Christmas on Oxford Street: Tinsel town

There is a huge amount resting on this year’s festive fight for footfall. No retailer needs reminding that shoppers are very reluctant to part with their money, so unless a store is inviting, organised and easy to shop in, customers will simply go elsewhere.

There were some notable trends among the eight retailers visited by Retail Week and Itim Consulting store operations expert Simon Puryer last week. The good news is that product availability, customer service and general tidiness were, by and large, excellent. The bad news is that this may have been largely owing to a worrying lack of shoppers. Admittedly it was Tuesday afternoon, but many of the stores were eerily quiet.
Unsurprisingly, price reductions or promotional events featured heavily. These initiatives are proving vital in tempting shoppers and shifting stock, but there is a fine balance to be struck in terms of how these offers are communicated. Retailers need to make shoppers feel they are getting a bargain, rather than give the impression they are pleading with them to buy. Boots’ approach, unfortunately, smacked of desperation. A man shouting down a megaphone at the store entrance is unlikely to entice passers-by.

Although there are nearly always improvements to be made, on the whole, retailers are performing reasonably well. Puryer says one of the most common errors that most managed to avoid is a lack of attention to merchandising. “Often you’ll find retailers simply pile product high at Christmas and don’t actually make much of an attempt to sell it. It’s almost a ‘here you go, help yourselves’ mentality.”

House of Fraser was the strongest performer. Puryer explains: “Retailers need to be promoting Christmas. They need to give people a reason to shop with them and House of Fraser did that extremely well. It made you want to spend because of the way the product was merchandised and the way it communicated with the customer.”

Slick store operations are vital if shoppers are to visit a store, browse that store and, crucially, spend in that store. Often, it only takes a few minor adjustments to rectify some of the problems. How difficult would it be for Waterstone’s to drag a cloth over the thick layer of dust adorning its shelves, for instance? It’s not too late for retailers to make simple changes and do everything they can to inspire footfall and customer spend. After all, every minute of trading counts…

House of Fraser
Simon says: “This really is very impressive. The decorations throughout the store are subtle and sophisticated. As a consumer it makes you want to spend time here and you feel like you could do all your shopping under one roof. For instance, at the top of the elevators it has a few well-placed products: For him, For her and For kids. It has even put Christmas crackers in a display cabinet – most retailers just shove them precariously in piles in random places.

“The Christmas shop itself is excellent – great for inspiration and it feels relaxing. Price offers are subtly but clearly communicated. It also promotes services such as gift wrapping – if you spend£25 you can get items gift wrapped, which might make people spend more money. Crucially, House of Fraser is giving people a reason to come here and it is good at making people shop.”

Festive feeling: 10/10
Display and merchandising: 8/10
Customer journey: 9/10
Total: 27/30

Marks & Spencer
Simon says: “Marks & Spencer knows what to do when it comes to Christmas. It has gone for a traditional look with the decorations – it’s all paper chains and cut-out trees. It looks good, but it’s a bit precarious in places. Where the ceilings are low, the chains hang down – it’s crying out for children to try and pull them down. However, the Christmas shop is very well signposted and well merchandised.

“In a tough trading climate it’s good to see Marks & Spencer is being traditional and loyal to its brand and customers. It’s also communicating well to shoppers – it’s put a sign up near the Christmas store about the VAT changes. However, at the bottom of the sign it says: ‘Thanks, Darling’. That really does strike me as quite a tacky play on words that has already been overused in the press. I’m not sure why it thinks that’s a good idea.”

Festive feeling: 8/10
Display and merchandising: 8/10
Customer journey: 7/10
Total: 23/30

Bhs
Simon says: “Unusually, it has put the Christmas shop right at the front of the store. In some ways this is a risk because shoppers might just come in, find their presents and leave straightaway. But Bhs has done well here because it feels relaxed and it’s well laid out – once you’ve worked your way through the gift area, many shoppers will be inclined to see what else is in the store. It’s a practical approach to Christmas – it has provided clearly marked sections for him, her and even pets. There is also bright signage hanging from the ceiling, which promotes its product and price offers.

“One downside would be that it’s not particularly festive throughout the store, it’s confined largely to the gift area, but Bhs has done a good job – it’s certainly better than Debenhams in terms of being easier to shop. It’s made its customers’ lives easy and that’s what people want.”

Festive feeling: 7/10
Display and merchandising: 7/10
Customer journey: 7/10
Total: 21/30

Boots
Simon says: “There is a member of staff stood at the front of the store with a microphone plugged into a small, tinny portable speaker shouting about price promotions. Or at least I think that’s what he’s shouting about, because you can’t hear the words. It’s tacky and reminiscent of a market stall. It gives a terrible first impression and makes Boots look desperate.

“Inside, the Christmas feel is good. There is clear signage to the Christmas department – although it’s only once you’re on the escalator up to the general gifts that you see the sign saying that electricals gifts are downstairs.

“There are plenty of staff around. I like the fact someone in the Christmas shop is offering large shopping bags. However, you might wonder whether it’s strictly necessary at this time. There’s hardly anyone here – there are so many staff standing around behind the tills.”

Festive feeling: 7/10
Display and merchandising: 7/10
Customer journey: 6/10
Total: 20/30

Gap
Simon says: “First impressions are good. Bright, striped knitwear is placed at the front, which makes the store cheerful and inviting. Store staff are doing a good job of keeping the store tidy, but again, you have to bear in mind that it is very quiet. It hasn’t overdone the festive decorations, but it’s a fashion store so that’s not necessarily a problem.

“There is signposting to its Christmas gift shop on the second floor, but once you get there you get the impression that it’s the same product that’s always here – pyjamas, slippers, underwear and so on. You expect more if it’s saying it’s a gift shop. It would have been better off calling it gift inspirations because it’s a bit underwhelming. There’s no one on the till on the gift shop level, which would suggest that this area of the store is not very popular, either.”

Festive feeling: 5/10
Display and merchandising: 6/10
Customer journey: 7/10
Total: 18/30

Debenhams
Simon says: “First impressions are good. The entrance is clear and bright, and the store feels inviting and festive. There are plenty of staff around to help – although you could say that’s largely because the store is extremely quiet. One fault is there is no obvious signage to its Christmas department – many customers would have to ask a member of staff.

“It’s good that it has put the Christmas department at the top of the escalator because you can’t miss it, but it’s a little disappointing. It’s better than last year, when it was crammed into a corner, but it’s still very small and largely full of food and wine gift packs, a few decorations and not a lot else. Some of the products look particularly sorry for themselves – it’s selling large metal Father Christmas decorations and on four of them Santa’s nose has fallen off.”

Festive feeling: 6/10
Display and merchandising: 5/10
Customer journey: 4/10
Total: 15/30

Next
Simon says: “The windows are festive and well thought out, but that’s not carried through into the store itself. It doesn’t feel particularly Christmassy. It has merchandised its eveningwear well, but other than that it feels like Next at any other time of the year. It’s so cut-throat on the high street at the moment and you have to question what it is about this store that would make someone shop here as opposed to any of the other neighbouring fashion stores. It’s not creating a point of difference.

“It’s well organised, but there’s no clear flow around the store. If it were a busy Saturday afternoon I would imagine it would be a nightmare. A lot of its products would make good Christmas presents, but Next hasn’t presented them well – it needs to promote potential gifts to its customers much better. It isn’t helping itself.”

Festive feeling: 4/10
Display and merchandising: 5/10
Customer journey: 4/10
Total: 13/30

Waterstone’s
Simon says: “Where’s Christmas gone? There are hardly any decorations and it doesn’t feel festive at all. Waterstone’s stores are usually relaxing places to browse but this is truly awful. I would expect to see promotions or gift ideas at the front of the store, but here you have to seek out potential presents. The handwritten signs behind the till promoting a VIP shopping day look very amateur and there are piles of books all over the floor. It’s also filthy – there’s a layer of dust on one shelf.

“It has customer enquiry points with a computer, which suggest customers can look to see whether a book is in stock. But this one looks as though it’s just for staff use – it’s got lots of sales information on one particular book and how many it has sold. I would assume this is commercially sensitive information that certainly shouldn’t be on display.”

Festive feeling: 1/10
Display and merchandising: 2/10
Customer journey: 2/10
Total: 5/30