Grab your cup of tea, sit back and listen in as I look back at the first 50 episodes of The Retail Tea Break Podcast.

Topics:

Customer Experience

• In episode 3, Cristiane Ross from Sparc Consulting explains that the emotional connection with your customer matters. As the customer’s relationship with your brand deepens, they become more valuable to you.
• In episode 14, Ian Scott describes the new era of physical retailing. He asks the question “Is your physical store speaking to your ideal customer?”
• In episode 22, Dr Denis O’Hora paints an incredible picture of how you can turn consumers into paying customers.
• In episode 29, Chris Igwe warns us to “Leave a lasting impression… to keep me coming back”. Chris talked about physical retail stores and raising the bar with retail basics.

Loyalty and a true Omni-Channel experience

• In episode 44, Scott Kennedy from Salesforce describes what a true customer centric, omni-channel experiences should look and feel like.
• In episode 28, Gurpreet Kuar from Salesforce blows my mind by describing the importance of hyper personalisation- it’s well worth a listen!
• In episode 34, Jennie McGinn, Paul Gillart and Gurpreet Kaur discussed the importance of gathering the right data, how to build a loyalty programme and how best to use the information.

Sustainability and Conscious Consumerism

• In episode 2, Elaine Kennedy from Hawthorn Handmade Skincare set the scene “we should be asking more questions as producers, consumers and retailers and looking a bit deeper in terms of sustainability”.
• In episode 6, James Byrne from Faerly explained that customers want to be able to buy products from retailers that conform with their ethics and values and retailers want to be able to provide these goods.
• In episode 36, Jenny Johnston, Head of Marketing for Kilkenny Design/ Champion Green and Sheelin Conlon, founder of The Kind described the importance of supporting local businesses.
• In episode 45, Sharon Yourell Lawlor from Think Plan Do Consulting explores the Sustainable Irish Retail Action (SIRA) guide. She describes how best to use the guide and the impact that it can have on retail businesses.

Our People

• In episode 24, Dr Oran Doherty from Retail Ireland Skillnet explained “To get talent and to keep talent you need to offer people training and education opportunities”.
• In episode 40, Aine Greallis from Circle K explored a recent Circle K survey that looked at the harassment that frontline retailers experience- from customers.
• In episode 43, Elma Carew described the new workforce, the next generation and the idea of replacing exit interviews with ‘stay interviews’.

If you have enjoyed the podcast, please like and share it. Remember you can also listen back to previous Retail Tea Break episodes on your favourite podcast platform or on YouTube. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow The Retail Advisor across social channels.

See you in September!