No sooner had pandemic lockdowns become a thing of the past than supply chain snags, labor shortages, and price upticks piled on. The fact that all three dynamics are mutually reinforcing only adds to the angst. We’re heading for another unprecedented year-end and fortunately, retailers have a few arrows in their quivers. Carol outlines ways that Kroger, Dollar General, Amazon, Walmart, and other top retailers are mitigating the madness and reveals four trajectories that tie it all together. 

 You’ll learn:

·      Why scarcity might upstage discounts this holiday shopping season

·      How smaller retail players are poised to slay labor shortages

·      Why higher pay and automation only scratch the surface

·      Why retail solution and service providers should step up now

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Despite the encroachment of Ecommerce and tech-driven experiences, people will play an important role in powering retail forward, yet traditional leadership and employee incentive models will no longer work as the industry transforms.

April Sabral is the author of The Positive Effect, a companion book to her training and coaching platform, RetailU. The book is an inspiring story of overcoming and empowerment that pulls together April’s years of experience leading store teams for global brands like Apple, Banana Republic, and Starbucks. In this interview episode, April and Carol discuss the new-world realities that will transform retail leadership and how retailers can maximize the opportunity to empower associates and engage shoppers.

In this interview, you’ll learn:

The three pillars of leading with awareness

Why new models and metrics are required to motivate retail teams

Why filling the retail leadership pipeline has never been more critical

How to make career leaps with confidence

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A new vibe is rippling across retail. Do you feel it? Consumers are returning to stores, live events are on the calendar, meeting are scheduled. It’s time to get serious about your B2B strategy!

Many successful companies that rely on retail have built big businesses on “happy accidents,” when a customer request, RFP, or competitive lunge prompts a new product, category, or service launch. Yet all too often, these shiny new offerings languish when they could be replicated and scaled.

In this episode, Carol reveals one of the most common missed opportunities for companies positioning for retail B2B opportunities. She shares realworld examples and tactics for owning your unintentional creations and parlaying them into new opportunities.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How to monetize your mishaps (without fessing up)

Why clued-in sales teams make magic happen

How to sell your stuff despite competitive constraints

Why COVID-era contortions are a blessing in disguise

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Retailers are investing in services as never before to keep shoppers engaged and explore new revenue streams. Forays into healthcare, advertising, and financial services are becoming commonplace as retailers like Walmart, Kroger, and Target take platform-building to the next level. But what happens when retailers begin to see themselves as services, not just companies that provide them?

In this episode, Carol reveals her latest retail trajectory, retailer-as-service, and details how it changes the game for the industry and retail suppliers of all stripes. She wraps up with a lightening round on the rush of brand introductions hitting retail right now and how it’s setting the stage for post-COVID profitability.

In this episode you’ll learn:

The unexpected customer groups driving retailers’ growth strategies

How retailer services will shift spending for brand marketers

Why “if they build it, you must use it” should be suppliers’ new mantra

Why retailers see portfolio-building as a post-COVID safeguard

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Brick-and-mortar retail is primed to benefit from pent-up demand in a post-pandemic world. But should transactions be the only end game? Stores can play a powerful role in promoting causes, showcasing solutions and services, and fostering employee engagement, yet realizing the potential requires a shift in priorities.

Carol’s guest is passionate about harnessing the power of design to make a difference. Ian Johnston is the founder and creative director of Quinine, a UK-based integrated research, strategy, and design consultancy specializing in establishing and scaling brickand-mortar concepts for non-retail companies.

In this multi-topic interview, Carol and Ian discuss how placing a higher priority on achieving higher purposes benefits retailers across every channel. The episode wraps up with Ian giving his fresh take on multi-format retail, sustainability’s next act, the limits of localization and other hot topics.

In this interview, you’ll learn:

Why brick-and-mortar’s distinctions drive digital success

How store design aids retailers’ service expansion aspirations

How to balance uniqueness and scale to level-up localization strategies

Why virtuous brands will win as store shopping surges

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Retailers and brands are spreading their wings as pandemic-era dynamics accelerate demand for differentiation and scale. Online marketplace expansion, private brand proliferation, and retailer-to-retailer hookups are powering retail’s latest brand boom and even though options abound, caution is called for. In this episode, Carol tracks her hottest retail trajectories and retail’s latest retail headlines to break down the brand action.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Why online marketplaces are a growing brand gateway

How scale-builders and curators will drive digital expansion

Why private brands are powerful category-killers in the COVID era

How frenemy forays are lowering brands’ resistance to down-market deals

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Wholesale relationships have fueled retail for decades, yet brands like Nike and Under Armour are starting to show the hand to intermediaries. Even retailers are getting in on the game as agile alternatives beckon. In this episode, Carol explores the origins leading to the curtailing of wholesale and why retail is evolving beyond traditional collaborative models. She gives her take on the best candidates for pulling off a pull-back and what it all means to retailers, suppliers, and solution providers.

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Call it thought leadership, know-how, or just retail smarts. Many supplier’s dirty little secret is that it’s missing, and deep down they know that’s a problem! Retail imposter syndrome is a common complaint and once it sets in, it can seem easier to pitch your products and solutions along with everyone else and call it a day. But why would you give up your biggest edge without a fight? In this episode, Carol reveals a simple technique for weaving retail thought leadership into your marketing and business development process, and why you owe it to your business to do it.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How to message retail smarts in four words or fewer

Why delaying your pitch is a perfect play

How to become a retail authority without the exhaustion

How setting the landscape will send your competitors packing

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If the normal rules of retail applied, this would be the time to look back on 2020 and decide what to keep, toss, or tweak. But of course, 2020 was no normal year. Despite the chaos, it wasn’t all gloom and doom and those that made it through emerged stronger than ever. As we hurl past one of the most disruptive years in retail history, and before we get too far into the promise of a new chapter, Carol reveals her 8 retail resolutions for retailers, brand marketers, and solution providers, with takeaways for navigating 2021 like a boss.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How “delusions of brandeur” can block your success

Why keeping your frenemies close makes sense now

Why champions of choice hold the winning hand

How to spread your wings without playing “scattergories"

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Retailers dug deep and found their courage this year. Some were pushed as COVID-19 escalated while others took initiative early-on. Either way, none had to go it alone. Retailers’ in-house capabilities and acquired assets are being augmented by a slew of third-party providers. The insular, less-is-more approaches of retail’s past are being replaced by collective effort, expansive outreach, and dynamic decision-making. That’s great news for suppliers and solution providers that play well with others and master the art of portfolio positioning. In this episode, Carol gives the rundown on the proliferation of portfolio approaches across retail and how to shift your strategy to take full advantage.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why winner-takes-all is a losing game
• The three pillars of portfolio positioning
• How strugglers and strivers will accelerate acquisitions
• Why brand exclusives are so 2005

Want to be a guest on Spieckerman Speaks Retail?
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