline unit which can be used to promote fruit and veg at the tillpoint, before discussing some of the more imaginative additions that she and husband Dennis have implemented in their store, from recipe cards to a project where over 300 children at a primary school near their store were given a free breakfast.
“We sell, alcohol, tobacco, sweets but we can balance that by stocking a good range of healthy products. Scotland’s health issues are many and pressing but as retailers, we need to get with the zeitgeist and help improve this situation. But it’s also improved our sales.”
To highlight this she pointed out the 270% increase she enjoyed on sandwiches and 300% on porridge, among many others.
From there, Dr Colette Blackwell, Scotland Food and Drink Federation Director, gave an enlightening presentation on the scale of the obesity problem in Scotland and what plans Government has, including the the ‘invitation’ for local retailers to remove confectionery from the tillpoint area.
That in fact was the topic of the first ‘Call Kaye’ session, a new and welcome addition to the conference, which involved the host replicating her radio show with a panel, and plenty of audience participation. The first of these asked if Scotland was becoming a ‘Nanny State’ with too many restrictions being forced on the industry.
Discussing this were Donald Henderson, Head of Public Health Policy at the Scottish Government, the SGF’s John Lee and SLR’s Kevin Scott. Henderson robustly defended the Government’s position, but found himself a lone voice in a room that was in full agreement that Government interference, through alcohol and tobacco legislation, along with moves into confectionery, was hindering the convenience industry.
A second session, featuring John Lee, Maurice Lindsay, National Retail and Tourism Lead at the Scottish Business Resilience Centre and Jim McFedries, Head of Profit Protection at Scotmid, focused on retail crime and the consensus among the delegates was that not enough was being done to help retailers both prevent and deal with the aftermath of crime in their stores.
Both sessions were lively and provided plenty of debate on key issues facing retailers, which continued well into lunch.
Future of retail
The afternoon session began with a series of Awards being given to SGF Members, before Leigh Sparks gave a lecture on the future role of retailing in the Scottish economy.
Without breaking any new ground, Sparks provided theories on why retail is heading in the direction it is. He believes that the evolution of retail is subject to wider structural changes than any “recessionary overlay” that has been experienced since the downturn in 2008.
His closing argument was that the situation is going to get worse before it gets better. Not perhaps news that retailers would be happy to hear, but it was an interesting lecture, providing information on the role of the high street, retail space in general, and the role Government plays in the sector.
Concluding, he said: “Future excellence will involve blending consumer needs with retail operations in community. Be there when they need you, give them a tailored demand and make them feel at home.”
Following Sparks was Martin Glenn CEO of United Biscuits who spoke of the foundation of the McVities company and the brand’s Scottish heritage. He admitted that much work was required if the biscuits category was ever to match soft drinks or confectionery, in terms of progressive merchandising, if not sales.
The day concluded with a presentation by SGF President Robert Sider, who discussed the impressive standards of the sector in the face of government and economy. He spoke of the “big guns” who have left the industry, and how he was encouraged by the new generation. “The sector provides some £3.2bn to the economy. Retailers are at the heart of communities and provide vital routes to market for major suppliers and crucial ones for local suppliers,” he said.
And that is the Scottish local retail community in a nutshell. It was one that was well represented at the conference, and with the continuing work of the SGF and its partners it is one that will continue to thrive.
