John Richards
John Richards is a retail consultant and non-executive director
OpinionAstronomic investment needed to fix retail black holes
There is still no substitute for store visits if you want to see reality rather than the ‘fake news’ emanating from the boardroom and the PR department.
OpinionOpinion: The true cost of stores? Let's do the maths
“You ain’t seen nothing yet” would be my response to the sad stream of retail ‘accidents’ we have already endured in 2018.
OpinionOpinion: Digital shelf-edge labelling is the future
You all know that ad that goes “it does what it says on the tin”, but how many retailers can match up to this simple claim?
OpinionOpinion: Food retail has been hit by lack of strategy
It has become a meaningless cliché to talk about the increasing speed of change in retail, yet the recent dramatic news from the grocery trade is hard to keep up with.
OpinionOpinion: C&A, Littlewoods, BHS… don’t let it happen to M&S
Here’s a little brain teaser for you. Complete the following sequence: C&A, Littlewoods, Woolworths, BHS and…?
OpinionOpinion: Retail restructuring? You ain’t seen nothin' yet
As customers demand more services and retailers keep reaching for their ‘holy grail’, the future of retail is becoming harder to predict.
AnalysisWithout a sense of purpose retailers risk losing touch with shoppers
While it pales into insignificance in relation to VW’s embarrassment, retailers are also increasingly finding it difficult to see the wood for the trees.
OpinionComment: The big grocers need to discover new purpose
The popular consensus is that the grocery market will return to ‘normal’, but there is debate over how long it will take.
OpinionIt is time for the transparency of every-day low prices
Retailers run the risk of damaging their reputations, diminishing profits and alienating consumers by holding too many promotions
OpinionComment: Wage debate poses reputational threat to retail
As a consumer-facing industry, controversies such as zero-hours contracts are damaging to the retail sector’s reputation.
OpinionComment: Tesco and M&S need retail revolution rather than evolution
Tesco and Marks & Spencer’s must undergo dramatic change as the UK retail scene adjusts to hard discounters and online challenges.
OpinionComment: John Lewis demonstrates that management basics remain essential
John Lewis’s 150th anniversary serves as a reminder of the importance of outstanding leadership, continuity and commitment to values at a time when the frequency of retail management changes is beginning to rival that of football managers.
OpinionComment: John Richards on why a high IPO price may not be best price
Too many IPO valuations are set at fairytale prices and companies floated at these prices will reap the consequences.
OpinionComment: Retailers are being blinded by big data
One of the most sensible and thought-provoking things that I heard last year was “you can’t use all the data that you’ve got and there is a fine line between personalised and creepy”.
OpinionComment: Technology can't replace retail basics
What a weird and wonderful retail world we inhabit. Retail Week’s September Technology supplement talked about the blurring of the boundaries between the virtual and physical space.
OpinionComment: Reinvention is the key to retail success
Kate Bostock’s abrupt departure from Asos, following on from John Browett’s short stay at Apple, highlights how fast retail is changing.
OpinionComment: Customer focus is the missing ingredient
Once upon a time, a trip to the US gave a foretaste of the future of retailing, in terms of store design and new formats.
OpinionComment: Reinvent your high street to avoid its demise
Last year, I highlighted the uneven playing field for store-based retail in relation to pure play, which does not face onerous rent and rates bills and is not even expected to make a profit.
OpinionComment: Uneven playing field as etail grows
There is nothing to beat actually making a purchase, in store or online, if you really want to know how a retailer is performing.
OpinionComment: Building brands in the digital retail era
The news that Ocado is planning a move into dedicated non-food sites for categories such as pets, baby, health and beauty and home and gardening got me thinking.