Online Shopping and the High Street

matthewm@madesimplegroup.com — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 08:08:10 GMT

Christmas 2007 has seen another major rise in the statistics for internet shopping both in terms of the number of transactions and the amount of money spent. The Times recently reported that over £50 billion was spent online and reported on a study suggesting that 50% of all retail spending would be conducted online by 2018.

As someone actively involved in the internet online market place, this is further evidence that our business model is a good one. However, it does lead me to wonder where this might all end. Are we heading towards a world where there will be empty retail property all over our high streets and if so, what impact will that have on commercial property prices and even employment levels.

Looking into the future is always a particularly difficult thing. Most of us have a problem dealing with the present.! My feeling about all of this is that a proliferation of empty retail space is probably unlikely. For many, shopping is still a major social activity, (or at least thats what my wife and daughter say), and the sensations you experience are not ones you can replicate in your back bedroom. However, the growth of the shopping malls and superstore developments in conjunction with the rise in online shopping are probably further nails in the coffin of the local high street, at least as a retail destination. My local shopping street is now an abundance of restaurants, coffee shops, (4 within half a mile of each other), building societies, 3 hairdressers – the list goes on. There is a Boots, W H Smith, and one or two other recognisable national chains, but I bet they’re retail performance is disappointing.

Just like the employment profile of the United Kingdom, the high street appears to be able to reinvent itself on a regular basis and whilst its probably unlikely that we will see empty retail space en masse, the internet is definitely contributing to the change in its make up.

How much do you leave on the table?

matthewm@madesimplegroup.com — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:21:00 GMT

Many years ago, I went on a series of courses that shaped much of my business thinking. One of the concepts that I was introduced to was the suggestion that many people leave revenue and profit (on the table).

Examples of this might be giving away something for nothing that has a value and could be charged for or charging too little for something that your customer would be happy to pay more for. It also covers the area where there are opportunities to earn revenue that you simply don’t spot. Yesterday, this happened to me. Here at the Made Simple Group, we have a monthly marketing/business strategy meeting at which 5 or 6 of us sit around the table for most of the day, plied with food and drink, and brainstorm our way through an agenda. The idea is to catch up and review actions and strategies from previous meetings and also initiate new ones. We are an evolving business and have a pipeline of new products that we want to develop over a period of time. Anyway, back to my central theme.

As we were sitting around the table, we spotted a prime example of leaving profit on the table. Something so simple, so easy to implement, so inoffensive yet so relatively valuable, yet we all missed it. It’s what once was described to me as an FBO – a Flash of the Blindingly Obvious. Unfortunately, for the purposes of this Blog, I can’t actually give you any more details, but it does make me realise, that sometimes, you don’t have to be clever, innovative or complicated. Sometimes, you just have to keep it simple and look right there in front of your nose. One of the reasons I believe we spotted this opportunity is because we are constantly examining what we do. We don’t get everything right, but we don’t sit on our laurels and honestly want to try and improve all our operations. By carrying out this constant review process, this permanent process of introspection, we identify opportunities that perhaps we might miss if we simply just carried on what the business does. So my final word on this, and its some free advice, is to try and stand back from your business, look at it critically and think about things in a more objective way. Too much time is spent by all of us just doing what the business does and those moments when you can stand back and see the wood from the trees might just lead to a Flash of the Blindingly Obvious.

Welcome to my Blog

matthewm@madesimplegroup.com — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:52:50 GMT

My name is Howard Graham

Welcome to my Blog. As some of you will know, I am the founder and Chief Executive of the Made Simple Group. Some years ago, as a partner in Westbury, a firm of Chartered Accountants, I found myself constantly being asked for assistance for small businesses. The idea for the Made Simple business came while I sat on an Easyjet flight to Spain – a rather transparent form of plagiarism – I apologise. Anyway, over the last few years, we have introduced varying business services aimed at our community which we have tried to keep as simple as possible both in terms of the provision of the service and the prices we charge.

Over this period, we have built up a community approaching 100,000 businesses and through my existing connections and wide business network, together with my involvement in certain other businesses; I intend to use this Blog to spout forth on matters that are of interest to me. The acid test will be whether they are of interest to anyone else, but if they are, I hope you will add your comments and help this grow.

I don’t promise to know everything or be particularly original, but I have got some things to say.

Anyway as this is my first posting, I will leave it there.

Apple

matthewm@madesimplegroup.com — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:15:19 GMT

My son had his iPod stolen recently and after making the appropriate insurance claim (a whole other story) we went to an Apple store to buy him a replacement.

Now it’s well known that Apple products are highly regarded with regard to their design features and of course the new iPhone is creating much noise and significant sales. However, what particularly impressed me was how much thought, time and planning has gone into ensuring that the customers experience within the store is so pleasurable. This starts from the general layout, the products on display, the ability to use them at will and marvel at their splendour. However, there are a number of other areas which enhance the experience namely:

1. The staff are just superb. They are all so happy, helpful, intelligent and cool.

2. Their systems and processes are brilliant. They do everything possible to make the sales process pleasurable, (even though you are laying out buckets of cash), and efficient. Having bought from them before, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised when they said to me on this occasion as I purchased, “would I like them to email me my invoice?” When I replied that I would, they said that had now been done and on querying as to what email address they sent it to, they said that the system automatically picked up the fact that I bought from them before, matched my details and sent it to the email address on record. No paper, no fuss, just one press of a button. Sure enough, when I checked my email account when I returned home, there was my PDF invoice and some other useful sales points to encourage me to buy again.

However much Apple have set the standard with their designs, their processes are there to be copied without a doubt. All I have been able to think about since then is how we can do similar things in our business and I am sure the same applies to all of us

My Name

matthewm@madesimplegroup.com — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:16:16 GMT

I’ve got a lot to thank my parents for and I am sure (hope) that I remind them of this continually. However, there is one thing that perhaps they didn’t think through so carefully and that was the name they gave me.

Whilst I myself don’t really have a problem with the name, it would seem that many others do. I have one of those names that seem to cause confusion to others. My forename and surname are completely interchangeable. Unlike Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard or Kylie Minogue, but the same as John Terry or even David Cameron, my forename and surname can easily be swapped. However, you don’t see any of the latter list having that problem, or at least not as far as I am aware. Yet, at least 3 times a week, I receive an email from someone referring to me as Graham and from time to time people even say it to my face.

Someone once said to me that a person’s name is one of the most important things to them and you should use it regularly both in correspondence and when talking to them as it makes them warm to you. Well you can imagine how much I warm to someone when they get my name wrong. Is it simply that they are confused by my two forenames/ surnames, or is it that they simply find me so insignificant that they can’t even remember my proper name? I don’t believe it's the latter as it happens from time to time with people who I know have no negative feelings towards me. Perhaps it's a brain disorder that some people have where they literally can’t either remember names, or distinguish between a forename and a surname. There is also the moral conundrum that I sometimes face when someone refers to me by my surname. Do I point it out to them to avoid it happening again, (I have actually tried this and it doesn't always work), or just let it pass. Some might take an even more radical step and write back to the said person using their surname. There is a danger of this becoming offensive particularly if their surname is impossible to be mistaken for a forename. The alternative is to let it go and hope that at some stage they’ll realise their mistake.

To be honest, it’s not the biggest problem that faces me in my daily life, but just a minor irritant and one that I can generally live with. However, a tip to all of you, who have any inclination to communicate with me – please call me Howard.

Archive

Online Shopping and the High Street

How much do you leave on the table?

Welcome to my Blog

Apple

My Name