Top tips from some of the industry's sharpest minds

We’re halfway through 2022 and we’ve already been lucky enough to speak with some of the most awesome people working in retail right now.

Retail never stands still. It’s always evolving. The combination of new technology, changing customer behavior, and the melting pot of our wider culture come together to present both new challenges and opportunities for retailers big and small.

To be successful, you have to stay ahead of the game. If you standstill, you’ll get left behind. Now, this doesn’t mean racing at breakneck speed to embrace every new trend under the sun. It means working smarter, being more sophisticated, and challenging yourselves and your teams to raise the bar as to what’s possible.

Doing this on your own is a tall order. And the reality is, we can all learn from each other.

It’s why we ask the awesome retailers we get the chance to speak to what their advice to others would be. What are their tips? What would they say to fellow ambitious retailers?

Here, we’ve collated some of the best tips to share with you:

Bård Kvamme - Director, Norrøna

1. Keep moving forward. I’ve been in retail for twenty years and the most successful retailers are those who don’t settle. Consumer behavior, employee expectations, and technology all change all the time and if you don’t change with them you’ll get left behind.

2. Prioritize the experience. Physical retail without any kind of experience is boring - especially when it’s so easy to buy everything online. It’s why you need some kind of X-factor. If you offer your customers something different - like the events we run in our stores - then they’ll continue to shop with you and visit your stores. Having people in your stores who really care about customers is also key. In 2022, if your stores don’t offer some kind of elevated experience then you need to develop one really quickly or else your business will die.

3. It’s all about the customer. Retail is always all about the customer. It’s about being on the floor, speaking to customers, listening to them and understanding what they want. There’s a risk, especially for fast growing retailers, that top management becomes detached from what’s actually happening in the stores. It’s why we made the decision that, even though we’re growing and expanding into more markets, we want to keep the mentality of being close to the business. We spend a lot of time in our stores, with our shop managers, and with our staff so we can be close to our customers and understand exactly what’s going on. Whatever you do, always make sure you stay consumer centric.

Discover Norrøna’s secrets to success here.

Kasper Obel - Retail Director, Les Deux

1. Give your customers a reason why. Customers crave convenience and, with this, you need to give them a reason why they should invest time in going to your physical store - especially when it’s so easy and cheap to buy everything online. Figure out the reason why you exist and how you can tell this story to your end consumers.

2. Every detail counts. Everything you do adds up to creating the end experience for your customers and every detail counts. Retail is one of the toughest industries and it’s why you need to constantly be looking at the details because that’s where it really counts. Everyone running retail for the past few years knows it’s not easy and you’re not going to have everything handed to you but never give up.

3. Constantly be with the consumer. Finally, be where your customers are. You need to always be in touch and in tune with your customers wherever they are. And you have to give them a convenient, fun experience.