10 Ways Retailers Can Go Wrong

The late Marvin Traub, founder of our company and a giant in the retail industry in the late 20^th century developed 19 principles of successful retailing. Time has shown that Marvin was in many ways a visionary and his principles are as valid today as they were then.

Taking Marvin’s lead, I have listed below 10 ways in which companies get themselves into hot water.

In order to get the benefit of the 10 principles of successful retailing, we first need to know “why and where retailers tend to go wrong.”

10 Ways Retailers Go Wrong

1. Strategic Decisions /
   Almost all trouble starts with poor management decisions
   
   
2. Customers /
   Believing you know more than your customers and can re-educate them
   
   
3. Ill-conceived Expansion /
   Into markets/products they know little about
   
   
4. Mismanagement of the Capital Structure /
   Using working capital for long term projects like store renovation
   
   
5. Technology /
   Not enough attention to the ever evolving tech world
   
   
6. Art & Science Balance /
   Too much Science and you are boring….too much Art and you will “paint your way” out of business
   
   
7. Paralysis by Analysis /
   Too much data….not enough information
   
   
8. Fear of Mistakes /
   Show me a buyer with little/no markdowns and I’ll show you a bad buyer
   
   
9. Customer Service /
   Total shopping experience AS KEY as good merchandise and fair prices
   
   
10. Growing Cost Structure /
    'Nuff said

Stay tuned for next week where we will highlight the 10 key principles of successful retailing!