March 2022 ertonline.co.uk


Mr Hughes explained: “Shop Live was a bit of a lifeline during


lockdown; our shops were shut and our website was taking on all the slack. But customers still wanted to deal with us so we had to think of a way to utilise our staff and make them available. We wanted it to be a truly personal service with actual face-to-face discussions, so it couldn’t be any further away from an automated chatbot! “It just works. It means that our website and our stores are linked,


which is extremely crucial these days, and the response from our customers has been fantastic.” Mr Christan then spoke about the online side of his business,


admitting that he was “quite late to the game” with his transactional website only going live at the end of last year. However, he added that he would not have had the infrastructure to service high levels of online sales during lockdown. “I was comfortable and happy with how things were; we were doing


a huge amount of sales during COVID simply over the phone. But face- to-face dealings with customers is hugely important. We need to show the personal side of our business and show off our expert knowledge.”


Staff retention


Moving on to other issues faced by retailers at the moment, and Mr Hughes said that attracting and retaining staff is an ongoing concern. People’s work experience in the past couple of years has been “quite bipolar”, he said, with most either working from home or getting furloughed… “while some have carried on as normal and have never worked so hard!” he exclaimed. “Any business of scale is reporting massive changes in staffing


because a lot of people are simply burned out; I think everyone is just a bit exhausted. “Our staff turnover has gone up. I’m in charge of the new-starter


inductions and I’ve definitely seen more people come through in recent months. They’re flooding in from care homes and similar places all desperate for a change! “I would recommend all retailers to focus on their staff benefits and


working conditions. There are lots of things we can do to ensure our colleagues remain healthy and happy.” Mr Christan agreed with this point, saying that having a small team


can often present challenges… “For us during the pandemic it’s been a complete nightmare; I’ve even had my children dusting the shop! “We lost four members of staff in one go at one point, so I’d definitely


say that getting good staff and holding on to them is vital.” Meanwhile, as part of Mr Gilks’s big move, he ensured his team was


up to full strength and fully trained up for the new store opening. “Everyone hit the ground running from day one, all working towards the same goals; I couldn’t be prouder of them.” NE Appliances originally had 30 members of staff. It was then up to


57 by Christmas. “Trying to find people is the most difficult thing right now, certainly


drivers for our vans,” Mr Gilks added. “As a business it’s all about moving forward and being prepared for


anything else that comes our way. With Brexit, COVID and previous recessions, possibly another one on the horizon, I’m not sure it could get much worse! But if we’re still here that’s a success in itself! “Retailers have to futureproof themselves and prepare for change.” Mr Hughes chipped in and steered the conversation towards the


retailer and manufacturer partnership. He said the Internet has helped retailers along tremendously, but also given non-shop-based retailers and manufacturers the ability to go direct to consumers… “At Hughes we feel that we have a crucial role to add value to the


manufacturer’s offering, and that’s helping new technology make its way into the mainstream every day,” he said. “So in order to keep technology moving, brands need stores to offer that touch, see and feel experience and the expert advice and deep understanding to assist with new product launches. All the time we can offer that, we have a key role in electrical retail.”


The new NE Appliances superstore The Smeg shop-in-shop at Coopers 19 Darrin Christan (left) and Ben Gilks (right)


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