Barney’s not withstanding, retail is alive and well, if you …

9 things we want our retail friends to know in the wake of bankruptcy at the big B.

9 things we want our retail friends to know in the wake of bankruptcy at the big B.

Personally, we’re fans. But we weren’t surprised by Barneys’ bankruptcy news. For a host of reasons we saw it coming. But it’s not a harbinger of declining retail. It’s a call to disrupt business as usual. Stat.

1. Lose the overpriced out-of-town agency. Several of our clients have asked us to come in when outside agency work missed the mark and set them back for time and resources.

2. Insist on in-person. One marketer noted in this Globe story that “with technology, there are a lot of ways to have meetings face-to-face without being across the street.” We’ve seen firsthand that it’s just not the same. You need warmth. You want a relationship where the agency feels what you feel as a brand. Is just as impassioned. You need to read faces to ask the right questions. This is how many of the best ideas are ignited.

3. Test, please. If you’re not testing, you’re at risk. Quit being afraid. It’s easy digitally. A/B test everything! Keep the winner and repeat. Brick and mortar stores should create a lab of sorts in one area or unit where they try things and gauge consumer response. Something we expect to see next — more experimentation with unisex clothing departments. (Unsure what and how to test? We’re happy to provide a strategy and develop test messaging and emails anytime.)

4. Keep overhead low. Barneys is in way deep on overhead between real estate and the high end brands it stocks across the stores. One thing that works in innovative retail is customization (once a piece is customized, it understandably is nonreturnable) and the embrace of scarcity (allowing for fewer pieces, which enhances urgency) or a semi on-demand model. Another way to manage overhead is by reducing full-time hires on the corporate level. Layoffs and recruiting and benefits are expensive. We’re all accustomed to a holiday sales force in store. Why not the same model at the corporate level? At HCC, we’re seeing clients bring us in at key times (fall, holiday, maternity/paternity cover, testing, brand evolution, new product, etc.) rather than immediately going to a full-time hire. Some decide to take this approach longer term to keep headcount low.

5. Know who you are and stay true to yourself. Now more than ever, customers can smell a fake. Be who you are instead of trying to be Everlane. Take Ministry of Supply, for example (we’re partial; they’re a client). They know who they are (a Q, not a Bond) and act accordingly, celebrating science, a core differentiator no one can deny. It resonates deeply with their audience.

6. Stay fresh. Big retailers with lots of process are the most prone to getting stuck and must have a way to infuse new ideas and avoid bottlenecking. It could be a retail coach/consultant who comes from a different background and gins up new thinking. It could be a fractional CMO who brings new strategy to the table. Or it could be a creative whose untainted excitement and openness are infectious.

7. Reward evangelism. It always bewilders us (and happens far too often) when a brand we like or could like makes no effort to deepen its connection with us. Emails aren’t personalized. The unboxing experience is lackluster without a note or further call to action. No creative programming to bring us into the brand. It’s a huge lost opportunity. If you’re not connecting with customers who like you, get us in to help.

8. Check your reps. Another massive gap? Customer service. Whatever the channel, good service isn’t just responsive, it’s on-brand, warm, personal, and delivered by someone able to sell product. Too often customer service gets outourced and virtually forgotten. So while you focus all your time on single headline, someone else is speaking for you and saying things like “we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused” — undoing all your hard work on brand voice with obnoxious robospeak that turns people off. It’s why we go out and coach reps.

9. Plan for a crisis. It sure didn’t help Barneys to be sued for racial profiling (they paid a half a million dollar settlement) and have it covered all over the news. The right training and planning could have helped manage this crisis and even turned it into an opportunity, by taking responsibility and doing something meaningful.

Are your wheels turning yet? Get in touch: rachel@honorcodecreative.com