Michael Poynor
Michael Poynor is founder and managing director of Retail Expertise
OpinionMichael Poynor: Retailers must sing from customers’ new hymn sheet
I’ve been retained as a regular columnist by Retail Week for 25 years, half my career. Following my 50th work anniversary this week, my columns will become more ad hoc. This is not my swan song; my golden milestone is but a staging post on a retail journey that’s far from the finish line.
OpinionOpinion: Bricks and mortar are alive and kicking
Lord Kirkham is unequivocal: physical stores have had their day, but not so in my book.
OpinionOpinion: Can Tesco achieve continental success?
At the very moment that Brexit is gesticulating two “je-m’en-foutiste” fingers across the English Channel, the UK’s leading retailer has chosen to launch two initiatives of distinctly continental inspiration.
OpinionOpinion: In Barcelona, shoppers are voting with their feet
“The people have spoken”, the clarion call of the Daily Mail, among other organs, is the mantra of people who voted for Brexit, airbrushing out the inconvenient detail of the millions of people who voted the other way.
OpinionOpinion: Stores must act like stores or die
Although somewhat irreverent, it’s tempting to see the lid being placed on Ingvar Kamprad’s coffin, last week, as a rather apt metaphor for the legacy of this giant retail genius of the 20th century.
OpinionPartnerships are key to independent retailers’ success
As I’m writing this column from Barcelona, it can only possibly have one theme: independence – the goal that Catalan secessionists continue to worship in blatant disregard of constitutional integrity, economic reality, European fraternity and the silenced majority.
OpinionOpinion: McDonald’s lessons on Brexit and retail
The latest canard from Brexit Secretary David Davis is that the fear of any of the other 27 countries following the UK’s suit and leaving the EU is “without foundation”.
OpinionOpinion: Surprise and delight still best found in-store
In a world of alternative facts and artificial intelligence, it’s no surprise that reality is becoming virtual, and that flesh and blood is being usurped by robots.
OpinionOpinion: Build stores not walls in Mexico
It would be wrong should the hostility to Mexico trumpeted by the US President-elect result in the Mexican wave becoming a sign of drowning.
OpinionOpinion: Dollar Shave Club deal shows shape of retail to come
This holiday period is often called the ’silly season’. But recent deals show that making M&A hay in the summertime can be anything but silly.
OpinionOpinion: The union of shopkeepers should be preserved
The world’s top 50 retailers (Deloitte’s Global Powers of Retailing, 2016) include 21 from the EU and 21 from North America.
OpinionOpinion: Mobilising the forces of retail online and in store
Physical store growth is the corollary of ecommerce not its victim, and these two are mobilising the sector in tandem.
AnalysisComment: How new technology is making shopping personal again
Smart new kids on the block are using technology to make grocery shopping the local and personal experience it once was.
- Opinion
Comment: Are Spain’s big retailers opening to private investment?
Top Spanish retailer Mercadona has no external investors – unlike compatriots El Corte Inglés and Inditex. Will it always be so?
OpinionComment: Customers know best about the Poundland-99p deal, not the CMA
Poundland’s interrupted acquisition of 99p Stores shows how futile it is when institutions seek to determine which shops compete with each other.
OpinionComment: Homage to Catalonia’s remarkable retail arena
At the heart of Barcelona’s vibrant retail scene department store El Corte Inglés is a monument to shopping in the modern era.
OpinionComment: Lessons to learn from Colombia’s retail success story
Colombia’s booming retail sector provides a glimpse of the opportunities available to businesses looking to expand overseas.
OpinionComment: What should Dave Lewis bring to Tesco’s retail offer?
In the era of multi-format, omnichannel retail, could a chief executive with a non-retail background be exactly what Tesco needs?
OpinionComment: Aldi and Lidl’s discounting is no new phenomenon
The fervour surrounding Aldi and Lidl’s discounting belies the longstanding tradition of discounters in the UK retail market.
OpinionComment: Primark right to disregard European boundaries
There are diverse growth opportunities outside the Continent, yet only a select group of retailers have so far taken advantage.