Retail Today with Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor

Well, it's 2020, have you started to think about getting your own PR, press relations, for 2020? I hope so. Today I want you to think about creating a PR calendar. So many times businesses miss the easy way to get publicity is by covering events, or product launches, or some kind of upgrades that you do with your local media. What you want to come up with answers the question: what's the news angl...

It's 2020 and we're trying to do more things with less people. You know, I always get this question, "How can I leverage myself and open a second store?" Or, "How can I manage two different stores or manage two different departments?" And look, you can probably do the work of two people. I have no doubt on that. But can you actually be two people? Can you actually have a different set of ears and...

Are you operating like it's the 1980s that people leave messages on phones and then get back to them? When your shoppers have an inquiry, they expect answers and that means when they're on your website, when they are on your app, when they're in your store, they want answers right then. So today I want you to look at how many ways are you available to your shoppers. So if you haven't set up some k...

It doesn't matter how many employees you have, it's really tough to know how well they're converting lookers into buyers. Today I want you to pick one employee and then just watch a random five sales encounters, because ultimately, it's all about conversion in brick-and-mortar stores now. It's not about how they're greeted, it's not about if they asked if you had an app or signed up on a loyalty c...

When's the last time you updated your employee handbook? Now, I know it sounds old school, but there are a lot of set-and-forget moments that are mistakes in retail and the employee handbook is a great one. We have to revise our policies from “This is going to get you fired if you fail a drug test,” and “This is going to get you fired.” I think what we need to make sure we add and for you to look...

Well, it’s the second day of a new year, and I want you to keep focused on selling. What can you do for Shoppers? What do I mean by that? Quite simply, people are still in a holiday mood and they probably didn't get everything they wanted. If they're in your store, it's a good likelihood they're buying for themselves. This week is really about dealing with a residual “I didn't get this…” Now, you...

Hey, thanks for listening in today. It’s January 1st, 2020. It is a day filled with possibilities like a new a hill full of snow and you are in the sled as a five- or six-year-old child. So many possibilities. Did you hit your goal did you miss it for last year? That's fine if you didn’t hit it because I want you to think of the possibilities in 2020. Use your choice muscle today to envision a gre...

Well, it's New Year's Eve today and the year is officially over this afternoon. So, pat yourself on the back, take a look, and say, "We did a great job." It doesn't matter, whatever has gone on, today is the day that your body, your mind, and all your efforts should start shutting down and saying, "A job well done." So, take stock, rest. Tonight, you're going to go out and party, that's fine. Just...

Okay. It's only a couple of more days until the end of the year. So today I want you to prepare for the possibilities and that means to take down your holiday decorations, and that means all those signs, all those Holly themed PLPs that you might have, all of it.  It's time to start cleaning that out because the season is really over and clean it up. And you know what? You'll find a renewed sense...

You have to sell what you have today. Yeah, that's right. So what you have, look, the reality is your inventory has had a cannon shot through it, and you're going to be out of an awful lot of items. And the problem is that so many of your employees will say, well, we're out of it. We're out of it. And the goal is to sell what you have.  Look, brick and mortar is about immediate gratification. So m...

Tired of Customer Returns? How to Save the Sale In Retail | Retail Today With Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor - Flash Briefing Well, it's the last Saturday of the year. How exciting is this? Well, you better be prepared for returns cause they're going to happen and this is your last Saturday of the year to get ahead of those. So today what I want you to be thinking about is how do I return every ret...

Are you boring your shoppers? You know? And a lot of times I go through and I'm buying something in a brick and mortar store and an employee pretty much can only tell me what is on the box or what's on a sign. And if you really want to increase your sales, you have to understand that selling is inspiring, but also educating.  And the worst thing you can do is to go through and tell them something...

Hey, it's the day after Christmas, how exciting. The fun continues and the time will pass quickly. You're going to be getting a lot of returns today. And here's my secret tip. A lot of people bought items before Christmas at full price, but after Christmas you probably have a sale going on, and when somebody goes to return something, it's usually the gift who's getting the return. So in addition t...

So yesterday I talked about being a hero to the men who are still just now coming into your store. But I want you today on Christmas Eve to be the hero. And that means you're going to let somebody go home early and you're going to be responsible for closing the shop down. So many times people go through and they say, you have to stay here till five and ultimately it's dead. You know, the traffic f...

I love today. Today is the day the guys finally come out and decide, Hey, I should get something because Christmas is almost here. And the one thing that they do is, while they procrastinate, they need help from you. You know, when they're just starting thinking of shopping, you need to be able to limit their choices, be able to talk about how they can buy it and return it. Don't just settle for a...

How exciting, it's the last Saturday of the holiday season before Christmas. So today, what's the most important thing you can do is to make sure you make your employee's day and then they'll make your customer's day. So today, I want you to be a hero, order pizza or do something special. Bring lunch in some way because showing you care with food can help lift your employee's mood and more importa...

You know, shoppers only have two hands. And a lot of times we let them walk around without picking up items. And what we don't realize is that that actually stops their ability to buy. So today I want you to go through and give shoppers a basket. Yeah, that's it. Your goal is to free up their hands.  So if you're a clothing store, maybe you don't have baskets, but your goal would be to say, here,...

Are you getting your shoppers to feel something when they come into your store? You know, people who feel and touch something, I'm much more likely to buy. So that means if you're displaying something, take something off of it and encourage the person to hold it. Or if it's the material, how does this feel against your skin? Or notice how lightweight this is, or any number of ways you can get some...

Do you have a display that's not working, I mean, something you thought would actually move the merch? Well, today I want you to think about adding movement to that display. You could add a train to it. You could add lights. But do something that gets people to actually pause and consider it, because displays that move merch require another level of engagement, so catching the customer's eye throu...

It's all about converting lookers to buyers. That's your job. It's called the conversion rate. All that matters is did you convert people who walked in and had an interest in your store to a customer. And when I talk to people and I'll say, "What do you think your conversion rate is?" People are like, "Oh, 90%." They're never 90%. It's like 10 or 15%. There's a lot more business on your floor than...

Price matching is not just Amazon anymore. It's going to be Walmart. So at that point, you have to ask yourself, "Okay. So how much time am I going to devote to someone who wants to buy this game, whatever it is, and... Oh, we'll go on. We'll make sure. Well, show us in your phone. Okay. We'll go verify it on our computer, and the item is 40 bucks." I mean, seriously, how much could you be off by?...

For the first eight feet in your store, nobody wants to talk to anybody. Your customers don't want to be barraged, "Hi, can help you find something?" Your untrained employees don't want to go up there. That first eight feet is what I call the decompression zone. It's an area where you just let people have space to be able to peruse your store. Basically, they've landed in an alien country that's y...

Get up. Today is going to be the second most popular Saturday of the holiday season, and the important thing I want you to do today is to look for conversions. How do you know how well your employees are converting lookers to buyers? It's simple. Take time to look at the number of bags going out your front door. Conversions is what it's about today. It means less bags means fewer employees helping...

All you want to worry about when it comes to tagging and pricing shelves of products is does the customer know how much this costs? Nothing drives me crazier than going into a brick-and-mortar store, and I have to ask somebody the price. Just shoot me. I am not buying from you. I will go find anyone else. "Oh, well, it's hard for us to price it." Get a price gun and price it, or do a shelf talker....

For the first eight feet in your store, nobody wants to talk to anybody. Your customers don't want to be barraged, "Hi, can I help you find something?" Your untrained employees don't want to go up there. That first eight feet is, some people call it the decompression zone. It's an area where you just let people have space to be able to peruse your store. Basically, they've landed in an alien count...