It’s a bit of a chicken and egg type of question about what came first: the retailer or the customer? Does the retailer meet the needs of the consumer or create them?

It’s a bit of a chicken and egg type of question about what came first: the retailer or the customer? Does the retailer meet the needs of the consumer or create them? It’s the same for me personally: am I first and foremost a buyer or a seller? You certainly need to see both perspectives to run a shop.

Either way, I love being sold to. I laughed out loud when I read a bit of sales speak in a brochure from my local estate agent. Apparently “downsizing” is dead; long live “right-sizing”. What a great twist. It perfectly captures the importance of personalisation and positivity in any buying decision.

Contrast this with politics and arguably one of our most important buying decisions: who to run the country. It’s party conference season and whoever’s been writing the speeches could learn a lot from the estate agent’s little bit of spin.

Almost without exception they all refer to their customers - us voters - with such glum generalisations. It’s all about how they’ll do the best for “the working man”, “the workforce” and “hard-working families”. It makes work sound like drudgery, when for many it’s a joy. And besides, work is only a small part of what we think defines us.

It would be wonderfully refreshing if they said they were appealing to voters who were quite funny or up for a good time.

Or “only vote for us if you’re nice, positive or kind” - that sounds more like you, doesn’t it? None of us would sit down with our marketing teams and discuss how to appeal to “working people” any more than we at Ann Summers would just target women. Our demographic heartland is women who like orgasms and/or who want more orgasms. Don’t worry, I won’t ask for a show of hands.

All of us in retail need to personalise our offer more. We need to “right-size” our products, our stores, our websites, our brand communication and our staff to better serve our customers.

One of the ways we are doing this at Ann Summers is with the roll out of our new bra-fitting service. The bra-fitting basics are all about the band, the straps and the cups - if they’re rising up, falling down, cutting in or spilling over, that’s easy for us to fix. However, the true personalisation of this service - the detail that makes the difference, or the cherry on top - is ensuring that whatever the style or the shape the bra gives you, it not only suits your body but matches your personality and unleashes your sexual confidence.

A bra may physically fit one of our customers, but if we don’t understand how they want that bra to make them feel, then it’s not going to be right for them. It’s not about how many bedrooms you need or how big your boobs are, right-sizing is about knowing and serving your customer, as if they’re the only one who could buy your product, because you made it just for them.

  • Jacqueline Gold is chief executive of Ann Summers