Many people have started the new year with a mission to reinvent themselves. Lose weight, get more organised, find a new job. Which retailers could benefit from adopting a similar approach and what could their reinventions look like?

Dixons Carphone

Dixons Carphone has been in the mire for the past few years as consumers have dramatically changed how they buy and upgrade their mobile phones.

Dixons carphone

The lack of smartphone innovation means people are upgrading their devices less frequently, and are opting for cheaper, SIM-only deals. This has hit sales at Carphone Warehouse.

Dixons Carphone boss Alex Baldock has vowed to take action, renegotiating contracts with phone networks, launching a credit offering and pushing deals on its own ID network. However, a quick glance on its website shows that ID deals are not competitive when compared to other networks. The electricals retailer needs to do more to reignite its spark.

But rather than fighting with technology giants for a slice of contract revenue, why doesn’t Dixons Carphone sell what the mobile phone can enable? 

The mobile is central to so many aspects of consumers’ lives and smart tech is on the rise – both Carphone Warehouse and sister retailer Currys PC World could establish themselves as the destination for smart technology.

However, this will require experience-led stores, with expert staff showing what the mobile phone can enable and the technology needed to unleash it.

B&Q

B&Q will have to work hard in 2020 to plaster over the deep cracks formed after some challenging years when parent company Kingfisher’s plan to unify the business caused much disruption.

BandQ sign

The retailer faces challenges beyond those of its own making. Millennial and Gen Z shoppers are opting to pay someone to ‘do it for me’ rather than ‘do it yourself’ and practical DIY skills are slowly dying. The trend has led Ikea to snap up tradesman website TaskRabbit so customers buying flatpack furniture can hire someone to build it for them.

Meanwhile, those that are sprucing up their pad are looking to Instagram and Pinterest for inspiration, rather than heading to their local DIY store.

And even if they did, would they head to B&Q?  Having floor-to-ceiling shelves of ‘stuff’ doesn’t resonate with today’s customers. They want suggestions for how a whole room should look and those with limited practical skills want clear directions on how exactly they do it themselves.

B&Q stores are in need of reinvention. They need to provide shoppers inspiration and make sure they are viewed as not just places that you buy stuff but places where you go to for advice and even to find tradespeople to do the job for you.

And with revamped Homebase on the up, it needs to reinvent itself soon.

WHSmith’s high street division

The travel arm is the star of the show at WHSmith, and perhaps the reasons for its success could inspire new thinking at the high street business.

WHSmith Holborn 11

When WHSmith took the strategic decision to invest in travel stores, one of the reasons was that busy airport and station locations were ‘Amazon-proof’. Captive and time-pressed travellers offered an ideal customer base for a convenience offer, be it food to keep them going or books or magazines to while away their journeys. Amazon could not service that market.

WHSmith’s high street arm has proved a stalwart of town centres. The 576 high street branches have successfully weathered the tough conditions that laid others low and last year notched up profits of £60m. But if they were rethought a bit, could a more Amazon-proof model be found?

What would really differentiate WHSmith would be a focus on people and social space.

That’s actually already in WHSmith’s DNA. For a century, right up until 1961, WHSmith ran libraries enabling people to borrow books. Today, the retailer has approximately 200 Post Offices in its shops, putting them at the heart of communities and driving footfall.

WHSmith could do more to make it a destination for people living and working nearby: Richard and Judy book clubs in store; business clubs for small company owners, which could also stock up on office essentials at the store; excess space in bigger branches might be let to concessionaires such as coffee brands.

As well as being a store, WHSmith might thrive on the high street by also being a social venue. That’s one thing an Amazon warehouse will never compete on.

Card Factory

Card Factory has warned on its profits for its current and upcoming financial year after “softer than anticipated Christmas trading” at what should be its most lucrative time of the year. After all, if you don’t buy a multi-pack of cards at Christmas when do you?

Card Factory's like-for-likes jump 1.8% over the 11 months ending December 31 2014.

 

With consumers increasingly conscious of the provenance of their product, and its environmental impact, a push towards a more sustainable greetings card range could create interest in the retailer’s brand.

Card Factory could also do more to jump on the personalisation trend that has helped retailers like Moonpig and Notonthehighstreet grow.

Hobbycraft has driven footfall to its store across festive periods by holding in-store workshops and events, and perhaps this is a technique that Card Factory could mimic by gathering people to its shops to make their own cards.

Considering the business has a store network of over 1,000 branches, anything that will drive engagement and footfall will be essential for the retailer to regain relevance with shoppers.

The business could also bolster its ecommerce offer and allow customers to personalise cards digitally.

Halfords

Despite recording a “solid” sales performance over Christmas, Halfords has issued two profit warnings in the last 12 months.

The business has, to date, delivered a store strategy which combines its cycling offer with its autocentres – however, is this a tactic that is holding it back?

Halfords Derby  1

Buying a bike is often an inspiring and highly emotive purchase, and one where a positive and expertly handled in-store experience can be a real differentiator. It’s also about as far away as you can get from the functional nature of buying some new windscreen wipers or tyres or stocking up on deicer.

With the travails of competitors like Evans Cycles and the comparative success of more affluent brand Rapha, there is a gap in the market for an accessible, affordable bike retailer which Halfords is perfectly placed to fill.

However, if it tries to do so while revving up its autocentre offer it risks losing out on high footfall locations which a customer could feasibly reach on foot, rather than needing to drive to.

The business recently acquired independent garage chain McConechy’s Tyre Service to bolster its autocentres division, which seems to be a canny move. Perhaps further acquisitions to bolster its autocentres arm, combined with a push to drive its credentials as an accessible bikes retailer independent of its motoring division is the key to ramping up sales momentum.

Frasers Group

Sports Direct changed its name to Frasers Group last year as it ramps up its transformative ‘elevation’ strategy – but this year the business will need to put its money where its mouth is.

Sports Direct

Although the group has talked a big game around its plans for the Frasers department store chain, that vision is yet to be brought to life. Boss Mike Ashley initially planned to lift the lid on a new-look Frasers in Glasgow last October, but refurbishments to transform it into a more premium destination have been delayed.

While a number of Sports Direct stores, including those in Thurrock and Southampton, have shifted away from the ‘pile it high, sell it cheap’ mentality of old, there is plenty of work and investment still needed to elevate the bulk of that store estate, dozens of which remain more hotchpotch than high end.

The problem for Sports Direct is that its new model is reliant on its relationships with third-party brands – the likes of Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana are vital to the success of Frasers and Flannels, while product from sportswear giants like Nike and Adidas will be needed if Sports Direct is to elevate its proposition. Frasers will need to make some dramatic changes in-store in 2020 to get those brands on-side. Its entire strategy depends on it.