Operational Exellence

The consumer shopping mood this holiday is unlikely to be festive. With unemployment at levels never seen by most families, credit card costs continuing to soar, and wages frozen, despite the upbeat indications for an economic recovery, most consumers simply are not feeling it yet.

While not as dire as last year, and with the entire year to potentially save or manage cash to make holiday gift giving more feasible, the outlook cannot be overly optimistic. Retail stores may post flat or even marginal comp store gains, but remember, those are measured against the deepest drop in retail sales in recent history. Dropping even further from those depths would be a very bad sign indeed.

Given this highly pessimistic view of the shopping climate, the focus this year should be on operational performance. Or, make the shopping experience as painless, fulfilling, easy and quick as possible. Spending less than you would like to, at places you might not usually shop, isn't going to be "fun" no matter what the retailer does. However: it CAN be a positive experience. The consumer isn't interested in "fun". They are interested in efficiency. This is not going to be a "fun" holiday season. It won't be as dismal as last year, but there is a very long leap from "dismal" to "fun". And we're not there yet.

What is operational exellence? Clean floors, easily shopped race tracks, racks straightened and made attractive. Customer service personnel (what few of them you can afford) focused on helping the consumer through the experience, NOT on selling them something they don't really want. This starts with store management, and has to be reinforced and provided with oversight. Turn this holiday season into the season where you made a difference. Courtesy, attention to detail, commitment to service and efficiency will be deeply valued......and in the long run, rewarded by the consumer through brand preference.

It's too late to alter the merchandise mix (although it is unfortunately never too late to alter the promotional posture), change the seasonal advertising, or significantly impact price ladders. What it is NOT too late for is to galvanize in-store execution. Send your merchants back out into the stores. They aren't doing you much good peering over reports which aren't critical right now anyway. Get your store personnel focused and motivated. It doesn't take a ton money. Just effort and management attention.