Newsbot Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 Shops, firms and local people are being asked for their views on a study about problems facing the Manx retail sector. Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/...man/7565308.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemonday Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 Link on BBC doesn't work. Actual url is http://www.gov.im/dti/retail.xml Report is in pdf (3314kb) a fair bit of which might reasonably be described as 'stating the bleeding obvious' How much did that net the consultants? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebrof Posted August 17, 2008 Share Posted August 17, 2008 The retail sector certainly has problems, some of its own making. I went into Shoprite in Peel and asked where the capers were. "We don't stock those". "Why not?" "Well, they're on the wish list, but the people who own the company say we can't stock them." "Don't they realise that if I have to drive to Douglas to get some, I'll got to Tesco or M&S?" "I know, silly isn't it?" To tell the truth, I am sick of having to leave Peel to buy perfectly commonplace items which aren't stocked in EITHER of Shoprite's two emporia, both of which sell exactly the same stuff. Are these people stupid, or do they harbour a grudge against Peel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted August 17, 2008 Share Posted August 17, 2008 My opinion on the retail sector is that most of this sector sells complete crap that no-one should ever want or need. I don't do 'shoppin', I just buy what I actually do require, not what any advert 'tells me', and I certainly don't buy 'useless xmas presents that no-one ever wants' or presents for 'Hallmark card days' they invent which represents nearly 50% of their annual business. The retail sector is the biggest waste of space and waste of world resources humanity has ever created. If we stopped buying crap, we would have plenty of oil left. There, it needed saying, so I said it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manshimajin Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Haven't had time to read the full report yet. But I was intrigued by the photos the DTI has used to signify 'retailing' - a picture is worth 1000 words...retailing is 'people walking along a street' and 'people going up an escalator' - nothing to do with shops, products, service, customers. Hope that these issues will be dealt with in the report when I read it. My basic feeling is that we don't have sufficient 'hooks' to make the act of going shopping that pleasurable - we have necessity shopping not 'retail therapy'. What pleasure is there when the choice is driving to Tesco or a windswept retail park or walking around fairly dreary town centres (no doubt made more dreary because of the fact that most people spend a high proportion of their money in Tesco not in local retailers). All I want is to get it over with and find a great cappucino to recover (where though?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 To tell the truth, I am sick of having to leave Peel to buy perfectly commonplace items which aren't stocked in EITHER of Shoprite's two emporia, both of which sell exactly the same stuff. Are these people stupid, or do they harbour a grudge against Peel? There are some quite good shoprite outlets - eg those in Port Erin or Ramsey but the Peel outlets seem to be aimed at the bottom end of the market with vast space given over to cheap Iceland products (IMO very poor value for money in terms of quality) - at one time the exSafeways shop in Douglas had a wide range of more up-market frozen meals (very convenient when I didn't want to cook after a day working in the Museum) but I noticed that most of these have now gone and replaced by cheap Iceland meals - they may know their clientele but compared with the old Safeway days the shop is empty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 personally, i don't count 'capers' as an every day item? if they had no bread or milk then i'd be whining. but haven't they just got planning permission to extend the shop?? perhaps they could have an international caper section just for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ai_Droid Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Report is in pdf (3314kb) a fair bit of which might reasonably be described as 'stating the bleeding obvious'How much did that net the consultants? There is some good stuff in there, but it's very broad and light on specific actions. I like the point about encouraging residential in the town centre combined with retail. And lordy, I agree with Albert. I hate the way people are encouraged to buy things they don't need. 2 for 1 is particularly wasteful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.K. Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 A report full of obvious generalities is usually the hallmark of a consultancy at work. Especially if it is full of "MBA-Speak" i.e. don't use specific, meaningful words when you can fill it out with difficult to understand jargon. The intention of which is not only to disguise the fact that it's all a bit lightweight but also to give the "consumer" (MBA-Speak for customer) the impression that it's well worth hiring "Management Consultants" as they're clearly in the forefront of todays business requirements because they know the latest impressive buzz-words etc etc zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...... So is it worth reading? Because I have some paint drying somewhere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ai_Droid Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 So is it worth reading? Because I have some paint drying somewhere... I'd say no, it's not specific enough to be useful and some of the reccomendations are just bizzare. 'create gateways into shopping areas', eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insomniac Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 I hate the way people are encouraged to buy things they don't need. 2 for 1 is particularly wasteful. Only if they end up being thrown away. 1. Buy 2 for 1 then sell on the freebies at half shop price. 2. Organise a BOGOF party where you and friends meet at your local supermarket, hit the aisles then divvy up the purchases. 3. Pick up every BOGOF that you are entitled to and and donate them to Age Concern, salvation army, homeless shelter, etc on your way home . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutley Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Retailers want to maximise your potential? Want to attract more customers? Well now you can with the new improved "late opening hours". With this revolutionary system you can have customers in your shop outside the normal 12-2 rush-hour. Why sit with an empty shop at 9:30 on a Wednesday morning when you could attract more customers in the evening when they've finished they daily toil. But wait! Order now and not only do you get our fantastic "late opening hours", you also get our "courteous and helpful staff policy" absolutely free!! This scientifically proven method ensures that customers will want to return to your shop time and time again. Call now - operators are standing by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mission Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 It wouldn't work for every business though, some shops do need to be open during the day and couldn't justify the cost of opening late nights. There just isn't a model that will work for all retial outlets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manshimajin Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 So is it worth reading? Because I have some paint drying somewhere... Reading a report's Executive Summary is a good guide as to whether to read on or not. In this report the Executive Summary is not 1 page long but blathers on for 6 pages. This is a danger signal that says - lack of important conclusions and high waffle content. A key retail message the consultants miss is that 'quantity does not = quality' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeoneday Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Rumour has it they are proposing a new shopping mall on the Queens pier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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