Is peeling a banana an apt metaphor for your retail business?
Before you decide, first answer this question. Have you ever tried to open a particularly tough one, pulling and tugging at the stem side in vain? Recently my daughter Robin saw me struggling with one of these, and suggested that I just turn it upside down and peel from the other end. Voila! Easy!
Furniture World’s long time contributing editor Joe Capillo has been known to say, “nothing fails like success”. By that he means that retailers tend to stick with time-tested solutions that have contributed to past successes. Unfortunately, these winning formulas may also stifle innovation, ignore important market trends and be a less profitable alternative.
This being Furniture World’s year-end edition, it seems appropriate to propose a challenge to our readers. In 2016, look into disruptive technologies, evaluate retail practices that work for you now but will likely face declining returns over the next few years. And, while you are at it, try to find ways to identify and challenge those “tough banana” ways of doing business that make your life, and the lives of your employees more stressful and less satisfactory.
Have a wonderful holiday season.
Regards,
Russell Bienenstock
Editorial Director
Russell Bienenstock is Editor-in-Chief of Furniture World Magazine, founded 1870. Comments can be directed to him at editor@furninfo.com.