Perhaps the only good thing to be seen on the shop floor this season is that predominantly only men with no style wear trainers when not doing sport. I will ignore the classic Geox type low profile here I refer to your thick blown sole classic Nike or Adidas. Gone are the days when every other customer wore trainers. Then of course they could not wear shoes without saying “they feel hard” or “no they will not be comfortable”.For the moment it seems that the UK footwear buyer has grown up. The problem now is that you have to stop yourself from treating trainer guy with a level of service he may not deserve. In short you feel he looks stupid some kind of eighties throw back. Take pity on him he needs some pushing even if he ends up in a boat shoe it is a start. He needs to put away childish things and move on make the sale bite the bullet. Who knows.
I have just put down what must be one of the top 10 business books ever written. Gerber really speaks to the hard pressed small business owner. If all you get from this is a wake up call then that will be enough. Some very clever threads run through the book. I especially found the Sarah character easy to identify with. Or if you have a brother the widget factory example really bites, it might just stop you employing family members ever again. You can see so much in her (Sarah) and them that is in all of us.
Certainly any one who runs a small business that they know has not moved on, this is the book for you. It would be a very closed mind that can not draw from the examples given. To top it all off what a varied and full life this guy has lived. If he is not a business guru then who is ?. Simple as this read the book follow the plan as given to Sarah. Look at how he pushed her on and at the same time spoke to everyone. Think it, apply it and you must be better off. So many tired over worked near the end of funding business owners must see the truth here as Gerber lays it all out before you. I will just say that I am inspired and given new hope by this one little book.
To ask what IFRA should do it is perhaps better to first address what IFRA lacks (IFRA – Independent Footwear Retailers Association, refered to as IFRA from now on). In short IFRA lacks a lot of teeth (does it have any). Perhaps the aim of the assocition was never truely explored. Was the association originally designed to be a good excuse for a night out. Perhaps no one has ever said stop, you need to look at this again. Certainly I am unsure that whatever activities the association carries out why should it lose money. Or more to the point how can it lose money ?. So most peoples talk revolves around to the same statement – “This really is not going to actually benefit anyone and we need to re-think”. I am rambling a little here but the true independent sector has never been so under threat. By true independent I refer to that dying breed of shops that sell more than one brand and knows a good shoe when they see it. Sorry but that does rule out all or most of you franchise only guys. So back to my line of thought IFRA has no teeth. Does it try to counter the monopoly of power wielded by the rating agencies. Does it say enough is enough of the farce that is the Drapers judges pannel. Can it punish a supplier who fails to deal with bulk returns correctly. The answer is no to all questions but then what do I think it should do. Here are some ideas. IFRA insiders may say that is not what we want but seeing that the membership is hardly comprehensive or inclusive what can be spoilt. Forgive me if any of these points have been addressed internally of late by IFRA but if they have then nothing has been made of it.
1. Report any bulk fault to a central database. This will stop the line most heard when you first try to deal with bulk fault issues. You have heard it “no we have never come across that before”. A simple email drop point along the lines of faultreport@IFRA.com would do the job. Display all the mails by brand and gender on a data base. The thought that this might happen might be enough to get the ball rolling to get credit. The real strength of this system would be reporting all faults regardless of credit progress.
2. Run a footwear exhibition that would offer a true unified face to the trade. We do not need more shows we need one show. The Motorcycle Museum show worked for me. Certainly it was a cheaper cost option.
3. Offer benefits that can not be bettered on your own. There is little point in offering credit card processing packages that sit in the middle of the average rates. Either offer the cheapest or stop doing so.
4. The most stressful and time consuming daily task of the retailer is dealing with customer returns that are fraudulant. Start a testing service again. One that will allow the retailer to say no to the fraudster and so help the genuine customers.
5. Back to a data base again it is of no suprise that the fraudulant return customer has done the same thing before. No better ammunition to counter them than are you the same Mr X. So start a data base of fraudulant return .
6. Rate and reward suppliers with reference to the fair and transparent nature that they run accounts, deliveries, returns, buying schedules etc. That might rule out some of the bigger German houses straight away.
7. Run a conference that is located slap bang in the middle of the country. Would it be a good idea to tie conference into a show venue to kill two birds with one stone. Again that would certainly end up cheaper.
These are just a few ideas, I have more. I welcome any feed back or comments. Please however note that every idea I have put forward comes from long discussion with other retailers most of which are ex members.
Having just had a short spell of exceptionally warm weather I find my mind turning to that old question that shoe retailers ask themselves. Is our trade purely dependant on weather ?. You know with all other factors remaining even, the straight answer is yes. Of course if all the local employers have closed so your customers are out of work or the road and carpark outside your store is shut then you will have no trade. As I said however if all other factors remain equal when the sun shines then so does your bank balance.
Why ? well it must be as simple as happiness breeds sales. When the sun shines and your shop that is packed full of seasonal products pulls in the customers they part with their money much easier. Putting yourself in the mind of a typical buyer I expect they say to themselves it is good weather lets buy summer product. The thing is if it is that simple why do our buyers and merchandisors spend so much time and effort over planning store lay out and content. An easy answer is imagine where you would be without a plan. No one wants to see a store that has a display without theme or reason (I think I have ran a few). There are plenty of them around. A store that the customer understands will more effectively allow them to spend.
So stick to your plan. Back the obvious winners (it is that easy) and pray for sun. I would have said if that fails move your shop to Spain but that would not be so bright looking at Mr Euro. Keep praying.
Without doubt the phrase of the day to spout forth from the lips of the majority of footwear people at the moment is well I hope you understand X because I am under pressure. My angle on this new mantra is yes I understand. The person concerned is under pressure. If they are in sales then they have to sell the same as last year or even better more. Should they be in accounts and admin they are tasked with getting the money in quicker the orders out faster and doing so with no errors. For anyone this step up in the face of the big recession out there must be hard. Especially when you think that most buyers are setting out with the aim of ordering less whilst at the same time getting better terms.
Do I sound sympathetic. I do mean to but when I hear this I ask myself a few questions (that is after saying to myself, do not shout or break into a temper Mark). First how much risk is this person exposed to (not a lot that is theirs). Second Is this persons property and life’s work under threat. You know the answer is no most of the time. As an independent I think time has ran out on identifying with factors that are the result of economic circumstances that are just manifesting themselves as a person. Lets call that person for sake of argument a none risk taker. Stick to your plan, stick to your budget. If the company that is coming to you wanting your help deserves the aid can they help you ?. A lot of our suppliers have asked us for help as we them. When the street is two ways walk down it, but beware the one way traffic typically offered by German or fashion suppliers. I think we have walked away from all of them lately. There are still some people on all sides of distribution who have integrity. Remember who they are and stick with them . Forget the rest.
A well organised show can often be spoilt by the lack of attendance by key suppliers. It would be fair to say that considering the state of the footwear trade in the UK the level of buyer attendance was good. No doubt the offical figures will confirm that but where were the folllowing brands ?
GABOR , CLARKS , ECCO, TIMBERLAND, UGG, HUNTER. I do not know. Perhaps it is best not to attend then they will not get bothered by the little accounts. For me a united trade show is a strong trade show. If the costs are too high then as a united body it could move venue. I do not think the remaining big boys that did not attend were actually missed it just seems that now is the time to pull together.
The over all trend pattern to be seen was of no suprise. Waterproof treatments and membranes abound. Ugg like fur and shearling trims were everywhere for ladies boots. For men the Red Wing look had better be in or most ranges will find little relevance next winter. The choice will be how many classic mid hieght lace up “formal work wear” boots can I have.
As often the best chat was found late in the evening on Sunday. Well done to Iain Burnett for winning the Golden Sample Case. I think he must have been the thinking buyers choice.
Perhaps one of the most frustrating things that you come across during the buying season (or funny things depends on how you look at it) is how many agents or reps confuse standing legitimate costs with taking a risk. Or to be more clear there are costs which anyone who wants to display their samples and gain new customers has to incur. In my view rightly or wrongly just as paying rent and staff in a shop you have to incur the costs which you can call fixed in order to sell and receive revenue. If your store is not there you can sell nothing. The same applies to your web stores. They have to be built, maintained by your tech team, customer service needs a voice etc.
At the start of every season though you hear the same old line. Mark what do I do ? I have just paid out £3,000 to show at Moda or more like £10,000 if you want a big enough stand I can not keep doing this the risk is too great !. Now the stands do not come cheap but divide that and then the other display costs from hotels and diesel from travelling by 26 weeks or so. What do you get ? roughly what most retailers pay out in fixed costs to make less profit than the agent. Then the good bit comes the agent can turn that tap off at any time. If Moda is no longer the winner then the next booking is simply declined. No six eight or twenty five year lease here. So which is the cost and which the risk you decide but I made up my mind a long time ago. Living in a six month or one year cycle is a matter of incurring a cost living in and making a living from a six twelve or twenty five year cycle is a risk. Especially if the cycle has to be seen out. Most retailers would need to either sell up or go bust to get out of a lease.
Now if an agent said that they had paid out £50,000 to buy an agency which they felt was a potential winner just badly managed before, now thats a risk. It is difficult to gain sympathy from me when you get confused. I did say to an old time agent who I thought would have known better last week the following. “Yeah you are right I would not stand a risk like that tell you what do not show at Moda sell your car and sell over the phone but be careful to only call at night you do not want to run up a big bill” He thought I was been sarcastic and got a little upset. I was not bothered.
This is a short comment and falls into the “it makes me smile category”.
When you feel really strongly about something and that something is business related the thought usually comes to me at about 10 o’clock. When you really want to have a go send the rep/agent an email. Copy in the boss or sales manager and see who replies first if at all. I bet the boss replies pretty quickly fifty percent of the time. The rep pretty much never (therefore they do not really care).
The same rule applies to the Friday night trade show flight. If there are two flights home one at 7.00 and one at 9.00 I bet the 9.00 flight is empty. Not to mention that the Saturday and Sunday flights are bumped to smaller planes. I once caught a Dusseldorf flight on a Thursday that had 300 plus passengers on it. The return flight we opted for on Sunday morning was bumped to a “city flier” with twenty seats.
What am I saying.When the next rep says I like your car or that sounds like a good place to holiday. Remember your seven day weeks and 16 hour days. They know nothing of that commitment to your business and customers. In the end they fail.
The footwear trade much like any other small trade has some characteristics distinctive to it. Perhaps like many others some of the ways that the trade works are at there best during the good times and the worst at the times that are hard.
So we come to what I have called the gentlemans agreement. This really is the way that suppliers and distributors have acted together or against each other over the last twenty years. Compared to recent events no matter how hard they were the past years were the good times. Over the past few months we have seen the depths of the bad times.
Come on you are saying stop rambling on what has happened. In short a good half of our suppliers have stabbed us in the back. All bets were off and look out for yourself prevailed.
We are strong and I am certainly not worried. I do though feel bitter. Previous unwritten but long standing arrangements have been thrown away. Good credit terms, early deliveries, friendly customer service departments ; sadly in a lot of places are gone. As an aside we have also seen an alarming rise in the return rate of some German suppliers ( they too are gone). I will not name names there is no need. Any supplier who fits the bill has seen cancellation of forward bookings on mass. The funny thing is when the area rep calls they seem so offeneded when you say no thanks never again and I will remember you.
I exspect it is at times like these you find out who wants and values your business and who just takes it for granted. Do us a favour and you can exspect good orders, payments, repeats and loyalty. Thats about it in a nut shell help us and we help you. As a final point the suppliers who have double crossed us are missing the volume and business we offer oh dear.
What does this mean for our customers and current suppliers ?
1. Better and closer relationships.
2. More in depth offerings from World brands (not local also rans).
3. More prizes draws and competitions for customers (everyone likes to win).
4. Happier customers, happier suppliers, happier staff.
5. A good deal all round. Better prices at retail. Better company health at year end.
Good bye to all the suppliers that we have chosen to forget this season. I hope all the new stores and websites out there suit you.
