Low prices can be beaten
For corner shopkeepers there are some signs that the major grocers are having a tough time in growing their share of the grocery market. While this do ...more
Collected blog posts about Benchmarking
Your greatest gift – imagination
Ranjan Patel used her first speech as president of London's Newsagents Federation this week to urge independent shopkeepers to use their imagination t ...more
Bestsellers guide reveals the weak links in my display
This week Retail Newsagent published their twice-yearly guide to best-selling magazines. The great thing about this type of guide is that it provides ...more
Busy street, empty shop
True in part to my New Year resolution, I held a business meeting in an independent coffee shop today just next door to a Starbucks. The cafe was pres ...more
In-depth: How much does a mag cost to sell?
There has been much discussion about poor availability of magazines over the past few months. Back in September I asked 'who owns your shop?' Taking t ...more
Be the friendly face for the lonely shopper
Home workers of the future may be lonely and may need good local shops to provide them with a daily lift. The Financial Times weekend runs an excel ...more
Tesco Online target small basket shops
Most shopper transactions for local shops are under £10, which may be a good thing if the rise of on-line grocery shopping continues. But don't bet o ...more
Shoppers not in recession
Local shops should be benchmarking their sales performance against a 2% rise in shoppers' spending, analysis of recent data suggests. There has bee ...more
Supply chain news you should listen to
Last week's announcement by Wal-Mart that it had set up a partnership with Li & Fung is big news. Perhaps not for UK corner shops today. But read ...more
Thinking about how your customers engage with your business
In my business we have strategies to acquire and keep customers, as proposed by Peter Drucker. We have a group of customers that we believe are fan ...more
