Latest / The Retail Podcast / Molly-Mae, M&S, Greggs & EE: 5 Retail Moves Reshaping the High Street | Five Things Friday

Transcript

Molly-Mae, M&S, Greggs & EE: 5 Retail Moves Reshaping the High Street | Five Things Friday · The Retail Podcast

• 0:00
  It's the 6th of March. Welcome to Five Things Friday.
• 0:03
  Hello and welcome to Euroshop Day one day, 2 day three day
• 0:09
  live Euroshop. I'm the winner.
• 0:18
  It's 1600. And seven.
• 0:24
  Votes. Oh, so that was your shop?
• 1:01
  You saw me at the end. I'm a little patch holding the
• 1:04
  little camera and microphone. That was one of the most
• 1:08
  beautiful experiences of bringing the podcast, the Expo
• 1:13
  all into one beautiful package with the ITAB group.
• 1:17
  And you saw Jill, you saw Reef and they were speakers.
• 1:20
  They're the only person that was missing.
• 1:21
  Simone was you. So, but Dusseldorf, something
• 1:26
  like, I don't know, they had 80,000 people there.
• 1:29
  We had about 40,000 people or 50,000 people go through the
• 1:32
  stand and the stand was, it's an experience centre as I would
• 1:36
  say, because it was just so big and had so many different parts,
• 1:40
  but it covered all the practical parts of retail and it was
• 1:44
  fantastic. So if he came along and had a
• 1:46
  chance to see you, it was wonderful to spend time with
• 1:49
  you, to look at innovations and to record that.
• 1:52
  And that was the summary and a massive, massive thank you to
• 1:55
  the ITAB group. So that's how we're going to
• 1:58
  start the show, Simone. I know it's a dreary day for
• 2:00
  both of us, it looks. Well, it looks like on another
• 2:04
  level, it really is. It 100% I think like from from
• 2:08
  podcasts that expose, expose that expose everything was just
• 2:13
  that little bit nicer. And I'm off to shop talk in Las
• 2:17
  Vegas in a week's time, 2 weeks time.
• 2:20
  I think so. I know it's going to be a
• 2:23
  challenge to keep that to then go to others, but I'm hopefully
• 2:27
  there'll be some other stuff I'm working on that we'll bring.
• 2:29
  But anyway, I'm Alex. I run the retail podcast plus
• 2:33
  many other things that I'm not going to go into right now
• 2:35
  because we're short on time. Simone, my lovely Co host, tell
• 2:39
  me about you. Yes, I'm the Co founder of
• 2:41
  business called Need it for Tonight also known as NEFT.
• 2:44
  We have built the infrastructure that is powering instant
• 2:48
  delivery for retail through AB2C app and AB2B plug in.
• 2:53
  Fantastic. This is five things Friday,
• 2:55
  we're going to go straight in with you top of mind, Molly May.
• 2:59
  Molly May, I remember saying Molly May's name to you before
• 3:03
  and you're like, who? That is Molly May.
• 3:08
  For anybody that doesn't know her, Molly May's, she got famous
• 3:11
  from Love Island a long, well, I don't know how long ago, a few
• 3:15
  years ago. Anyway she has as you can see
• 3:18
  that she's got over 8 million followers.
• 3:20
  She's had a gazillion different brand deals and she did create
• 3:23
  her own brand called maybe Manchester based.
• 3:28
  This week they are doing the an activation or a pop up for
• 3:33
  International Women's Day at Bannister Terrace in London.
• 3:38
  So you can expect coffee, food, wine and shopping.
• 3:42
  Are men allowed to go? I don't know, but for the past
• 3:47
  one men outside. I'd like to think they were
• 3:52
  allowed to go. I think it's just to celebrate
• 3:53
  International Women's Day, but it's not.
• 3:55
  It's just another great example of how retail is evolving, you
• 4:00
  know, brands. It's these cultural touch points
• 4:04
  again that I've harped on about millions of times where people
• 4:07
  can come together, experience the brand, meet the founder.
• 4:10
  Is that her as a model? Because I don't know what she
• 4:12
  looks like. Is that her?
• 4:13
  No, but it does look like a obviously it can go share
• 4:18
  content and and it really does become marketing.
• 4:20
  And I actually think it's very smart from doing it for
• 4:23
  International Women's Day because it's it turns into an
• 4:28
  event that's just much bigger than shopping.
• 4:32
  It's very community based, you know, instead of spending a lot
• 4:35
  on ads and they're creating these moments in real life that
• 4:39
  generate word of mouth PR and probably a lot of sales as well,
• 4:44
  so. Yeah, good on you.
• 4:46
  I mean, international, I've had a mixed thing, a mixed thing
• 4:49
  this this time around on sometimes it's like everyone's
• 4:52
  supporting of it, Sometimes it's like hits in the middle.
• 4:54
  But what's there not to support? So and, and specifically I've
• 4:59
  we've reached 5050 parity and that's been a massive focus for
• 5:03
  us because I I really don't like line UPS where it's just one or
• 5:08
  the other. And yesterday I had the other
• 5:10
  where it was just the other, which I I think alienates 50%.
• 5:14
  So getting that parity, I'm super, super proud of.
• 5:18
  Moving on, the crowds in Putney were delighted with Marks and
• 5:22
  Spencer's opening their new store format.
• 5:24
  Now, this store format in itself is actually not that innovative
• 5:29
  or new. I love you Marks and Spencer's.
• 5:31
  I love Percy the Pig, no offence but to the UK market it's new,
• 5:36
  it's low level, it's clear clear signage, it's self checkout,
• 5:41
  it's more autonomous. But the bigger point here is
• 5:45
  store formats through the UK are changing.
• 5:48
  M&S is one of the brands that's leading with that change in
• 5:51
  their food and expect to see more because once one goes, they
• 5:56
  all have to go to keep up. Otherwise, you look really,
• 5:58
  really outdated and old very, very quickly.
• 6:02
  So if you're in Putney, I hope you enjoy your M&S experience.
• 6:06
  Moving on, Greg's now. This was a theme from Euroshop.
• 6:11
  This is another thing that I see expanding and it is really
• 6:15
  picking up from Asia and it's basically vending machines.
• 6:18
  Greg's are going to create a vending machine for their key
• 6:23
  products when the store is closed and I think when the
• 6:26
  store is open. But it's like I, I was talking a
• 6:29
  lot about this when I was in your shop, having that sort of
• 6:32
  out of hours of experience with the brand or more importantly
• 6:36
  going where your customer is. And that's one of the things
• 6:40
  that people traditionally think of vending machine as these sort
• 6:44
  of yucky, big, ugly, you know, funky things that get vandalised
• 6:48
  or robbed, which they may do, depending where you put it.
• 6:51
  However, in my mind, this is a beautiful opportunity to take
• 6:55
  your products closer to the customer to where they are.
• 6:59
  And we're just starting to see that.
• 7:00
  And I think Greg's are one of the first leaders to, to, to, to
• 7:04
  experiment with that format. Final one for me before we go
• 7:08
  back to you, all those Bridgeton fans, Are you a Bridgeton
• 7:12
  Phantom? I was.
• 7:15
  I think I mentioned this before on the episode.
• 7:17
  I was until the Duke left. Is the Duke a handsome man?
• 7:23
  He's very handsome. I think I watch series 1, didn't
• 7:27
  do series 20. Man, OK, my wife is loving it.
• 7:31
  I just hear things from when I'm doing other things as she's
• 7:36
  watching it. But it's very colourful.
• 7:38
  I love the the the Fiat, the theatre behind it all is very
• 7:42
  beautiful and I think they've done that Dove and Bridgeton
• 7:45
  affair at my one of my favourite shopping places in London, which
• 7:48
  is Battersea Power Station. It's on this weekend.
• 7:52
  Is it part of International Women's?
• 7:54
  I don't think it's, I just think it's emmaculation.
• 7:56
  So anyway, pop along if you want a bit of Bridgeton in your life
• 7:59
  with Dove and moving on final one from you.
• 8:03
  The final one from me is another interesting retail move this
• 8:08
  week is that EE, not the sexiest topic, has often.
• 8:14
  His mobile phones are still sexy.
• 8:16
  Your iPhone, you know you want that experience.
• 8:19
  But they have opened up a new experience store on Oxford
• 8:23
  Street, and this is a part of a format that they're rolling out.
• 8:26
  I think they've done one in Westfield, both White City and
• 8:29
  Stratford, and the idea is basically to make the store less
• 8:32
  transactional and more hands on with technology so people can
• 8:36
  come in, test devices, explore new tech and also speak to staff
• 8:41
  who couldn't guide them through things.
• 8:43
  I think their retail director, who is called this, he summed it
• 8:47
  up quite well. He said that the role of the
• 8:49
  High Street is changing and shoppers want more than just a
• 8:52
  transaction, they want experiences and personal
• 8:56
  connection, which is obviously really telling.
• 8:58
  So you can see it there. I love it.
• 9:01
  I think look, listen, this is A and you it what what this tells
• 9:05
  me from a generation perspective, who's going to go
• 9:09
  and buy mobile in store, right? Let's be honest about it.
• 9:11
  It's just been one of the most boring.
• 9:13
  You know, you've got your thing there, you've got some young
• 9:16
  guys and there's always a cue and it's always awkward.
• 9:19
  So you know, Oxford Street is where you turn up to provide an
• 9:23
  experience and I think if they're able to, to do that, it
• 9:26
  says Love Island star footballer Luke Trotman.
• 9:29
  Cut the ribbon because obviously don't know you may know him.
• 9:32
  Love Island scene coming out today on the podcast.
• 9:35
  Yeah, welcome to the Love Island Retail Podcast.
• 9:39
  Yeah, well, obviously it just shows how great that as a as an
• 9:43
  iconic providing of cultural relevance for brands and
• 9:48
  retailers. But anyway, he's the guy cutting
• 9:49
  the ribbon. And I think if you are
• 9:52
  genuinely, genuinely creating experiences, we just want more
• 9:57
  of that. Yeah, exactly that.
• 10:00
  OK, I've got 2 minutes left. How was your male experience for
• 10:05
  men's shoppers? You know you had your sign up?
• 10:09
  Yeah. Yeah, we did a personal shopping
• 10:13
  day last week on Wednesday with Marion, who you had the
• 10:18
  wonderful experience with. It was a bit different to yours.
• 10:22
  It was still the one-on-one personal styling appointments,
• 10:25
  but with colour analysis. On that, OK.
• 10:29
  The feedback was incredible. I think it's most people have
• 10:34
  not done colour analysis. And she sits there with the
• 10:37
  different felt. You sit on a chair and you're
• 10:40
  able to look into the mirror and she always gets you to really,
• 10:43
  it's actually very interesting because when you have the, the
• 10:47
  colours there and actually you look at what it does to your
• 10:50
  skin and like your face shape and you really actually look at
• 10:53
  that it's, it's really, it's quite fascinating.
• 10:58
  And actually the colours and a lot of the people said this,
• 11:00
  like who knew I suited this colour well.
• 11:03
  More often than not, you end up suiting colours that you didn't
• 11:07
  expect. And I think it's very good for
• 11:09
  men because there's a lot of Blues and greys and blacks.
• 11:12
  There's there's nothing wrong with it, but.
• 11:15
  It's not. People experimenting and feeling
• 11:17
  confident and good in in the colours.
• 11:21
  I I think we're going to be through a going through a
• 11:23
  transformation. Like when I look at the
• 11:25
  influences I love on TikTok and Instagram, there's this whole,
• 11:28
  especially for men, there's this whole revival of like 1940s
• 11:32
  bright colours, but really stylized, you know, high hip
• 11:36
  trousers. Nothing that I'm going to wear,
• 11:38
  but I love to observe, you know, and on that bombshell because
• 11:42
  I'm going to be conscious of time.
• 11:43
  Simone, thank you so much. And I look forward to.