So if you live in the UK you may or may not have heard that the retailer Republic has now gone into administration. Not surprising as so many retailers have been slipping away in the last few months, but particularly annoying as I work there!! Most likely going to get made redundant, not the worst thing in the world as I was going to leave to start IBM in June anyway but very irritating as I just booked a holiday to Marbella which I am now not sure how I am going to pay off!!
But from my own experience of working there I understand some of the reasons, particularly from a Marketing perspective as to why Republic may have failed to make sales recently...
1. They didn't position themselves correctly: We sold cheap own-brands alongside brands like Kurt Gieger, Ravel and American Apparel. Either position yourself as cheap or luxury. You CAN'T be both.
2. Constant confusing sales promotion: the clothes had such a high turnover- good in some respects as constant flow of new products. However, the clothes are discounted so often we couldn't even keep up with the prices as staff- never mind the customers! I also think customers latched on to this and therefore wouldn't buy full price stock with the view it would be discounted the next week!
3. Bad customer service: I've worked in loads of retailers now; Primark, Next, John Lewis and I have to say Republic give their staff the least customer service training or any training at all for that matter! Republic could have done so much more with the service they offer with better training & management and providing an experience in their stores- something I think they were starting to achieve but better management of this was needed.
Just my opinions!! But very sad to see it go and will be keeping fixed on the news praying for a buyer so I can keep my job!
Showing posts with label administration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label administration. Show all posts
Thursday, 14 February 2013
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Ever changing
Ok, so been a massive week at uni this week. Exams, assignments and today our group product pitch presentation which we have been working on for MONTHS and I am so glad it's over. I hate group work, not going to lie I like to be in control especially when it concerns my own grades and levels of input to my work. Anyway I think our product pitch went really well and I think developing a new product and pitching it is something beneficial from uni that you normally wouldn't do through literature reviews or exams. That's why I love my course! Lot's of variety....
Sad news about HMV going into administration this week, a truely British brand. However I remember saying a long time ago how they needed to up their game and develop a new strategy in order to remain current or else they were going to fall under..... touche. They never changed in order to suit customer demand and therefore they were never going to compete. Personally, I haven't been in a HMV store in years and would have no enjoyment in doing so.
And from another organisation crushed by the rise in technology, as comes a further development in technology. This one interests me as I love social networking as much as the next person.... However, I have started to use facebook less and less recently as I feel as though a lot of it is just marketing (ironic I know) and less about the 'social' aspect. However, I am becoming addicted to twitter. I feel that although twitter does incorporate marketing and brand promotion through its trends etc, it allows people to be social through doing so. For example, every night without fail there is a TV show trending which allows people to join in on discussing the programme or not if they choose not too. I feel twitter uses this interaction in a way that facebook is unable to. Twitter is definately less in your face and 100% more tailored to individuals, not only through demographics and people you 'follow' but also increasingly using twitter means your topics of interest or talking points become tailored into products or services you may be interested in.
Anyway, back to my initial point. Facebook have now launched a search engine or a "graph search" as they are calling it; it allows you to search your 'network' for images, statuses etc. which I think may be slightly more like twitter in that you can search for things which interest you and sort of tailor your experience with the site. So for example, I was recently trying to think of places to go on holiday and was struggling finding photos of people that had been to marbella, cancun etc. however the new feature would allow me to directly search "friends who have been to marbella" which I do think is going to be interesting and am looking forward to checking the feature out! Maybe see if facebook can make a comeback! Also interested to see how my facebook friends react!
Been working on my internship loads this week too! Been contacting review sites and bloggers ahead of the launch next week! This has been the most exciting element so far I think as I love reaching out to other companies and making a pitch! Also signed my contract with IBM! I am now a demand programmes specialist!!
Steph
Sad news about HMV going into administration this week, a truely British brand. However I remember saying a long time ago how they needed to up their game and develop a new strategy in order to remain current or else they were going to fall under..... touche. They never changed in order to suit customer demand and therefore they were never going to compete. Personally, I haven't been in a HMV store in years and would have no enjoyment in doing so.
And from another organisation crushed by the rise in technology, as comes a further development in technology. This one interests me as I love social networking as much as the next person.... However, I have started to use facebook less and less recently as I feel as though a lot of it is just marketing (ironic I know) and less about the 'social' aspect. However, I am becoming addicted to twitter. I feel that although twitter does incorporate marketing and brand promotion through its trends etc, it allows people to be social through doing so. For example, every night without fail there is a TV show trending which allows people to join in on discussing the programme or not if they choose not too. I feel twitter uses this interaction in a way that facebook is unable to. Twitter is definately less in your face and 100% more tailored to individuals, not only through demographics and people you 'follow' but also increasingly using twitter means your topics of interest or talking points become tailored into products or services you may be interested in.
Anyway, back to my initial point. Facebook have now launched a search engine or a "graph search" as they are calling it; it allows you to search your 'network' for images, statuses etc. which I think may be slightly more like twitter in that you can search for things which interest you and sort of tailor your experience with the site. So for example, I was recently trying to think of places to go on holiday and was struggling finding photos of people that had been to marbella, cancun etc. however the new feature would allow me to directly search "friends who have been to marbella" which I do think is going to be interesting and am looking forward to checking the feature out! Maybe see if facebook can make a comeback! Also interested to see how my facebook friends react!
Been working on my internship loads this week too! Been contacting review sites and bloggers ahead of the launch next week! This has been the most exciting element so far I think as I love reaching out to other companies and making a pitch! Also signed my contract with IBM! I am now a demand programmes specialist!!
Steph
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