Outcalt & Johnson: Retail Strategists, LLC
  • Home
  • Perspectives
  • Innovative Team
  • When to Call Them
  • What They Do, and How
    • Strategic Retailing
    • Sell My Store, Please!
    • Retail Turnaround Experts
  • Projects by Client Type, Size, Location, etc
    • Crisis/Turnaround
    • Assessments/Action Plans
    • Owner Issues/Organizational Development
    • Growth Management/Target Marketing & Merchandising
    • Financial/Restructuring
  • Links to Recent Clients
  • Thought Leaders
    • Retailers Hold the High Cards Now
    • Coming Soon: Impending Blight
    • Amazon's Relentless Disruptiveness
    • 3 Levels of Retail Accountability
    • 9 Steps to a Retail Growth Plan
    • Turnaround Case Study
    • Follow on Twitter
  • About
    • Bios/Credentials >
      • What People Say About Them
    • Co-Founders, The Retail Owners Institute®
    • Retail STRATA:G® Online Resources
    • Get to Know Them: Online Webinars
    • Retail Speakers
    • Custom Webinars
  • Contact

Ready for the Post-COVID Customers?

9/28/2020

 
Picture
Believe it! A second chance to make a good first impression!

​Yes, the shoppers WILL be returning. But boy, have they learned a lot during these pandemic times. 


They are far more comfortable with online shopping, and in many cases, eager to continue that. And the convenience of "contactless" features like curbside pickup and BOPIS (Buy Online, Pickup In Store) are welcomed.

In fact, an extensive survey from McKinsey & Company* provides considerable detail about the newly-learned online shopping behaviors of customers, and their expectations of continuing to use these new-found skills. 

Particular changes with presumed staying power: 
  • More online shopping
  • Less brand loyalty
  • Need for "hygiene transparency"
  • Back to basics & value
  • Rise of the homebody economy

​But hold it. Wait just a minute. Our countervailing view is that the "homebody economy" will wear thin. And while customers do care even more about basics and value, especially when it comes to Holiday shopping, they will want "special." 

Read More

So, Retailing Is Dead, Right?

9/21/2020

 
Picture
Retailing dead?" Hardly! 

“Retailing” is selling to the ultimate consumer. That is not going away, in spite of the current perception. 

What IS (appropriately) endangered? 
Deadly retail real estate! Conventional, impersonal, and boring brick-n-mortar stores are deadly.

Read More

Where's the Money Gone? Nowhere!

9/14/2020

 
Picture
Many Americans who can afford to save money – thanks to reduced spending on eating out, vacations, and consumer goods – are playing it safe and hoarding their cash, according to recent research by Gallup/Franklin Templeton.* 

And those who currently are saving at least a little money largely plan to keep saving rather than spending in the near term.

Read More

Labor Day weekend is past. Happy New Year!?

9/9/2020

 
Picture
We once knew a lady of an earlier generation who steadfastly championed the idea that Labor Day should be considered New Year's Eve, and the Tuesday after Labor Day as the start of the New Year. (Yes, she was ahead of her time in many other ways as well.)

Here's her reasoning about the "real" New Year's Eve: as summer fades away and vacations end, the new school year starts up; the baseball season pennant race is on; football games begin. As all this happens, she explained, most people take on a renewed sense of energy. 

The promise of a fresh start is everywhere. Optimism abounds!  

Read More

    Pandemic Perspectives & More from Retail STRATEGISTS

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020

Services
Perspectives
Thought Leaders
Contact

About
Outcalt & Johnson: Retail Strategists, LLC • A Consulting Team for the Retail Industry