LakeWest Group's 10th Annual POS Benchmarking Survey

LakeWest Group, the premier management consulting firm dedicated to the retail industry, recently completed our 10th Annual POS Benchmarking Survey of the Top 100 Retailers (as noted in the August 2008 issue of Stores magazine) to assess the changing retail marketplace and uncover the latest store and channel trends, priorities, and initiatives. 
Today’s retail environment is more challenging now than ever before.  With less spending dollars available, consumers are even more focused on researching the products, brands, and services available to them.  This, in turn, leads to higher consumer demands and expectations from retailers.
 
So, how can successful retailers survive and more importantly, thrive in this challenging environment?
 
Some of the ways the Top 100 Retailers are thriving in this environment include focusing on:
Associates – Enhancing the overall customer experience starts with the associates with nearly 90% of retailers providing training to their associates.

•  Products – Nearly three-quarters of the retailers indicate that their customers find product assortment and in-stock position to be the most valuable parts of the shopping experience.
• Technology – Two-thirds of the retailers have changed or upgraded their technology within the past two years to enhance the levels of service in the store
• Creativity - “Non-traditional” methods of marketing such as blogs and YouTube videos are being utilized by nearly half of the retailers to creatively target customers.

The findings and the analysis of the survey were published in a white paper, which recently premiered at the NRF show.  For your convenience, we have attached the white paper entitled, 10th Annual POS Benchmarking Survey: Successful Retailers Get Creative. 

This paper summarizes the results of the survey and offers insight into how best-in-class retailers are getting creative to succeed in this complex retail environment.  Many retailers have told us that they find this to be a great reference as they plan their current and future POS and store initiatives.

LakeWest Group's 10th Annual POS Benchmarking Survey  (828KB)

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