LEO KILDARE RETAIL PROGRAMME COURSE BREAKDOWN
Why James Burke & Associates are different for Retail Programmes
Introduction: Having the correct retail expertise is a vital element of running any retail
development programme. Other less successful retail programmes are run by general marketing
consultants who do not have the depth of retail experience. We are different at running retail
development programmes for the following reasons
retailers including
o Eason’s
o Maxi Zoo
o Carroll’s
o Topaz
o The Shannon Group, etc.
programmes for Retail Excellence Ireland and has been their partner in this area for 4 years.
Each year over 70 retail managers/owners participate in this retail development programme
Offices throughout Ireland for the last 5 years with over 30 towns and regions participating
which is the largest County Council retail programme in Ireland
serves as a road
map for the following 12 months
retail proposition under the following headings
o Merchandising standard
o Value proposition
o Communication of USP’s
o Retail margins
o Profitability improvement
o Customer service levels
o General access and services
o Owner management skillsets
087237 1520 | james@jamesburke.ie
Day One
Developing Aggressive Sales Growth Strategies
This workshop is targeted at store owner/managers. Growing sales in retail, by its nature has to
be an aggressive process. This demands a high level of energy, focus and planning from retailers,
and this one day workshop will allow the participants to gain an insight into harnessing tools
which will help grow sales. The workshop will cover topics like
to review progress and action new initiatives
est practice
This workshop will also explore the role of the owner/manager and will explore how their direct
input can impact significantly on the sales of the business. Owner/managers who implement the
learning’s from this workshop could add an additional 5% sales growth to their business as has
been demonstrated with previous workshop participants.
Day Two
Strategic Retail Management
This workshop focuses on the strategic direction retail stores are taking. It is aimed at senior
store managers and owners and will focus on challenging the existing path chosen by retailers
allowing them to alter and fine tune their direction with the objective of attracting new
customers and growing new sales. This one day workshop will include:
bench marked against competitors
ng new possible directions or amendments to the retail strategy
o Advertising
o PR
o Marketing
087237 1520 | james@jamesburke.ie
o Loyalty schemes
o On line marketing
direction
Day Three
Merchandising & Display Best Practice
The day will be very interactive, and will consist of slide presentations, a workbook hand out, a
before and after window display workshop at a nearby retail shop, and a Q & A session.
t their top 5
display issues and concerns so we can begin with a brainstorming session)
through display choices and window concepts?
destination retailers. How to get the most impact from displays and how it affects foot traffic
into shops)
eds and display and merchandising opportunities
lines
displays
lly transform the image of your shop
customer interest, and increase dwell time
– why and when?
– how frequently window displays and product should be
changed/updated/modified
the window through a use of clever props and product, using the
087237 1520 | james@jamesburke.ie
practical tips discussed earlier in the day. We will score the
changes and ask for suggestions from the group.
Day Four
Buying and Negotiation
This is an intensive half day workshop targeted at managers responsible for buying for their
retail store and dedicated buyers as part of a group chain.
A scorecard will be distributed to all participants in advance which will allow them to rate their
own business performance under the heading of strategic purchasing. This scorecard analysis
will be used to determine the programme content. The workshop will include the following:
o
o
o
o
o
A review of the process of negotiation
Traits of the effective negotiator
The dynamics of negotiation
Tactics and ploys
Using strategic purchasing to improve the business bottom line
The workshop is extremely popular and when it has been run on previous occasions, it has been
oversubscribed very quickly.
Retailers attending this workshop could potentially add 5% to their bottom line if they
implement all of the learning’s.
Loyalty and Customer Service
This is a half day workshop and focuses on two key areas retailers can use to drive sales. This
workshop is targeted at store owners/managers.
Historically loyalty schemes required a high level of investment and sophisticated technology
systems. This is no longer the case. This workshop will take a practical look at how retailers can
use simple loyalty initiatives to drive customer foot fall and increase sales. 087237 1520 |
james@jamesburke.ie
Topics covered include
alty schemes without investing in card based systems
drive sales and increase foot fall
This is a practical session and all the examples used can be easily implemented by retailers at
little or no cost.
The session will look at retail customer service initiatives also which will compliment a loyalty
strategy for any business.
Many customer service initiatives are no cost or low cost but yet some retailers fail to harness
these tools. During the afternoon session, an in depth look at simple and cost effective customer
service tools will help retailers attending, build a portfolio of easy to implement initiatives.
ple initiatives which can make your retail operation stand out
Retailers attending this workshop should be able to use customer service initiatives to drive at
least 1% sales growth if they implement all of the learning’s.
Training/Site Visits
As retail advisors to the TV programme “Feargal Quinn’s Retail Therapy, James Burke operates
in an environment where stores have to be assessed and recommendations made at very short
notice. Using checklists and score cards, an in store audit will be conducted personally by James
Burke together with the store owner/manager over a 2 hour period and will review the business
under the following headings: This training session is to facilitate customised training of each of
the retailers in response to their own individual needs. 087237 1520 | james@jamesburke.ie
Sales growth potential
The analysis will then focus on sales growth opportunities and each store owner/manager will
be provided with a detailed action list of how to improve the overall store performance.
This detailed written action plan will highlight practical, easy to implement steps which will
allow the store to increase sales growth of between 5 – 10% if the recommendations are taken
on board. This store audit action report will allow owners/managers to identify potential for
their business and rate the opportunities which currently exist