This was a keyote speech og mine at a retail industry conference. It argues that apart from the essentials of inventory, location, etc, there are other key factors essential for retail success - customer loyalty, brand latency, distinctiveness, and employee happiness.

1. Sam Swaminathan Retail: The Devil is in the Detail

5. Employee Happiness Distinctivenesss Customer Loyalty THE RETAIL TRIANGLE

6. Customer Loyalty

17. Distinctiveness

23. Traditional Sephora model model Commission Yes No Gift with purchase Yes No One brand per counter Yes No Mf. controls display Yes No Easy to sample No Yes Shop unmolested No Yes Easy to compare No Yes Customer in control No Yes THE NEW DIMENSION

24. DISTINCTIVENESS “ By the combined force of its ambience, design, and merchandise mix, Sephora blows away all other competitors in its category. And it does so without the gift-with-purchase clutter, hard sell and often haughty sales people that define much of department store beauty retailing. In fact, what I liked most about Sephora was the egalitarian way it treats both shoppers and merchandise.” Marianne Wilson, Chain Store Age

25. Employee Happiness PEOPLE – SERVICE – PROFITS

26. Employee Happiness  Customer Satisfaction  Profitability PEOPLE – SERVICE – PROFITS

40. BROUGHT TO YOU BY SAM SWAMINATHAN Center for Creative Thinking http://www.ccthinking.com