Image above: Sofa-bed from the John Lewis home range. “


Perhaps there is scope for department stores to spin-off smaller specialist stores that can offer extensive depth of product and knowledge, focused on a category.


Tim Denison


your department store better, different and special in your existing customers’ eyes? And what do non-customers perceive you as? Such research might actually lead you to believe that you could be better strengthening your existing offer, in your existing location; capturing more of the available spend, rather than going off and replicating your core or


“


best offer elsewhere at additional cost and risk. We have done a number of similar consumer and market research projects for clients over recent times and inevitably the question of what we can do better in our existing site or sites is a key question to answer. Retailers need to know and fully understand that which they have, or don’t have, to fully maximise their trading


THE EXPERTS... DR TIM


DENISON BSC MSC PHD MCIM Tim is director of Synovate, specialising


in performance improvement systems for retailers. Trained as a social scientist and a marketer, Tim has worked for Synovate for 11 years and previously managed the Centre for Advanced Research in Marketing at Cranfield School of Management.


GRAHAM


HOYLE PARTNER, RETAIL PERFORMANCE


IMPROVEMENT Graham has


worked with many big names including WHSmith, Beaverbrooks, and House of Fraser. The RPI team analyses business, and works to implement proposals to deliver improved profits.


MIKE


PRETIOUS LECTURER, QMU Mike lectures in marketing, consumer and retail


management at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Prior to becoming an academic, Mike worked primarily in the retail clothing sector and held buying roles for a number of major companies including Selfridges, Mothercare and the Burton Group (now Arcadia.)


TIM


OGLE CEO, RETAIL EYES. Tim is the CEO of Retail


Eyes, which specialises in improving customer experience.


opportunities, before they go off and sign another lease. However, as they say, it takes


interesting times, to present interesting opportunities: ‘pop- up shops’ now represent an interesting opportunity to test and trial whether small formats can work. With ever-increasing


availability of temporary retail space a number of retailers are trialling both formats and potential locations. Harvey Nicholls recently opened a pop-up shop for its food offer in the Trafford Centre, H Samuel are trialling a jewellery format in Altrincham, Cheshire. Up and down the country there >>


What concerns you as a retailer? Want to set the next topic for Question Time?


If you have a question you would like to put to the panel, we would love to hear it! Email naomi.davis@onecoms.co.uk


Department Store Buyer 9


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