Tag Archives: UK

Using air conditioning effectively in shops and retail outlets

With temperatures already soaring in the UK, many shops and retailers will be wondering whether we are in store for another summer of 06. This renowned year saw recorded temperatures as high as 97.7oF in Wisley, Surrey and the two month period during June and July has gone down on record as the hottest summer since records began over 200 years ago.

If New York is anything of an example to the rest of the world, then retailers can benefit from periods of excessive heat, as consumers seek creative ways to escape the temperatures and resort to some retail therapy on their local high street and out of town retail parks.

And therein lies the issue. Consumers now expect to enjoy their shopping experiences in cool environments and in particular, the air curtain was designed to keep cool air in the stores and dowse the shopper in a refreshing wave as they enter a store.

However, it is estimated that the UKs high street stores waste 300million a year in energy costs to keep shoppers cool in summer and warm in winter, so how can retail bosses align this excessive waste with the demands of their consumers? Perhaps we can learn from our counterparts over the pond, given that they deal with a heat wave on an annual basis?

1. Have your existing, in-built air conditioning serviced well ahead of summer to make sure it is running efficiently. And if you are concerned about any mini-heat waves during downtime, then consider hiring portable air conditioning to cover the intervening period.

2. Have an emergency back-up plan in place if your air conditioning breaks down. Portable air conditioning companies can supply units that replicate the existing system and they will be able to act most efficiently if you put a contingency plan in place before an emergency strikes.

3. Plan ahead for busy periods within the retail outlet: if you are planning a sale, a new range or something similar you may choose to hire in portable air conditioning as extra capacity for key areas of the store, such as the changing rooms and till areas etc.

4. It is also common sense to have a contingency plan in place if temperatures spiral so high that your shop or retail outlet requires additional air conditioning.

5. When your air conditioning is in use – make sure you use it effectively by keeping doors and windows closed. It is a retail myth that propping the doors open may entice more consumers in to a shop. In fact New York has passed legislation actually banning many stores from leaving their doors open during the summer months. This not only helps reduce your carbon footprint and greenhouse emissions but will also reduce your energy bill. It has been estimated that stores that leave doors open waste around 20-25% of the air conditioning they produce.

6. Set the thermostat to a reasonable temperature. The Carbon Trust recommends that buildings do not need to dip below a temperature of 24 degrees Celsius but in the summer of 2010, some outlets were found to set their indoor temperature as much as 8 degrees less than outside, which is unnecessary.

7. Talk to employees about the most suitable temperature in your shop or retail outlet. If they are forced in to wearing their winter woollies to work during the summer months, then the air conditioning settings need a rethink.

When a heat wave hits, it can be tempting to hire the largest available air conditioning unit. However, it is always worth seeking guidance on the type and size of system for individual circumstances to both maximise the effective removal of hot air and avoid unnecessary operating costs. In particular, within a retail setting, it is necessary to consider the health and safety aspects of hiring portable air conditioning to ensure there is a suitable location away from the main areas of highest footfall.

Whilst some shoppers may momentarily appear to enjoy being engulfed in cool air, increasing numbers of consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious and appreciate the need for shops to exercise restraint when temperatures start to rise.

How To Succeed In Retail

How To Succeed In Retail Business

When last have you heard of trusted employees who betrayed their employers trust? Here are three of the more common instances.

(One) A former Marks & Spencer department Section Manager based at the Trafford Centre, received an eight month suspended sentence and 240 hours of community service for stealing 6,700 from the stores POS terminals between July and August 2009.

(Two) In September 2009 a Tesco checkout assistant in line for promotion as the face of Tesco, turned out to be an illegal immigrant.
A major high street retailer in Manchester contacted police in connection with a warehouse worker who was suspected of stealing DVDs. A subsequent Police search of the employees residence exposed what was described as another warehouse full of goods. This was a trusted employee with over four years continuous service.

So what do these cases have in common? They highlight the fact that these retailers had failed to establish or follow standard operating procedures.
In this article I will attempt to outline the main factors that are responsible for the demise of a majority of retail organizations. I will also offer a number of best practice strategies that can be utilised by any organization.
Our research has identified four root causes of the demise of any retail venture,
The lack of robust policies
Employee error
Fraud
Policies compliance.
The creation of good policies and ensuring their compliance is vital for the success of all retail businesses, and especially large national & international retail brands. The flip side of this is that when there are strong operational standards and best practices built in success comes that little bit closer. However, having a good policy on its own does not automatically guarantee success. What is required? A simple answer is nothing short of robust checks and balances that are aimed at ensuring compliance.
There are numerous factors responsible for the success of a retail organization. Here are the three I have singled out as most relevant:
(a) Smart buying
(b) Strong sales
(c) Shrinkage reduction.

However, the implementation of these strategies is sometimes dependent on external circumstance. For example, smart buying is dependent on suppliers, the availability of merchandise, the supply chain, currency exchange and to an extent the mood of the Chinese leadership. Like smart buying, strong sales/turnover depends on the economy, fashion trends and so on. Shrinkage is the only factor that is within the control of the retailer.

Every retailer in the UK loses on average 2.5% of their turnover to shrinkage, which is a considerable amount in an industry particularly when margins are sliding.

Shrinkage occurrence can take many forms: shoplifting being the most prominent. However, internal activities in retail organizations, themselves cause more shrinkage than shoplifting. Cashier theft or error, accounts for 32% of retail shrinkage, general employees 24%, receiving 10%, errors and damage 13% while shoplifting accounts for only 21%.

I recently asked a number of retail employees if they have received shrinkage awareness training. The response that I received from all of them was shrinkage, “what is shrinkage?” Given the importance of shrinkage to the success or failure of any retail organization, one would expect it to be a buzzword in retail circles.

For the benefit of those and others like them, shrinkage is simply the difference between the value of goods received and the amount received for those same goods at the point of sale. Now the question of how does merchandise lose value from the time of delivery to the time of sale is at the heart of the success or failure of many retail organizations; it all boils down to good operational standards and best practices.

The employment of an illegal immigrant would have cost Tesco 5,000. Marks and Spencer nearly lost 7,000 though it managed to recover a bulk of it from the offender, it will take time to recover the legal fees and the damage the incident caused to its reputation, considering the fact that this individual had already been cautioned for dishonesty by another retail employer will not help.

Poor adherence to recruitment and selection procedures allowed this individual to gain employment. Had accurate reference checks been carried out, a trail might have taken them back to the previous employer. What retail jargon views as unnecessary expenditure is in truth and in fact, a factor in what is considered shrinkage. I should also note here that the other big retailer might not recover a single penny from the warehouse employee. So then it behooves each retailer to ask the question”what will an additional 2.5% of profit do for my organisations balance sheet”?

To succeed, in addition to smart buying and increasing sales retailers must focus on shrinkage management and reduction. This is a truly controllable cost. Robust policies & measurable operational standards will also ensure success.