Esselle Retail Ltd’s Post

Had the privilege of speaking about retail "must do's" with two Global leaders. My time in retail started in 1978 and the ONLY constant is people. Customers and staff. Over the journey a number of companies have invested in training me and I too spent 7 years working on my understanding of consumers and why they buy. The science of eyeballs, how we attract customers, what NOT to say, advertising & messaging, that my price point is not my customers. I STILL invest the time to work on counters and serving customers to ensure my reality is real and true and not based on perceptions. My time in Franchises, retail shopfitting and selling products typically three times the cost of competing products taught me many things. I focus on reminding attendees of the basics. If you do not have these you have a shaky start to TRY to sell. Enjoy. Service...the final frontier.

Amazing conversations today on the power of Marketplaces and Retail Media at the Mirakl London Summit and great to be on stage with Octavie Gosselin, Nagi Letaifa and Ekow M. “At Havas Market UK, as the commerce specialist agency within Havas Media UK we see a common theme of brands seeking profitable, incremental growth opportunities and the excitement around Retail Media stems from ability to potentially solve for the brand, performance and commerce goals a brand may have. The lines between the various marketing disciplines are being even more blurred and we need help our clients to better understand the journeys their customers are going on, ultimately to help them design more connected experiences (across all consumer touchpoints) that deliver more relevance, action, and business impact.” #retailmedia Mirakl x Havas Market #marketplaces #ecommerce

I love reading customer feedback like this because one realisation strikes me more than anything; the things that have the most impact on another human being have nothing to do with: • product features • sales techniques • or price promotions. No, the things that are the most powerful, impactful and memorable are the people themselves: • their personality • their ability to make someone smile • how they make other people feel Sales are important, yes - but smiles are the key to everything. I believe that by focusing on this, the rest will follow. #humanconnection #customerexperience #experienceiseverything

Recently appointed Group Executive Vice-President and Integrated Retail Portfolio CEO, Ambikah Mongroo shares some strategy updates for Massy's Integrated Retail Portfolio across the region. #AGlobalForceForGood #IntegratedRetail #Massy #Retail #Distribution

What are some common challenges of being a department manager in the retail industry? ✏️ As a department manager you act as an intermediary between the team and the store manager, so you commonly do not have as much time to fulfill your own tasks as you would like. You have to manage the needs of the team, tasks delegated by your manager, and still find time to monitor sell-through and partner with the merchants for assortment needs to ensure the teams success.

Those companies that truly understand and apply Playing to Win to develop their complete business strategy, understand the importance of Where to Play. Within WTP, one component is the customer, as all customers are not created equal - not all customers are right for your business. For example, when I was President of Bacardi Canada, we revised our customer WTP within on-premise, to focus on the small premium chains and independents. We would have been at a strategic disadvantage with large chains, trying to compete with Diageo. With smaller chains and independents, our experienced in-house on-premise sales force could develop deeper customer connections, where Diageo simply was not interested in trying to enter. With more premium accounts, our portfolio of brands like Grey Goose, Bombay Sapphire and Bacardi represented a better fit, for them and us. Back in 2012, accounts like Muzik, Canoe, Harbour 60, in Toronto, were accounts where we had strong relationships, brand exposure and sales - and they also operated as lighthouse accounts, providing reinforcement of a premium brand positioning. Think through WTP across all elements of your business (who, what, where, through who), with through who being the customer.

Surprisingly, auditing and compliance are often overlooked areas in-store. Field Force shines in these critical aspects, ensuring your field sales and merchandising efforts are not marking their own homework. Enhance your compliance and maximise your market presence by calling us now on 086 177 6826. #AuditingModel #ComplianceExcellence #ReturnOnInvestment

Over the years on many occasions I have walked stores and had the question asked or I have asked the question, "Why are we carrying this product? Is there another product that's better? What's our ROI on this category?" Well the answer can't be I don't know or there will be a lot of work won't there. I promise there are category people reading this right now smiling and laughing about those store walks. They were tense but they are also very serious. If a category manager doesn't have the right items it can mean loss of sales. Too many items and categories miss and it means....well it means that its not good and it can impact the total business, stock price and total return. It has to be right and if it isn't it needs to change, fast. BritOn Solutions Group Northern Trade Works #grocery #retail #category

A lovely way to round off the week! Just received the wonderful news that we are LIVE on the shelf in all of the PCC Community Markets. This one feels pretty special to me. And it is a lovely tale of just how zig-zag the retail sales journey can be. It all started way back... such a long, long time back... Way back in the days when Maxwell and I were still green... We had ring-fenced Vermont as our market to test tweak and iterate, we landed the local natural stores here and managed to get fantastic data showing we could outsell category leaders, so much looked good... but Vermont was too small and wise counsil Curt Alpeter told us 'get thee to expo east" and we did. At Expo I met Steven Jamieson and the team at PCC, and we had a great conversation about their hydration set, customer and their store ethos and I got so excited about the prospect of working together. Then after Expo back in front our desk and plotting everything out, we just couldn't justify opening up the PNW as it was such a stretch for two guys in Vermont. At the time we had just landed Foxtrot, selling directly with them, after some promising early sales, we started jumping through the hoops to open up Romeoville and Maryland, it was all going to plan, we could spread south and west and wouldn't over stretch ourselves. We started planing how to maximise those DC's with INFRA stores and other indies, we set up an east coast broker relationship to help us do so. Things were looking good. So again when I bumped into Steven again at Expo West in his frankly glorious sequin jacket, the timing still wasn't right... Then we were hit with a couple of sucker punches. Foxtrot fell, the DC's fell through, and we had some delays with production, and all of a sudden we were forced to rethink our distribution plans. We just didn't know when to give up, did we, so we looked again at the PNW and said hey we have to get on a plane to Maryland. So why not get on a plane to Seattle?? We called up Steven and managed to finally make this match made in heaven work. A happy ending, which is in fact a happy beginning. Really excited about this partnership, Maxwell drew the long straw end gets the first store sampling tour which begins at the end of next week. I can't wait to meet new people and grow our community of plinkers on the West Coast. Wow if you got here, fair play to you, not sure I've seen a post this long in a while. High 5. There are hidden half-quotes quotes from a book, a play and a film. Name them for a prize ;)

Pitching to KeHE Distributors? Here are your Dos and Don’ts Partnering with KeHE can open doors to 31,000+ retail stores nationwide, including Sprouts, Albertsons, and Target. Here’s what you need to know before you pitch to make the most of this opportunity! ✅ DO: Show Proof of Demand KeHE wants to know that your product will perform well on shelves. Show strong sales numbers from existing stores and regions to prove demand. ❌ DON’T: Jump in Too Early KeHE expects high fulfillment rates and efficient operations. Only approach them when your supply chain can handle larger, consistent orders without issues. ✅ DO: Tap into KeHE’s Marketing Programs From trade shows to specialized promotions, KeHE offers great tools for visibility. Joining these programs can help drive your brand’s success from the start. ❌ DON’T: Neglect Pricing & Margins KeHE’s fees and promotions can impact your margins, so be sure to calculate carefully and ensure your product’s pricing structure is ready to handle these costs. Expanding with KeHE is a big step for any brand, but preparation and timing are key. Has your company succeeded already? If so, tell us in comments. #KEHE #distribution #salesstrategy #CPG #foodandbeverage