Retail Strategy and Consulting: Hard Lessons From the Shop Floor
Most retail owners I've spoken to over the years have strong opinions about what's wrong with their business. The footfall is down. Online sales aren't converting. Staff turnover is killing consistency. But when you ask them what their actual plan is to fix any of it — the room goes quiet. Not because they don't care. They care enormously. It's because nobody ever taught them what a real retail strategy looks like, and the people selling them software or services have a vested interest in keeping that definition fuzzy. So let's make it clear. And let's talk about where consulting fits in — because that's another area where retailers get burned regularly, often by paying good money for advice they either can't use or were never going to act on. A Business Goal Is Not a Strategy — And That Confusion Costs Real Money Here's something that took me a while to understand properly. A goal is "we want 30% more online revenue next year." A st...